Captains Courageous (1937 film)

Captains Courageous
Captains Courageous
	Film poster
Directed by	Victor Fleming
Written by	John Lee Mahin; Marc Connelly; Dale Van Every
Based on	Captains Courageous; 1897 novel; by Rudyard Kipling
Produced by	Louis D. Lighton
Starring	Freddie Bartholomew; Spencer Tracy; Lionel Barrymore; Melvyn Douglas
Cinematography	Harold Rosson
Edited by	Elmo Veron
Music by	Franz Waxman
Production; company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's Inc.
Release dates	May 11, 1937 (New York); June 25, 1937 (U.S.);
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.6 million
Box office	$3.1 million

Captains Courageous is a 1937 American adventure drama film starring Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore and Melvyn Douglas. Based on the 1897 novel of the same name by Rudyard Kipling, the film had its world premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. Directed by Victor Fleming, it was produced by Louis D. Lighton and made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Filmed in black and white, Captains Courageous was advertised by MGM as a coming-of-age classic with exciting action sequences.

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, with Spencer Tracy winning the Best Actor for his portrayal of the simple but caring fisherman Manuel.

Backgrounds and exteriors for the film, which updated the story's setting to the mid-1920s, were shot on location in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Shelburne, Nova Scotia in Canada, and Gloucester, Massachusetts in the United States.^[2]

Plot

Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew as Manuel and Harvey

Harvey Cheyne is the spoiled son of American business tycoon Frank Burton Cheyne. Harvey is shunned by his classmates at a private boarding school, and eventually suspended for bad behavior. Seeking to close the gap between the pair, his father takes Harvey on a business trip to Europe, travelling there by trans-Atlantic steamship. Shortly in, Harvey falls overboard in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. He is rescued by a fisherman, Manuel Fidello, and taken aboard the fishing schooner "We're Here", from Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Harvey is shocked the schooner's captain, Disko Troop, intends fishing in the Atlantic for three more months. He fails to persuade the captain to take him back to New York, nor can he convince him of his wealth. Captain Troop offers Harvey temporary crew membership until they return to port. Harvey is reluctant to do real work but prodded by Manuel, a proud but simple Portuguese immigrant, eventually accepts. Befriended also by Captain Troop's son, Dan, he becomes acclimated to the demanding fishing lifestyle. Harvey begins to partner with Manuel in his dory. When a prank of Harvey's causes a fish hook to lodge in a crewman's arm, Manuel defends the boy. The We're Here fills with fish and turns for home.

In the climactic race back to Gloucester against a rival schooner, the Jennie Cushman, Manuel climbs to the top of the mast to furl the sail. However, the mast cracks and he is plunged into the icy sea, tangled in the rigging. Manuel speaks to the cook in Portuguese and the cook tells the Captain all the bottom half of him is gone, and he doesn't want the boy to see. Manuel tells the captain to cut the rigging free, knowing he will drown with it. Harvey crawls out on the wreckage, crying and distraught, while the captain strikes away with an axe. Finally Manuel kisses the cross around his neck and sinks below the water. The schooner returns to port and Harvey is reunited with his father, who is impressed by his son's maturity. Harvey grieves for Manuel, pushing his father away and wanting to stay on the We're Here, but Disko reassures Cheyne, telling him that there is room in Harvey's heart for both men and that once there Cheyne “will find Manuel mighty satisfactory company.” At the church, Harvey lights two candles, one from Manuel to Manuel’s father and one from him to Manuel. His father overhears Harvey praying that someday he will be with Manuel again and follows the boy to Manuel's dory, floating near the ship. Harvey is inconsolable and begs Cheyne to leave him alone.

The next day, in front of the Fisherman's Memorial, he and his father join the community in casting bouquets and wreaths on the outgoing tide in tribute to the souls lost during this fishing season. The last shot shows the Cheyne's car speeding down the road with Manuel's dory on a trailer behind. Through the side window we see Harvey gesturing animatedly and his father laughing, regaled with stories of Harvey’s adventures.

Cast

Freddie Bartholomew as Harvey Cheyne
Spencer Tracy as Manuel Fidello
Lionel Barrymore as Captain Disko Troop
Melvyn Douglas as Frank Burton Cheyne
Charley Grapewin as Uncle Salters
Mickey Rooney as Dan Troop
John Carradine as "Long Jack"
Oscar O'Shea as Captain Walt Cushman
Jack La Rue as Priest (credited as Jack LaRue)
Walter Kingsford as Dr. Finley
Donald Briggs as Bob Tyler
Sam McDaniel as "Doc" (credited as Sam McDaniels)
Bill Burrud as Charles Jamison (credited as Billy Burrud)
Gladden James as Secretary Cobb (uncredited)
Frank Sully as taxi driver (uncredited)
Billy Gilbert as soda steward (uncredited)
Charles Coleman as Burns, the butler (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as corridor steward (uncredited)

Reception

Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times called the film "another of those grand jobs of movie-making we have come to expect of Hollywood's most prodigal studio. With its rich production, magnificent marine photography, admirable direction and performances, the film brings vividly to life every page of Kipling's novel and even adds an exciting chapter or two of its own."^[3] Variety reported that the Kipling story had "been given splendid production, performance, photography and dramatic composition."^[4] Harrison's Reports wrote, "Excellent! It is the type of entertainment that audiences will not forget soon, for its spiritual beauty makes a deep impression on one."^[5] John Mosher of The New Yorker called it "as rich a film as you will see this spring ... The picture is magnificent as a sketch of storm and struggle on the ocean."^[6]

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $1,688,000 in the US and Canada and $1,445,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $355,000.^[1]

Awards

Spencer Tracy won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in this film. The movie was also nominated for three other Academy Awards:

Best Picture – Louis D. Lighton, producer
Best Film Editing – Elmo Veron
Best Writing, Screenplay – Marc Connelly, John Lee Mahin and Dale Van Every

A VHS edition of the 1937 film was released by MGM Home Video in 1990 followed by Warner Home Video's DVD of the film on January 31, 2006.

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #94^[7]

In popular culture

Holden Caulfield, protagonist of the 1951 J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye, is thought to look like Harvey Cheyne, as in the book a prostitute tells Caulfield that he looks like the boy who falls off a boat in a film costarring Melvyn Douglas, though the film is not mentioned by name.

Chris Elliott has stated that Captains Courageous was the inspiration for the film Cabin Boy.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ "AFI|Catalog".
^ Nugent, Frank S. (May 12, 1937). "Movie Review: Captains Courageous". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
^ "Film reviews". Variety. New York: Variety, Inc. May 19, 1937. p. 22.
^ "Captains Courageous". Harrison's Reports. New York: Harrison's Reports, Inc.: 71 May 1, 1937.
^ Mosher, John (May 15, 1937). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. New York: F-R Publishing Corp. p. 105.
^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-14.