USA 115m Dir: Victor Fleming Key Cast: Spencer Tracy
Captains Courageous opens with Harvey, a spoiled rich brat of a schoolboy played by Freddie Bartholomew. Harvey is incredibly annoying and I couldn't quite work out whether Bartholomew was just not a very strong child actor or if he was actually some sort of genius who absolutely nailed the part of annoying child.
Things do pick up a bit when Harvey falls off a cruise liner and is rescued by a old-school fishing ship. Despite his demands to be taken home immediately the crew refuse to return to land until they've filled the boat up with fish. Harvey is then taken under the wing of Portuguese fishermen Manuel, played by Spencer Tracy.
I have very mixed views about Tracy's performance here. His attempt at a Portuguese accent is utterly dreadful and is bordering on racist. The other sailors call him Manual, like a set of instructions, rather than Manuel and so the character often feels like a caricature of a Portuguese character. On the other hand Tracy does a fantastic job at building a relationship with young Harvey in the film and their friendship is the highlight of the film.
I was expecting some heartbreak as the voyage came to an end and Harvey would have to return to his old life but the film gave me even more than I bargained for. If nothing else the film succeeds in doing some great character development work with Harvey, changing him from a rich spoiled brat to a humble boy. The film seemed to take an age to end and I didn't think we needed as much after the fishing boat as we got.
Memorable for the great friendship/father-son relationship between Harvey and Manuel, this film is let down by some of the performances and production choices. It's poster proclaimed it to be as good Mutiny on the Bounty and frankly it doesn't even come close.
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