Captains Courageous (1937)

A spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship gets picked up by a fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Rudyard Kipling (novel), John Lee Mahin (screen play)

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew, Lionel Barrymore

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Freddie Bartholomew	...	Harvey
Spencer Tracy	...	Manuel
Lionel Barrymore	...	Disko
Melvyn Douglas	...	Mr. Cheyne
Charley Grapewin	...	Uncle Salters
Mickey Rooney	...	Dan
John Carradine	...	'Long Jack'
Oscar O'Shea	...	Cushman
Jack La Rue	...	Priest (as Jack LaRue)
Walter Kingsford	...	Dr. Finley
Donald Briggs	...	Tyler
Sam McDaniel	...	'Doc' (as Sam McDaniels)
Bill Burrud	...	Charles (as Billy Burrud)

Storyline

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. Fortunately he's picked up by a fishing boat just heading out for the season. He tries to bribe the crew into returning early to collect a reward but none of them believe him. Stranded on the boat he must adapt to the ways of the fishermen and learn more about the real world.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | fishing boat | fishing | fisherman | spoiled brat | 

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Taglines:

AS GREAT AS "MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY"

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

25 June 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,645,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Spencer Tracy regularly grumbled over the two-hour process of having his hair curled every day and admittedly faked his way through a "Portuguese" accent, making most of it up as he went along. Fortunately, the screenwriters had tried to tailor Manuel's dialogue to Tracy as much as possible while still remaining true to the original spirit of Rudyard Kipling's story.

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Goofs

(at around 40 mins) Manuel holds a struggling Harvey from behind with the neck of Harvey's shirt in his left hand and the back of Harvey's pants in his right hand. Manuel says a line in close-up, then a close-up of Harvey shows Manuel holding the shirt with his right hand (at around 48 mins).

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Quotes

'Long Jack': It might go faster if our Jonah-catcher would throw away his hand-line and bend on a troll for once.
Manuel Fidello: You no think I catch as much as fish as you, huh, Jack?
'Long Jack': I ain't sayin' that.
Manuel Fidello: Maybe you just bump your head on bunk when you get up this morning, huh?
'Long Jack': Or, maybe you Portuguese just don't know nothin' about troll fishing.
Manuel Fidello: I tell you what I do, I take Jonah-kid with me tomorrow. I fish hand-line, I show him same time. I bet you we bring in fish as you and Nate together.
'Long Jack': Speak English, will ya: more...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are letters on planks, like the lettering on the side of ships, and between screen-fulls, a foaming wave of water splashes over it and then runs off. In the initial sets of credits, these appear to be actually letter-forms attached to the wood, as the water gets deflected by some of the letters; in later sets of credits, this effect is harder to see and the sets may be credits superimposed upon wood.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Spencer Tracy (1961)

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Soundtracks

Rock of Ages
(uncredited)
Music by Thomas Hastings (1830)
Lyrics by Augustus Montague Toplady (1776)
Sung by all at the Fishermen's Memorial

User Reviews

"Yo Ho, Little Fish, Don't Cry Don't Cry"

That was quite a catch that Spencer Tracy made that day in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

Young Freddie Bartholomew the spoiled son of tycoon Melvyn Douglas falls overboard off an ocean liner. By the merest chance, Spencer Tracy is in his dory fishing and reels in young Bartholomew. After his catch is made, Tracy returns to the boat that captain Lionel Barrymore is commanding.

It's quite a culture shock to the lad. He's fallen in literally with a bunch of people who work for a living and have no real interest in him because his Daddy's the richest guy around. Truth is Melvyn Douglas has been neglecting the kid for business and young Bartholomew is not really as bad a kid as originally thought. He joins the crew and becomes close to Tracy.

Of Tracy's two Oscar winning performances, the part of Manuel the Portugese fisherman, transplanted to New England is a bit more showy than Father Flanagan. It's a good blend of the roughneck characters Tracy was used to playing and the new father figure persona he adopted in San Francisco.

By necessity Tracy had to adopt an accent if for no other reasons than to distinguish him from the other members of Lionel Barrymore's crew and their clipped New England speech. The Portugese are a hearty, seafaring group though and I certainly never heard any complaint that his performance was in any way demeaning. Manuel's a simple guy, but with a good way of life and an appreciation for the important things life has to offer. That is what he imparts to Freddie Bartholomew.

Melvyn Douglas does not get enough recognition for this film. Just as Freddie Bartholomew is not a bad kid at heart, Douglas is not a bad man either. His performance as a man who lost his only child and then had him miraculously returned from the dead is touching. And the scenes where he tries to repair his relationship with young Bartholomew are poignant.

Lionel Barrymore is the perfect conception of a hearty New England fishing boat captain. As Freddie Bartholomew watches the interaction between Barrymore and Mickey Rooney, father and son, sharing not just playtime, but the father's profession, he realizes what he and Melvyn Douglas have missed out on.

Of the crew also pay close attention to John Carradine who resents and then accepts Bartholomew with the crew.

The fishing scenes are well done and Director Victor Fleming gives you a good picture of life on a commercial fishing vessel.

Captains Courageous is a fine family film in every sense of the word.