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If anyone is looking for a factual account of the life of Thomas Alva Edison this ain't the film for you. In fact Edison the Man is the second film that MGM did on him. Young Tom Edison had come out before this one and Mickey Rooney played a boy's life version of him. At the conclusion of that film there was a preview that Edison the Man would be coming out soon starring Spencer Tracy.

The widow Edison who was still alive at the time gave her personal stamp of approval on casting Spencer Tracy as her husband. Who wouldn't want his life's story portrayed by Tracy. But among the many things not shown was the fact that she was the second Mrs. Edison. The first Mrs. Edison, played by Rita Johnson in the film died in the 1880s and Edison married again the Gay Nineties. He had three children with each wife. So you can see a lot of the personal life has been left out.

The film is told in flashback as an aged Edison is sitting at a banquet table listening to the toastmaster tell of his life. We only see about 10 years of it from the time he arrives in New York to when he proves the validity of the electric light by powering a section of New York.

One of the great quotes from Edison is that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Inventing the electric light was the result of trial and error running into the thousands of methods and that is the part of Edison graphically shown.

Edison is always held up as the great example of the American success story. He was a man with little formal education at all who had ideas and the natural ability and will to see them through. It should always be remembered that Edison gained his fame during the Horatio Alger era. He was the living embodiment of those stories about the poor kid who succeeds through hard work.

The part of Edison that's not so nice, his battles over patents with other inventors, his ruthlessness in business exploiting those patents, that all comes later. It would take a mini-series to really do his life justice.

But I think Edison himself would have loved to see the way MGM handled his life in both films. He certainly would have seen himself as Spencer Tracy plays him, the wise benevolent man, with an iron perseverance.

Just don't anyone doing serious research on Edison use this film as a guide to his life.

You don't see these kind of old-fashioned biographies anymore. There have been very few in the last 40 years. Yes, many of the classic biographies sugar-coated the stories, ignoring a person's negative traits, but today's films mostly do the opposite, so it's nice to re-visit a movie in which an American hero is shown as just that. One gets tired of all the trashing.

Thomas Alva Edison certainly was a hero with his incredible inventions (i.e., the light bulb) which affected almost everyone on the planet to a significant degree. This movie goes to great lengths to show Edison's persistence in reaching his goals while also highlighting the dedication of the men who worked for him.

Spencer Tracy as Edison, along with Rita Johnson, Lynne Overman, Charles Coburn, Gene Lockhart, Henry Travers and Felix Bressart make this a pretty solid movie. It's not spectacular, probably not worth more than one look, maybe two, but it's a story that should be seen about an amazing period in history.

I like the fact that Edison was nominated for the Oscar for best Original Story. How many biopics can claim that honour ?

Spencer Tracy is excellent as the dynamic American inventor. Although he was a 40 year old playing a 25 year old he produced sufficient energy to overcome the obstacle of years. This is a fine piece of acting and is well supported by the bit-parts and by the director who clearly enjoys telling the story of Edison's finest achievements, the invention of the light bulb and of the recording device.

The main problem with the film is its lack of balance. We don't hear enough about his theft of patents and his failure to give credit to his co-workers. Edison is a metaphor for America in the early twentieth century, exciting, inventive, thrusting, dynamic but also shallow and lacking in grace.

Spencer Tracy rarely played real people. He played a character based on Arnold Rothstein in an early film for Fox, and Henry Morton Stanley in STANLEY AND LIVINGSTON, and Rogers of Rogers' Rangers in NORTHWEST PASSAGE, and Clarence Darrow (Henry Drummond) in INHERIT THE WIND, and the Captain of the Mayflower in PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE. It seems like a large number of films, but it is really less than three percent of his movies. He also appeared in this film as the great inventor (over 1,000 patents) Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931).

In 1940 Edison was a national hero. Nobody was quite like him, although Alexander Graham Bell (soon to be subject of a film starring Don Ameche) was a figure of great interest too. So was Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph, and Eli Whitney, inventor of the Cotton Gin. However no films were made about them. There was a film with Fred MacMurray and Alice Faye about Robert Fulton and his steamboat, but none about the Wright brothers.

Because of the period of history it was made in, film biography rarely was totally dispassionate. All Americans heroes were flawless, so all questions about Edison's stealing credit from assistants or other inventors was pushed aside (his involvement in the patent battles about the telephone is not mentioned). Nor were his flop inventions: pre-fabricated houses made of cement (actually a good idea, but ahead of it's time), the attempt to be the biggest gold ore refiner in the East (using huge machines to grind the ore out of rocks), the electric car motor. His bigoted feelings towards foreigners (Jews, rival inventors like Nicola Tesla) were not mentioned, nor was his rejection of the offer of a joint 1911 Nobel Prize for Physics (for the accidental discovery of the Edison Affect of carbonization in electricity) because he had to have it with Tesla for discovering alternating current. None of this is mentioned...only the string of great inventions he had a major hand in from 1868 to 1894. As a surface study of his career it is passable, and Tracy and the cast (in particular Gene Lockhart as his critic and nemesis Taggart) are splendid. You'll be entertained, but read A STREAK OF LUCK by Robert Conot for the true story.

Motion Picture biographical representations of famous people usually remove the warts in their life history. It was not until February of 2003 did I learn that using carbon filaments, was the brainchild of African-American inventor Lewis Latimer and his partner, Joseph V. Nichols. The movie focuses around Edison's discovery of the carbon filament which lights the world, when actually Edison's filaments were made from bamboo and only lasted 30 hours.

The story as told is very pleasant and the performances of Spencer Tracey, Gene Lockhart and Charles Coburn hold the viewers interest. With the warts, this is still an inspiring motion picture. I think seeing Mickey Rooney as YOUNG TOM EDISON should be viewed first.

Edison in this version comes across as a kindly soul, sort of "Santa the inventor" -- kind to one and all.

Don't look for historical accuracy of any kind in this film. Although the acting is nicely done. Spencer Tracy is a constant delight. He even gets to play the organ in one scene! Tracy and Co.'s contributions rate it a six, but it certainly doesn't deserve anything more.

I especially loved the one-handed Morse-code tapping Edison. One doesn't need to know much about Edison to realize pretty quickly that this is sheer hagiography.

There is even a court room scene between gas and electrical lighting. Pretty fun.

Spencer Tracy stars as the famous inventor Thomas Edison. This movie deals primarily with his struggles to invent the electric light. Beautiful Rita Johnson plays Edison's wife. Excellent supporting cast includes Henry Travers, Charles Coburn, Grant Mitchell, Felix Bressart, and Gene Lockhart -- solid character actors all. Grand MGM polish and production values make for a great-looking picture.

This is the second MGM biopic of Edison released in 1940. The first, Young Tom Edison, starred Mickey Rooney and covered the inventor's early years. Edison, the Man is sort of a sequel to that film. Both are excellent. These old biopics were usually solid, uplifting character-driven stories. Yes they take liberties with the details but the more cynical defamatory biopics we get these days do the same. I'll take an inspirational biography that builds people up and leaves you with the warm fuzzies over some deconstructionist tabloid trash any day.

Viewed this film a long time ago and enjoyed seeing the great acting performance that Spencer Tracy portrayed as Thomas A. Edison. Tracy must have put a great deal of study into Mr. Edison's life and his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. because he looked just like him. Tom Edison had a very rough times being without money and struggling many long hours with very disappointing results. Gene Lockhart,(Mr.Taggart) had a great deal of stock in the gas companies and was trying to stop Edison from producing the electric light. However, Charles Coburn,(General Powell) had great confidence in Tom Edison's inventions and he gave a great deal of financial support among the stock brokers in New York. This is a very nice story of a great inventor and many generations will enjoy this story.

Very well made film, effortlessly acted out by, who else but, Spencer Tracy. The movie traces the dedication of Edison and his team and their sometimes frustrating situations which they conquer eventually to succeed. A must for anyone who is inspired by the work of great people.

1st watched 9/11/2009 - 7 out of 10 (Dir- Clarence Brown): Wonderful chronicle of a maverick man and his inventions played by the always likable Spencer Tracy. The movie starts with the elderly Edison(with a nice set of makeup) being honored for his invention of the lightbulb, and then the story goes back to his early days before his first major invention. He was already twiddling with telegraph machines at this point, so we don't really get to see where his motivation came from -- just that he liked to do this. He is personally very ambitious from the beginning and knows that he has to have funds to do what he wants, so he stalks one of the richest men in town for his attention. He gets it after fixing one of his machines and he is hired and is given the space and time to create. He and his ragtag group start putting together quite a few accomplishments to the point where they have their own building and steady workforce. He's shown as having a good comraderie with his close knit fellows but has to let them go when things get rough. At least until the lightbulb is created, then things explode. I'm sure this story isn't 100% true when it comes to Edison as a person, but they do make good entertainment with it. Tracy also gives a good performance and is given a couple of nice speeches(that obviously come from the real Edison). Overall, this is light family entertainment, good for everyone, with an educational message. This doesn't happen often in the movies and MGM did well with this one as the usually did in this era.

I have probably seen more bio-pics than anyone you'll ever meet and so I obviously like this style film. BUT, at the same time, I am a retired history teacher and love to know the true stories behind the films--and often these movies and reality have little in common! In some other cases, there stories are close overall to the true characters and events BUT key elements have been changed or omitted--and such is the case with "Edison the Man". While generally sticking to the truth better than most bio-pics of the era, some parts of Edison's life were changed for a variety of reasons. In some cases, I understand, the movie COULD have been 6-8 hours long if it dealt in detail with all of Edison's most important inventions. Plus, in doing this, what about his private life? You just can't do it all in a two hour film! However, one odd omission occurred in the film that I think they should have addressed. Edison's young wife portrayed in the film didn't live that long--dying before age 30. Here, they appear to have been married a long time and no mention is made of his second wife nor the children from this marriage. It's odd, as the dying young wife could have infused the movie with a bit more pathos and drama. A few other incidents were compressed because of time and to heighten the drama--such as how the phonograph developed (it actually took some time and inventions by other folks following Edison's invention to prefect the device). But, despite these errors and omissions that crazed ex-history teachers might notice, the film IS very good. It achieves the goal of lionizing this important inventor (and ignores his foibles to do so) and is always interesting. Well worth seeing but I strongly recommend you read up on the man--he was much more complex and incredible than the character you see in the movie.

By the way, despite what was said in the film, ostriches DON'T stick their heads in the ground--whether they are afraid or not. It's an old myth.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. We hear current scandals and corporate ruthlessness now and in past history. This picture paints the "Hollywood" side of Edison, but he too has a ruthless side.

Edison certainly deserves much credit, but he had his vices. He invested heavily in Direct Current (DC) technology; good for many applications, but not for the needed power and lighting applications Edison envisioned. No mention is made in the movie of Nikola Tesla. Edison invited him to the USA from Croatia to work in Edison's labs. Edison made him work from 10:30 am to 5:00 the next morning, seven days per week. Even though Tesla did not believe in Edison's direct current motors he worked hard to improve them. Edison told him if he could do that he would give him a bonus of $50,000. He came up with twenty-four new designs to replace the old ones of Edison's. Edison was delighted with the results but did not pay Tesla the $50,000 he had promised. When Tesla finally asked him about it, it is said that Edison told him, "Tesla, you don't understand our American humor." That is when Tesla left the Edison Co. and eventually worked for Edison's rival George Westinghouse. Westinghouse was ruthless as well, but he and Tesla got along, and secured the contract to supply generators at Niagara Falls.

Films such as these are great to bring initial awareness. My hope would be they prompt more investigation. That in mind, I'll take these "Hollywood biographies" over what often comes from the current film industry: recycled garbage.

SPENCER TRACY is well cast as Thomas A. Edison, the prolific inventor who had many obstacles facing him before he became the successful inventor known all over the world for his achievements.

MGM has created a simplified version of his life and times but filled it with interesting vignettes on his various inventions and obviously hired some good technical advisers to give the film a look of authenticity when it comes to Edison's laboratory experiments and all of the incidents paving the way toward new discoveries.

A typical Hollywood touch is the romance between Tracy and RITA JOHNSON who plays his wife, but at least the incidents are a creative blend of fact and fiction with some humorous elements thrown in.

GENE LOCKHART is outstanding as the wealthy Mr. Taggart who worries that his gas company will face bankruptcy if Edison's electric experiments are successful. Taggart is the man who first gives Edison support when he fixes the office stock indicator and is rewarded with a job at Western Union. CHARLES COBURN, FELIX BRASSERT and GENE REYNOLDS lend sterling support.

Tracy gives his usual credible performance as the determined inventor, although the opening scene tends to be on the corny side as it leads to an extensive flashback of his life.

By keeping the obstacles in the path of several of Edison's most noteworthy inventions, the story has all of the required conflict guaranteed to hook the viewer from start to finish.

Edison, The Man (1940) : Brief Review -

The great Spencer Tracy as the great Thomas Edison tells the great story of the great man and great inventor. Thomas Alva Edison, the name which needs no introduction. We usually use it as an example to inspire people because we all know that his achievements are truly unmatchable. So many sleepless he had, just to invent those instruments which have made our lives easy and accessible. He didn't sleep for nights to invent that Bulb, under which we sleep peacefully. But do we know his real struggle? Did we know that the greatest inventor on the earth who invented so many devices lived most of his life as a penniless person? Did we know that while he was trying tirelessly to make mankind's future easy, some money minded fellas were against this revolution? Well, there are lots of things we don't know and 'Edison, The Man' surely makes you acknowledge most of those things, if not all. Unexpectedly, it's highly fictionalised but all for good. 82 year old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty year career of scientific achievement. The film takes you to his younger days when he didn't have the money to pay for the luncheon he was supposed to buy for a lady. And what a lady he got. Extremely supportive and always there to stand with him. The same goes for the team which worked for him and this God-sort-of man deserved such people around him. Tracy plays Edison, who I think was nothing less than a God. His constant and permanent endeavour was to help mankind with the help of science and he just didn't limit himself to that, but he went to take care of those needy people too, even though he himself was broke. 'He, still would've been a great man', the speaker says. Spencer Tracy's performance and Clarence Brown's direction makes it a Must Watch despite few flaws, especially for science lovers (like me).

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

EDISON, THE MAN (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1940), directed by Clarence Brown, became Hollywood's second contribution into the life of one of America's greatest inventors, Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931).

Following the earlier release of YOUNG TOM EDISON (1940) starring Mickey Rooney, which covered the title character's boyhood years in Port Huron, Michigan, this second of a two-part biography covers the rest of the story of Edison's life from unknown inventor to historic figure. Rather than waiting a few years having Rooney coming of age to reprise his Edison role, this continuing story not only came a few months after its initial release, but one of the few sequels where none of the actors nor director (Norman Taurog) from the preceding film returns. The acting honor goes to Spencer Tracy in one of his more challenging film roles of his career. While it's logical for anyone who's seen both these films to make comparisons, it's easy to point out how EDISON, THE MAN is connected with the other through its underscoring of "Sweet Genevieve" in certain scenes; a reminder of Edison's slight trouble with his hearing; Edison's communication through the use of Morse Code by tapping on the pipes; and eating his favorite meal, apple pie and milk. Rather than starting off with the usual "Forward" reading to what's to be presented, it offers a written passage by Ralph Waldo Emerson that states: "The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, not the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out." And now, on with the adult life of Thomas Edison.

Getting down to basics from an original story by Dore Schary and Hugo Butler, the adult life of a great man begins with a golden jubilee of light (1879-1929) where 82-year-old Thomas Alva Edison (Spencer Tracy) is being interviewed by a couple of teenagers (Jay Ward and Anne Gillis) getting the facts for their school newspaper before attending the banquet in his honor at Independence Hall. As Edison sits at the table as the speaker tells about his life, he thinks back to the days of 1869 as a young man coming to New York City from Boston on an invitation from his friend and telegrapher, Bunt Cavatt (Lynne Overman) to come work for Ben Els (Henry Travers). Attempting to get James J. Taggart (Gene Lockhart) of Wall Street to finance him for his inventions, Edison gets support from General Powell (Charles Coburn), president of Western Union. After selling his invention, Edison, who earlier met Mary Stillwell (Rita Johnson), earns enough money to get married and open his own invention factory in Menlo Park, New Jersey (The reproduction of it is first rate set designing). Edison's marriage brings forth two children, but due to he working tirelessly on his many inventions, it nearly causes hardship on his marriage. After Powell dies, it appears Edison will face financial ruin, but with the confidence and loyalty of those working under him, he strives to work on the greatest invention of all time.

Aside from Felix Bressart, Peter Godfrey, Milton Parsons, Byron Foulger, Grant Mitchell and Addison Richards leading fine support, Gene Reynolds, in small but worthy performance as Jimmy Price, a teenage runaway landing a job with Edison's middle-aged associates on various inventions. While one serious mistake nearly puts him on the downside, Tracy's Edison give him this great line as he gives him that's second chance, "One thing about mistakes, they don't have to be permanent." Rita Johnson's role as Mrs. Edison is a bit downplayed at times and offers little challenge to her performance.

As cliché as movie biographies goes, EDISON, THE MAN ranks one of the best of its kind. Naturally historians might be discouraged with some inaccuracies or eliminations that took part in Edison's life, yet so much can only be disclosed without putting this motion picture past the two or three hour mark. The fact that Edison's second wife and more children are eliminated, the screenplay covers more on his struggles than personal life and achievements, namely that on the invention of the phonograph, dictating machine (Edison's first words, "Mary had a little lamb ...") and finally doing the impossible by lighting up New York City, the most detailed of all.

One cannot help but notice similarities of Edison with Tracy's earlier portrayal of Father Flanagan taken from BOYS TOWN (1938) as one who doesn't let troubles discourage him. As Edison is said to be as one who would have been a great man even if he never invented anything, Tracy would have been a great actor even if he never won an Academy Award. Though Tracy did win two, he earned no nomination for this fine portrayal. Longer and a bit slower than YOUNG TOM EDISON, EDISON, THE MAN is unforgettable by any means, especially Tracy's exact likeness towards the real Edison, the old man.

Regardless of minor flaws and/or factual errors (that's to be expected), EDISON, THE MAN is no disappointment. To learn more about Edison's life as depicted on screen, get hold of the old home video release from 1991, DVD copy, or wait for another broadcast on Turner Classic Movies. To learn more on Edison in the life as he lived it, check out a library book from the biography section. (****)

Spencer Tracy is "Edison, the Man" in this 1940 film also starring Gene Lockhart, Felix Bressart, Gene Reynolds and Charles Coburn. The Clarence Brown-directed film begins with Edison as an old man looking back on his life as he's talking to kids from a school newspaper.

Edison had a brilliant mind and invented many things, including conducting something like 2,000 experiments before he found a way to get a light bulb to work. One of his inventions was the "talking machine," and if you go on wikipedia.com, you can actually hear Edison speaking into it. This is my favorite part of the film - I worked on a dictaphone machine back in the '70s that looked like a smaller version of what Edison invents in the movie. The transcriber placed a blue belt with grids in it on a roller, and, as the belt moved, you transcribed. It seems so archaic 30 years later.

The film is fairly inaccurate concerning Edison's private life and other details, but hopefully, it's interesting enough that it will inspire the viewer to read all about this remarkable man, well played by Spencer Tracy. The supporting cast is also excellent.

Highly entertaining and well worth seeing.

I would say that this film should be viewed in school because Edison was a great example not necessarily as an inventor but as a man who doesn't stop believing in his ideas, intuition and inspiration, a true role model of nowadays.

Spencer Tracy was great also, showing the passion in every scene where Edison was thinking and working to put in practice his ideas. Somehow I understand why in real life he stopped believing in the meaning of Oscars, after this picture had only one nomination. And why he shouldn't? The film was the story of one of the greatest inventors of this planet, and he tried to show in his role that Edison, by all of his actions, wasn't after his own interest, but after the progress of our society.

It's a biopic of inventor Thomas Edison (Spencer Tracy). This is very much a family-friendly, nice, good-natured Edison in a light-hearted biopic. He does have his ambitions but there is no particular drama. It makes for a rather bland telling of this legendary life. They don't even mention Tesla's name. His rivals are reduced to nameless businessmen and other jealous scientists. It is somewhat interesting to see some of his inventions but it's not that informative. I don't see how this got nominated for writing. Spencer Tracy is perfect in creating a nice character. I don't know if that's Edison or not.