THE SEA OF GRASS

 

THE SEA OF GRASS is a 1947 MGM production starring the legendary duo of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. 

This was one of the few Tracy-Hepburn pictures I had not seen. I had always wondered why this film never got much attention, or was not shown on TV very much. After watching it I can understand why it doesn't have much of a reputation--it's one of the weaker Tracy-Hepburn outings. 

The story starts out in 1880, as the aristocratic Lutie Cameron (Katharine Hepburn) travels from St. Louis to New Mexico to marry cattle baron Colonel Jim Brewton (Spencer Tracy). Lutie finds out that Brewton has a bad reputation among the locals, especially an idealistic attorney named Brice Chamberlain (Melvyn Douglas)  who is determined to use the law to curtail his power. Lutie isn't comfortable with the Western lifestyle, and she and Brice start to become closer. She eventually goes back to St. Louis, but returns to the West when she hears her now-grown son (Robert Walker) is in trouble. 

At first glance one would assume that THE SEA OF GRASS is a sprawling Western epic, but it's actually more of a talky soap opera. According to internet research, director Elia Kazan was eager to go on location, but most of the outdoor scenes are stock footage, with characters so far away you can't really see them. When Tracy & Hepburn are supposedly out on the range, they're quite obviously in front of a projection screen, negating the sweeping scope the film was aiming for. Kazan tries to make up for this by setting up several expressionistic shot compositions. 

I feel Tracy & Hepburn worked best when they were in a contemporary story that allowed them to freely interact with each other. In THE SEA OF GRASS their natural chemistry is missing--even when their characters are getting along there's very little warmth between them. The two acting legends don't even get a lot of screen time together here. Despite the fact that he's a hard-charging independent-minded powerful landowner, Tracy is very subdued as Jim Brewton--he would later play a much more colorful cattle baron in BROKEN LANCE.

Melvyn Douglas's lawyer is supposed to be a classier alternative for Lutie, but he comes off as somewhat of a prig. One expects a major one-on-one confrontation between the lawyer and the Colonel, but it never happens. One also expects a battle between Tracy and all the homesteaders he constantly complains about, but that never happens either. 

Robert Walker doesn't show up until about 90 minutes in the story, and after only a few scenes he's on the run from the law. The young Brewton is a wild troublemaker, but despite Walker's hammy performance it's hard to care about his fate, since the viewer barely gets a chance to know him. There's a plot element suggesting that Walker is actually the son of Hepburn and Douglas, but this never gets resolved one way or the other--at least it wasn't resolved to my satisfaction. 

While the movie briefly focuses on Walker Hepburn all but disappears. She and Tracy are reunited in the end, but the climax is abrupt and underwhelming. 

Being a MGM production one knows that THE SEA OF GRASS will be technically well-made, with a glossy look to it. It also has a fine supporting cast, with the likes of Edgar Buchanan, Harry Carey, Robert Armstrong, Morris Ankrum, and Glenn Strange. But the film is a draggy two hours, and even Tracy & Hepburn can't do much to inject some life into it. Research states that THE SEA OF GRASS was, believe it or not, the most financially successful MGM Tracy & Hepburn film at the box office. I doubt even the most dedicated fan of the duo would enjoy the movie very much now.