Captains Courageous: A Review

CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS

It was Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote, "Home is the sailor, home from sea". However, it was Rudyard Kipling who wrote Captains Courageous, a well-crafted if perhaps long sailor tale. Strong performances all around, including an Oscar-winning one, elevate Captains Courageous to a film well worth watching. 

Master Harvey Cheyne (Freddie Bartholomew) is both spoiled and arrogant. His widowed father Frank Burton Cheyne (Melvyn Douglas) loves his only son. However, he is unaware of how Harvey uses and abuses people. Harvey is set on joining a club at his prep school. He attempts to bully a club member by threatening to have Frank take his father's business. He already bribed his way into being the school editor. He also attempted to bribe a teacher. Harvey's actions are so extreme that the school administration has ordered that all students shun him (the term "sent to Coventry" applied to Harvey*). Frank, finally informed of Harvey's acts, decides that they should attempt to bond on a transatlantic trip.

Harvey, however, cannot shake his brusque manner. Unfortunately, Harvey falls overboard attempting to avoid other boys. Fortunately, he survives and is rescued by simple Portuguese fisherman Manuel (Spencer Tracy). Manuel, a happy-go-lucky fellow, finds his "little fish" amusing. He takes him to the fishing ship We're Here, ruled by benevolent Captain Disko Troop (Lionel Barrymore). Harvey orders Disko to take him to New York, assuring him that his father is worth millions. Disko will not surrender a good fishing season to the whims of this "Jonah" and refuses to change his original return to shore schedule. Instead, Disko decides that Harvey will be a temporary crewman instead of a passenger, thus avoiding any curse a passenger on a fishing ship could place for the next three months. 

Harvey balks at having to work. Manuel, however, takes a shine to this curious fellow. Eventually, Harvey soon starts bonding with the We're Here crew and especially with Manuel. His efforts to help Manuel win a bet with Manuel's frenemy Long Jack (John Carridine) via cheating gets a firm dressing down by Manuel. Harvey starts growing as a person under Manuel's loving guardianship. Things, however, come to a head when during a combination race/storm, the We're Here crew faces the brutal elements. Not all will survive. Harvey does, but he is inconsolable even after reuniting with his father. Will Harvey continue pining for his Portuguese father figure or will he find that the real thing is just as good?

Captains Courageous is historic in that it was the first of Spencer Tracy's consecutive Best Actor Oscar wins. Granted, no one could have known that Tracy would win Best Actor the next year for Boys Town. I think one element that got Tracy the Oscar was that he was affecting a Portuguese accent. Then as now, an actor playing a foreign character is catnip to the Academy. 

This is not to say that Spencer Tracy gave a bad performance. Far from it. His Manuel was charming and pleasant. He has a wonderful rapport with Freddie Bartholomew as the haughty Harvey. Tracy makes Manuel's fondness for his "little fish" (his pet name for Harvey) sweet. His last scene with Bartholomew is deeply moving. We the audience are aware that Manuel cannot survive. However, Tracy continues Manuel's cheerful demeanor with Harvey, trying to convince him that everything will be alright. 

Tracy also has a wonderful bit of monologue when he talks to Harvey about Manuel's late father. He expresses a firm belief that Manuel, Sr., who died while working as a fisherman, has a little ship in Heaven. There, under the Savior (the best fisherman ever), his father waits for him.    

Curiously, there was no talk then and I doubt any talk now about "cultural appropriation" with the Irish Tracy playing a Portuguese character. 

My one caveat about Spencer Tracy in Captains Courageous is that he struck me as a bit too cheery. It veered dangerously close to being cartoonish and silly. He could be cross. However, his cheerful disposition at times felt a bit too mannered.

That was not the case with Freddie Bartholomew. He has a simply wonderful, expressive face that is put to good use here. Bartholomew shows Harvey's evolution. In the beginning, he is chilling in how cold and ruthless he makes Harvey. His character is one built on entitlement, arrogance and total selfishness. The one, thin sliver of kindness is in how he has a misguided sense of helping or emulating his father. As Captains Courageous continues though, we see Harvey's evolution.

He is haughty and entitled on first falling among the We're Here's crew. Over time though, we see Harvey accept that his dishonest ways will not work with the honest, working-class men. One wants to almost cheer when Lionel Barrymore's Captain Ditko whacks Harvey across the ear. One does not because despite his behavior, Harvey is still a child. Bartholomew shows Harvey becoming more likeable, honest and hardworking. Seeing him genuinely mourn Manuel is deeply effective. Freddie Bartholomew may not have cried as well as a Jackie Cooper. However, it is still a very strong piece of acting. 

I personally think that Freddie Bartholomew outacted Spencer Tracy. It is to where I am surprised that he was not nominated either for Lead or Supporting Actor.

Captains Courageous also has strong work from other cast members. Lionel Barrymore was excellent as the sensible, no-nonsense Captain. He and Melvyn Douglas have a wonderful scene where Frank and Ditko are talking about Harvey. Without being overt, Captain Troop shows that he understands both father and son. He offers words of wisdom to Frank in the most subtle manner. Melvyn Douglas has a smaller role as Harvey's father. He does show that Frank does care about Harvey. While their last scene is silent, we do see that Frank and Harvey are building a positive relationship that leaves the viewer feeling hope.

A surprising element is the small role that Mickey Rooney has as Dan, Captain Troop's son. He does disappear for a good chunk of Captains Courageous. However, he leaves a strong impression. 

It is surprising to see that black fishermen along with their widows and orphans were given equal respect. The same goes for how both Catholic and Protestant ministers officiated at the seaside service. Given the times, this is a positive sign. The character of the ship's cook Doc (Samuel McMasters) did not lean into stereotypes. No one aboard the We're Here ever commented on or put Doc down. Even the haughty Harvey treated him with respect.

Victor Fleming also has some exciting sea sequences that give Captains Courageous great authenticity. It is as if you are on the seas, living out this story. 

Captains Courageous is a well-acted movie about the importance of mentors. It also speaks about the great sacrifices of those who go to sea. The film shows a memorial to all those who had died during the fishing season. Perhaps Captains Courageous is a bit long at almost two hours. On the whole, however, the acting and story more than make up for this minor flaw. Captains Courageous is worth the seaside journey. 

DECISION: B+

*"Sent to Coventry" is an old British expression meaning to shun completely. Its use has fallen out of favor and would be unfamiliar to most people now, especially with Americans in particular.