Spencer Tracy 4-Film Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Spencer Tracy 4-Film Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 3, 2026

Yet another four-film actor-themed collection from the most reliable boutique label in the business, Warner Archive's new Spencer Tracy pays tribute to the leading man by serving up for previously-issued discs in a sleek, space-saving collection for quarters on the dollar. Included here are Fury and Libeled Lady from 1936, the historical drama Northwest Passage from 1940, and finally the 1955 classic Bad Day at Black Rock from later in his career.

For synopses and appreciations of these four films, please visit the linked review below. The first three reviews were written by me, and the fourth is by Michael Reuben although I wrote a new summary below.

Fury - Celebrated director Fritz Lang made his unlikely American debut with Fury, a drama heavily emphasizing the danger of mob mentality. Our hapless target is Joe Wilson (Tracy), a gas station owner finally making the trip out West to see his beloved fiancée Katherine Grant (Sylvia Sidney) after several months of separation. While on the road, Joe is arrested for the kidnapping of a local child, a conclusion based on nothing more than circumstantial evidence -- he fits the physical description of their wanted suspect and shares a habit of eating salted peanuts. This is no murder mystery, of course: we know Joe is completely innocent of the heinous crime... but gossip spreads like wildfire and, within hours, a revenge-starved mob of locals descends on the jail to enact their own brand of vigilante justice.

Libeled Lady - A light screwball comedy with charisma to spare, Jack Conway's Libeled Lady features a talented cast that makes the most of a tangled story. It was nominated for Best Picture during a stacked year that included A Tale of Two Cities, Dodsworth, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and San Francisco... but they would all lose to The Great Ziegfeld, which also co-starred William Powell and Myrna Loy. (The popular duo also joined forces in yet another 1936 film, After the Thin Man.) They're as charming as ever here but are only half of the key players in Libeled Lady, which reminds us that hell hath no fury like a woman falsely accused of homewrecking by a major metropolitan newspaper.

Northwest Passage - A capable historical drama with great production values but only modest box-office success, King Vidor's Northwest Passage joins the likes of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World as planned multi-part epics that never earned a sequel (unless, of course, you count the one-season 1958 TV series). Subtitled "Book 1: Rogers' Rangers", this 126-minute Technicolor production -- reportedly filmed over an 18-month period -- was based on the first half of Kenneth Roberts' lengthy novel and follows Robert Rogers (Tracy) and his men on their path towards the raid of a Native American settlement at Saint- François-du-Lac, Quebec. Much like the book's first half, it revels in small details and day-to-day concerns as the dutiful Rangers trek through rugged territory, serving up intermittent thrills and durable character-based drama yet never feeling quite as fully effective as its source material.

Bad Day at Black Rock - John Sturges' classic 1955 film is a compelling mixture of film noir and Western, one that liberally borrows elements from both genres and manages to create a unique atmosphere in the process. It starts out with a terrific setup, too: one-armed John Macreedy (Tracy) arrives in the derelict desert town of Black Rock via express train; it's only the second time the train's stopped there in four years...and within minutes, we realize why. The locals are anything but glad to see an outsider, so he either gets dirty looks or the cold shoulder on his way to a hotel that's practically covered in tumbleweeds but doesn't seem to have any vacancies. We're fed pieces of the puzzle as Bad Day at Black Rock unfolds: a missing Japanese man, Macreedy's military service, a burned-down home, and a small group of unhelpful citizens that block him at almost every turn. He is, quite simply, not welcome around these parts.

Spencer Tracy 4-Film Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For details about each film's 1080p transfer, please see the reviews linked below. As with Warner Archive's other multi-disc collections, I've rated the A/V and extras based on an average score of the separate Blu-rays.

Fury

Libeled Lady

Northwest Passage

Bad Day at Black Rock

Spencer Tracy 4-Film Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, details about each disc's audio mix can be found at the links below.

Fury

Libeled Lady

Northwest Passage

Bad Day at Black Rock

Spencer Tracy 4-Film Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This four-disc set ships in a hinged keepcase with separate hubs for each disc. Like other Warner Archive multi-disc collections, this one repurposes existing poster-themed covers as a paneled collage. One or more modest bonus features are included on each disc and detailed in the review links below.

Fury

Libeled Lady

Northwest Passage

Bad Day at Black Rock

Spencer Tracy 4-Film Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Warner Archive's Spencer Tracy Collection, like other volumes in their ongoing campaign of multi-disc sets, brings together four previously issued Blu-rays in a space-saving package designed to build a classic film collection for very little money. This is one of their best to date for the diversity and quality of the included films, not to mention WAC's reliable great A/V restorations and era-specific extras, so it obviously comes Highly Recommended.