Captains Courageous (1937)
Captains Courageous on the IMDb
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Warner Brothers. Freddie Bartholomew,
Spencer Tracy,
Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn
Douglas, Mickey Rooney, John Carradine in a Victor Fleming film. The first
of Spencer Tracy's back to back Best Actor Academy Awards comes in this tale of
the sea based on a Rudyard Kipling novel. Tracy, playing Manuel, a
Portuguese fisherman, jars you at first with his accent, but as the picture
moves along you not only become used to it, but embrace it. I recall being
annoyed by his accent in 1942's Tortilla Flat, but I may have been
prejudiced against that role only because I had previously read and very much
enjoyed the John Steinbeck novel which that film was based on. I have also
mentioned in my Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde write-up that I found it a little strange that Tracy stuck with his
normal American voice in that picture, while even Ingrid Bergman threw on an
English accent. So, I went into Captains Courageous with some
hesitation because I was expecting a Tortilla Flat-like experience.
Instead, I forgot all about the other movie and just relaxed and enjoyed
Captains Courageous, which in the end made me want to give Tortilla Flat
another try!
Freddie Bartholomew is excellent as Harvey, the spoiled rich kid who is slowly changed by hanging around a group of simple fisherman. What I liked about Bartholomew's character was that he wasn't just a annoying spoiled little kid, he was very manipulative and quite mean. At one point, before he hits the open seas, Bartholomew, looking for a favor from a schoolmate, threatens the other boy by explaining that the boy's father makes his living from his own father and, while he wouldn't want to do so, he could quickly cause the entire family's fall into squalor. The other boy falls into a delirious tantrum in response to this threat of ruin. Good stuff! Of course, there's no way Freddie Bartholomew could cause such misfortune, because his father, played by Melvyn Douglas (who I was surprised to see looking so young!), isn't a bad guy at all. Douglas's Mr. Cheyne's only fault is that he is rich and busy, and thus out of touch with his spoiled son.
I was stunned when I looked and saw that Lionel Barrymore did not receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of the sea captain, Disko (which was a pretty funny name to hear him called throughout!). Barrymore, looking like the Gorton's Fisherman, was his crusty old self from start to finish. A nice guy, but a hard worker who puts the task at hand first, competitive, even a little reckless, I definitely enjoyed his character the most, but that's not unusual for me in a film where Barrymore appears. Mickey Rooney appears as Disko's son, and John Carradine has a small part as a grumpy fisherman. Except for the first 20-25 minutes and the final couple of scenes all of the action of this 111 minute film takes place on the fishing schooner, We're Here, with a few of the scenes on the small fishing boats launching off of the We're Here.
Warner Brothers DVD of Captains Courageous played a sharp picture in standard format and crisp sound in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. The DVD retails $19.99 but I purchased it on sale at $13.99 on Amazon.com. The Special Features are a little strange. There's a vintage short called The Little Maestro that I don't really understand why it's placed here -- it's about a short, down on his luck man, maybe he was supposed to be a midget, I couldn't really tell, who has to perform in a club after being served a free meal. There's more to it than that, but it was basically a random comedy short with some singing and with some dancing inserted here perhaps only because of it's 1937 release (?). Also here is a cartoon called Little Buck Cheeser, which I haven't had a chance to watch but apparently is a 1937 cartoon about a rocket ship. There is also a Radio Promo called Leo Is on the Air, which I can only assume is also from 1937 and likely has nothing to do with the main feature. I guess Warner Brothers was trying to give this disc the flavor of a Leonard Maltin Night at the Movies feature, but without Mr. Maltin tying things together for us. I'd have much preferred a ten or twenty minute documentary telling us something about Captains Courageous. If you're looking for your dose of Captains Courageous talk on a commentary track you won't find that here either. All in all, it appears Warner Brothers probably rushed this classic to the market due to popular demand and didn't feel like taking the time to send it off to us with all of the frills we've come to expect from their classic releases. All in all, worth the $14 bucks to me, but I wouldn't pay the full retail $20 unless this movie is on your want list.
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