On Wednesday Afternoon, June 16, TCM is Broadcasting a Van Heflin-Spencer Tracy Double Feature: Tennessee Johnson (1942) at 11:45 a.m. ET, and Northwest Passage (1940) at 1:45 p.m. ET

By David in TN
Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 1:13:00 A.M. EDT

On Wednesday afternoon, June 16, TCM has a Van Heflin-Spencer Tracy double feature.

At 11:45 a.m. ET, Tennessee Johnson (1942) with Van Heflin as Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln as President after his assassination. When the movie was made and until recent decades, Johnson was seen favorably for trying to bring the South back into the union and fighting successfully against being impeached by Radical Republicans on “trumped-up” false charges.

Tennessee Johnson is, in my opinion, one of Van Heflin’s best performances.

At 1:45 p.m. ET, Northwest Passage (1940) with Spencer Tracy as the leader of Roger's Rangers, with Robert Young and Walter Brennan. The film is in glorious color. Northwest Passage takes place during the French and Indian War of the 1750s. The war with Indians is realistically brutal, causing the film to be criticized nowadays. Historical accuracy is unwelcome.

Ruth Hussey had the female lead in both. She played Andrew Johnson’s wife, Eliza McCardle Johnson, in Tennessee Johnson. When they met, Eliza Johnson taught her husband to read.

In Northwest Passage, Hussey played the girlfriend of Robert Young’s character.