Keeper of the Flame (1942)

Directed by George Cukor. Starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Richard Whorf, Forrest Tucker, Margaret Wycherly, Audrey Christie, Darryl Hickman, Stephen McNally, Frank Craven, Howard Da Silva, Percy Kilbride, Donald Meek.

After American war hero Robert Forrest dies in a freak accident, journalist Tracy becomes determined to tell his life story, but finds it difficult getting those closest to the deceased to open up and share what they know, most notably his widow (Hepburn). The Gothic-tinged mystery that unfolds in the first half captures attention, but the payoff is both muted and outlandish—its sudden turn to chest-thumping, anti-fascist melodrama almost feels like a transition to hackneyed propaganda. With Cukor behind the camera and David Ogden Stewart at the typewriter, it probably seemed like a safe bet, but unsubtle politics don’t mesh well with in-studio pseudo-atmosphere. The premise echoes sincerely of Citizen Kane without the structural audacity and auteurist force. Wycherly has fun with a doddering crackpot, but Tracy is too stifled until the final act, and Hepburn is mostly wasted. Second of nine pairings for the two stars (and the only one in which they’re not romantically linked).

59/100