Robert Ryan, a younger man, would have been better suited to play Spence's role, and he would have been a better fit as the older town boss. Tracy was a biggefr star so that never would have happened.
But having said that, I think Tracy pulled it off, and the film remains a favorite of mine, despite the dopey last scene with the gas can.
I doubt that you'll find anyone to agree with you. The film is pretty flawless, including what you call a dopey scene.
shareI don't poll others before expressing my opinion which may or may not be the consensus.
That impromptu Molotov cocktail performed and tossed by an old one-armed man on the spur of the moment in the middle of the night is hard to take especially from one of the great action directors, John Sturges. A zombie in a Val Lewton film was more agile than Robert Ryan who would have known something was up when he first saw the flame.
The "Other" Sturges more than made up for it in The Mag. 7 and The Great Escape.
Perhaps you shouldn't watch masterpieces, if you feel a need to criticize them. You're way too picky. I'll check back from time to time, to see if anyone agrees with your op.
shareA masterpiece is a painting that just hangs there. Film is more vital,fluid not immune to criticism no matter how respected.
The climax probably read better than what was filmed.
I respect reasoned opinions, which means I probably won't be hearing from you.
Someone who rates Tommy Boy higher than The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly shouldn't be lecturing others about "masterpieces".
I thought the molotov cocktail scene was effectively rendered. There was no time for the Ryan character to react, once he saw the flame.
It could be argued that the sequence was somewhat implausible. I was wondering why Smith didn't just rush Macreedy. After all, Smith had the rifle and Macreedy was unarmed. Then again, he couldn't be certain of that.
It certainly is possible to like a film and still have criticisms.
When did you see it last? Mine was about a year ago when I had that reaction to the last scene. Don't recall noticing that in the other 10 or so times I'd seen it.
shareWhen you say you didn't recall noticing are you referring to my comment that Ryan didn't have time to react when Tracy lit the Molotov cocktail?
I have the DVD and I rewatched that sequence a few hours ago.
No, just the entire sequence. I don't think a former Bolshevik could have pulled that off.
shareThe idea of Tracy and Ryan switching roles is an intriguing one. However, as pointed out, it was highly unlikely that it could have happened. Ryan was adept at playing the obsessive, violent villain going back at least as far as "Crossfire" (1947). Tracy, on the other hand, almost always played "heroes" even as he aged.
Ryan played more heroic (or at least non-villainous) roles years before BDaBR than you may remember--The Lineup, Berlin Express, a couple of John Wayne war movies and right before Bad Day, Inferno probably the most memorable film shot in 3D.
And Spence wasn't the greatest guy in the world in Edward, My Son and Sea of Grass.
Anyway it was just my speculation--didn't happen probably was never even considered.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that Ryan was a versatile actor and didn't have to play only villains. Tracy certainly did play characters with an "edge", the films you mentioned and "Broken Lance" come to mind among others. However, it's difficult to imagine him agreeing to play such an evil role as Reno Smith in the unlikely event he was even offered the part.
Both actors were probably capable of playing the opposite roles at least reasonably well, I believe.
By the way, Ryan wasn't in "The Lineup". Perhaps you mean "The Set-up" (1948).
I think the OP has an interesting thought, though I disagree that the two would have been better cast in one another's roles. Maybe Tracy's actual age and stature, as well as "Macreedy's" handicap, made him the weaker-seeming character he needed to be, something it would have been difficult for the tall, younger, hardened Ryan to have passed off convincingly.
With the parts rewritten to more convincingly fit each actor's appearance and persona, I could see Tracy and Ryan switching roles, but not as they're written. Tracy could be a villain and Ryan a beset man, but not exactly as these characters are depicted in the film, in my opinion.
The Molotov climax is a bit contrived (unlike the rest of the film?) but it works well enough.
I agree with the OP about the other Ryan roles he cited. I especially like Ryan's other, recent (1953) desert-set picture, Inferno.
I could see that, Ryan played lots of bad guys and Tracy usually the good guy so they were definitely type caste. As far as the last scene, I agree that was cumbersome in a modern context. However I think it probably worked back in 1955. I think they wanted us to consider that anyone who came out of WW2 combat in one piece would be resourceful enough to take out a redneck with a gun.
shareTo get Tracy to take the role they told him that Alan Ladd had accepted the part. I've always felt that Ladd being younger might have been a better choice. Tracy was great, and he did a great job in the film, but his age always bothered me personally.
I feel the same way about Fredric March in The Best Years of our Lives. In those days the studio system cared more about star power than realism.
Don't remember, was it a contemporary setting, in the early 1950s? If so, we all age. Recall, Tracy was convincing playing servicemen during the war (30 Seconds Over Tokyo, a pilot in A Guy Named Joe). Just think of those characters aging and looking like Tracy in BDaBR.
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