The Power and the Glory

As scripted by Preston Sturges (who impressed the producers at Fox so much they ordered director Howard to shoot his screenplay word for word), this story of a railway tycoon's rise and fall looks like a dry run for Citizen Kane, even though Sturges allows himself a little more sentiment on the matter than Welles ever did. Tracy, previously a villainous supporting player, grabbed his first lead and never looked back, but the movie as a whole is more significant for its place in the history books than as a living, breathing, viewing experience.