Captains Courageous (1937)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Rudyard Kipling (novel)
John Lee Mahin (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 June 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

The Most Exciting Picture Since "Mutiny On The Bounty"

Plot:

Harvey Cheyne is a spoiled brat used to having his own way. When a prank goes wrong onboard an ocean liner Harvey ends up overboard and nearly drowns...

Plot Keywords:

Fishing | Overboard | Fishing Boat | Sea Rescue | Orchestral Music Score

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Freddie Bartholomew	...	Harvey Cheyne
Spencer Tracy	...	Manuel Fidello
Lionel Barrymore	...	Captain Disko Troop
Melvyn Douglas	...	Frank Burton Cheyne
Charley Grapewin	...	Uncle Salters
Mickey Rooney	...	Dan Troop
John Carradine	...	Long Jack
Oscar O'Shea	...	Captain Walt Cushman
Jack La Rue	...	Priest (as Jack LaRue)
Walter Kingsford	...	Dr. Finley
Donald Briggs	...	Bob Tyler
Sam McDaniel	...	'Doc' (as Sam McDaniels)
Bill Burrud	...	Charles Jamison (as Billy Burrud)

Also Known As:

Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:U | Norway:A (1937) | USA:TV-G | USA:Approved (certificate #2051) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | New Zealand:G | Germany:6 | Australia:G | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Was the first MGM film to be shown on television, in 1955.

Goofs:

Continuity: In one scene later in the movie, Manuel has Harvey by the neck with his left hand, but then changes to the right.

Quotes:

Harvey: I bet I know a lot of things you don't know. I know that's not French you're singing.
Manuel Fidello: That's right. About ten million people know it's Portugese.
Harvey: I bet you can't speak French.
Manuel Fidello: Right now, I sorry I speak *English*.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Waltons: The Firestorm (#5.5)" (1976)

Soundtrack:

Blow The Man Down

Son meets father - in his heart

A wonderful film I only discovered about ten years ago. A low key beginning, hardly anything to attract the viewer to sympathize with the predicament that befalls young Harvey. With a wonderful cast, fairly average story but told and beautifully understated brings a wonderful balance and heart-tugging restoration for young Harvey, plucked from the sea by Spencer Tracy, a Portuguese fisherman. Having to become a fisherman for two months, young Harvey finds out what he has not known in life. He begins the story as a spoilt young irritating brat but ends it restored to life and his father. A message for us all, begun and ending in eternity. Poignant, sad and enriching. Great cinema.