Captains Courageous (1937)

Captains Courageous
Directed by Victor Fleming
Written by John Lee Mahin, Marc Connelly, and Dale Van Every based on a novel by Rudyard Kipling
1937/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing
#104 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Manuel Fidello: Wake up, Little Fish. Hey, wake up, wake up! Somebody think you dead, they have celebrations.[/box]

I thought this one was very moving, with some great performances.

Harvey Cheyne (Freddie Bartholomew) has been spoiled rotten by his wealthy widower father (Melvyn Douglas) and terrorizes the servants and his classmates at school.  He has developed bad habits such as bribery, threats, and bullying.  These eventually get him suspended from school.  So his father takes Harvey with him on a voyage to England on business where Harvey continues to be naughty.  As the result of one of his escapades, he is swept overboard.  He is rescued by Portuguese fisherman Manuel (Spencer Tracy) in a dory and taken back to his cod fishing vessel helmed by Captain Disko (Lionel Barrymore).  Harvey continues to try to lord it over the crew but finds it gets him nowhere. Harvey eventually develops a close bond with Manuel.

This is by far the most nuanced performance I have seen Freddie Bartholomew give.  It was really great seeing him be a rotter – but a thinking rotter if you know what I mean.  This made the more vulnerable parts near the end twice as poignant.  Spencer Tracy was also splendid as the happy-go-lucky Manuel.  The scenes at sea are quite good and the music by Franz Waxman is rousing.  This is heart-tugging material and it worked on my heart exactly as intended.

Spencer Tracy won the first of his two Best Actor Oscars for his work on this film. Captains Courageous was also nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Writing (Screenplay), and Best Film Editing.

Re-release trailer