Captains Courageous

This is a must-see movie. Don't know if you have to be a child though. If you like movies with unconditional love this is the best I think I have ever seen. I saw it when I was growing up. The images are still with me. Agree with the post from London that I would still probably cry if I saw it again. Spencer Tracy has been my hero since I saw it over 40 years ago. If you are a sailor and like the ocean you will like this movie. The wooden ship and the sails are amazing. I don't know why I need to say any more about this movie. I worshiped the movie and the father-figure that Spencer Tracy represented to me. The world needs more men and women that children can look up to. I don't think they have many in post 911. Maybe John Kerry can change that.

Listen, I feel very sorry for the sea captain(knowing that within a very short time he would become so badly crippled with arthritis that he would need a wheel chair) but the fact it is HE was responsible for poor Manuel's getting killed. Nobody seems to have paid the slightest attention to this. Racing full speed in unsafe conditons, jeopardizing the entire ship and the lives of the men and all the hard work they had done over those months -- all so he could win a dumb race against another sea captain. Had he just sailed the ship safely and normally, Manuel would be alive today, or at lease he might still be (this written in 2006) as a very old man.

Captains Courageous (1937) You might think this movie will come off as old-fashioned and stale, a old Kipling yarn filmed in the 1930s in black and white. Well don't pre-judge this! It's really good. Fast, energetic, touching, and filled with good acting and great filming. It even has a moral tale that doesn't smack you as sentimental, but is a good reminder of what counts in life. The main character is a rich boy who obviously needs to learn some lessons in humility and honor. And he's played with real perfection by the young English actor Freddie Bartholomew who had a five year heyday of great roles and great performances with classic adventure stories told on film. And there are parallels here of bigger tales like "Kidnapped" (1938) and "David Copperfield" (1935), with a child intersecting the world of adults and its perils. His adult friend is the bigger star, Spencer Tracy, who does a good job though I've never quite loved his style of acting. Here he plays a Portuguese sailor with a half an accent and it's the one problem in the film. Next to him in a big role is Lionel Barrymore, who recognizably makes for a quirky captain of the fishing boat. He's great. And so are the other side characters, including a whole slew of big names from the time (John Carradine and Mickey Rooney are probably most famous now). Much of the film is a low key adventure film. It's aimed at kids the way "The Wizard of Oz" is aimed at kids—meaning it's great for adults, too, and there are a few things snuck in to keep older viewers attuned. Director Victor Fleming went on to direct "Oz" and much of "Gone with the Wind" in two years, and you can feel his Hollywood expertise in every scene here. This is not a stiff 1930s movie if your head is in that mode. Fleming (with photographer great Harold Rosson, who shot "Oz" and a hundred others) makes it vivid and wondrous. The mix of studio shots and authentic sea footage (made with a second film crew in the North Atlantic) is brilliantly handled—no back projection goofs here. I really liked this movie. It's straight up filmic storytelling. No distractions, no bumbling. Give it a go and be surprised.

Harvey Cheyne is a snivelling snot nosed spoilt brat, on a trip to Europe with his father aboard a posh liner, he falls overboard and is rescued from certain death by a Gloucester fishing boat. Once aboard this fishing vessel it becomes obvious that the hard working sea faring crew have no time for Harvey's jumped up behaviour. Luckily for Harvey, tough as boots Potrugese fisherman, Manuel, takes him under his wing and teaches the spoilt Harvey about life. Written by the insanely talented Rudyard Kipling, directed by actors director Victor Fleming, starring Spencer Tracy {one of the best of his generation}, backed up by top line professionals Lionel Barrymore & John Carradine, and containing a child performance never to be forgotten, this sea adventure is as wonderful a film as you could wish to view. Yes the film belongs in the adventure genre that many have it seated in, but at its core it's a heart tugging ode to respect and love being the lessons affirming in ones life. For the first quarter of this film I wanted to throw young Harvey {Freddie Bartholomew} overboard from the fishing boat {and would have given the chance}, but I promise you, that if you have a heart, that come the end of the picture young Harvey will have you wrapped around his little finger. That Harvey's transformation is so impacting says so much about Spencer Tracy's performance as Manuel, for it's once Harvey meets Manuel that the film {and character portrayals} shift to a higher gear. Tracy bagged the Academy Award for best Actor here, and few golden statues given out in that category were more deserved. Tracy was never a fan of acting outside of his persona arc, but here he puts on the accent and emotes a performance of incredible style. Never over sentimental, Captains Courageous shifts in tone at the point when you least expect it too, the picture has no submarine tactics in it, but the makers do in fact submarine you to jolt you into undivided attention, and it's here where you realise that you are viewing a very special film. Perhaps you need a sentimental bone in your body to let it wash over you? That I really can't say, but at the end of this picture I personally felt a far richer person than I was when I began it. Making Captains Courageous one of the reasons I love films so very much. 10/10

this has to be one of my favorite films ever. I loved it as a kid and the last time I happened to catch it on TV, i loved it just as much and cried just as hard. Freddy Bartholomew! what a fantastic little actor this kid was! and of course, the unparalleled Spencer Tracy as Manuel the fisherman we all love so much, is simply fantastic. i did not realize that this was a Fleming film, that explains a lot. All of my favorites from this era seem to have had this man at the wheel. He sure knew the right combination of sentiment, humor, melodrama, and reality to come up with a winner most of the time. I'm glad to see so many other votes and comments that echo (i guess i'm the echo tho, huh?) my own feelings about this film Its nice to know others also feel as strongly and as warmly about it as i always have. it sure deserves it. I sing "Yo, ho little fish, don't cry, don't cry, Yo ho little fish don't cry, don't cry" to my kids at night thanks to Manuel. It always works too!

A wonderful film I only discovered about ten years ago. A low key beginning, hardly anything to attract the viewer to sympathize with the predicament that befalls young Harvey. With a wonderful cast, fairly average story but told and beautifully understated brings a wonderful balance and heart-tugging restoration for young Harvey, plucked from the sea by Spencer Tracy, a Portuguese fisherman. Having to become a fisherman for two months, young Harvey finds out what he has not known in life. He begins the story as a spoilt young irritating brat but ends it restored to life and his father. A message for us all, begun and ending in eternity. Poignant, sad and enriching. Great cinema.

Some people don't know selflessness until they experience something extreme, like what happens in "Captains Courageous". Harvey Cheyne (Freddie Bartholomew) is the most spoiled kid whom anyone could ever imagine. After falling off of a ship, he gets picked up by Portuguese fisherman Manuel Fidello (Spencer Tracy), who teaches him selflessness and various other life lessons. Spencer Tracy won a well deserved Oscar for his performance. Manuel is a person who, while not having much materially, has a lot to teach. He humbly improvises songs and just loves to go fishing, a stark contrast to Harvey's life of luxury. It doesn't suffice to call "Captains Courageous" a morality lesson; it's about life in general. 10/10.

A spoiled rich boy falls overboard & emerges from the sea into the world of the CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS, the rough & honest fishermen who ply the waters of the North Atlantic for months on end. Rudyard Kipling's classic novel of maturation & responsibility has been expanded & updated and turned into a wonderful film by MGM. The production values, especially those dealing with the fishing boat sequences, are exceptional. After the first half hour, where we are introduced to the boy's bad behavior at home, school, father's office & aboard the luxury liner, the film arrives at the heart of the matter with the introduction of the fisherman and their rough, dangerous way of life. Freddie Bartholomew, luminous face & shining eyes aglow, is the very picture of boyish innocence. The fact that MGM gave him top billing over the powerhouse cast shows the kind of confidence they had in their child star. Although his proper English accent is a bit out of place and his sweetness makes his initial bratty behavior a bit of a stretch, once he's firmly ensconced on the trawler and his life lessons are being learned, it is difficult to think of any other young actor of his era in the role. His lessons come mainly from Spencer Tracy, who is beyond praise as Manuel, the stalwart Portuguese fisherman. Noble, earthy, lighthearted, honest, these were attributes Tracy could sink his teeth into & he delivers a performance of heroic proportions. Good-natured & loyal, singing joyously to his hurdy-gurdy, his Manuel is still fiercely protective of his `liddle fish,' seeing at once the qualities the boy has to offer, once he shapes up. Audiences surrender to Tracy completely (fake accent and all) and his scenes with young Bartholomew are especially tender. The subsequent Best Actor Oscar for his performance here was very well deserved. Lionel Barrymore, as the crusty, wise old captain of the fishing boat, is a delight. In one of the last roles in which he had the use of his legs, he is completely believable as a Massachusetts seaman. Like Tracy, he inhabits his part, giving an over-the-top performance that is completely appropriate. He embodies the kind of man anyone would feel confident to have at the helm during a sea storm. The excellence of the cast is evidenced by having Charley Grapewin, John Carradine & Mickey Rooney all on board as crew members; each is given a chance to display their talents, as is Melvyn Douglas as Bartholomew's preoccupied father. Movie mavens will recognize Billy Gilbert as a soda fountain jerk, as well as Christian Rub & Jimmy Conlin as fisherman, all uncredited.

I dare anyone to sit through this film with dry eyes! Especially people of the male persuasion. There is simply no way it can be done. Young teen Freddie Bartholomew is a snotty, spoilt brat, and on a cruise with his dad he falls overboard and is rescued by Portuguese fisherman Spencer Tracy who takes him to Captain Lionel Barrymore's commercial fishing ship. They can't afford to go give up their fishing to take the arrogant kid back to land, and so Freddie is forced to spend three months with the crew, gradually mellowing into a nice boy and evolving into a rugged, no-nonsense kid who dotes on Tracy's rough and ready Manuel. Victor Fleming was never the most subtle of directors, and this adaptation of Kipling's story does not thrive on its wealth of detail or the ambiguity of emotion, but its sweep is epic and its heart so real that you feel you have been on a roller-coaster-ride. I loved the reels of the men fishing and preparing the fish, it had a nice documentary feel to it, akin to the silent 'Down to the Sea in Ships' that 'Captains Courageous' resembles a lot at times. The cinematography is beautiful, the mist and fog captured with finesse. But this film is all about acting. Spencer Tracy got an Oscar for his acting as Manuel, cast against type. And although his performance verges on the sentimental, it never actually tips over. But the film belongs to Freddie Bartholomew who surely must have been tempted to overboard with emotion, but, miraculously, never does. This boy was an astute and intuitive actor, and he never sets a foot wrong. Mickey Rooney shines in an itsy bitsy part as the captain's son. He never tries to steal any scenes from Bartholomew (as one suspects he might, and could!), but concentrates on a brisk, matter-of-fact performance of this young pro of the sea, every movement he makes seems exactly right, again almost documentary-like. Watch this film if you get the chance. They don't come much better, and yes, it will make you bawl and sob. Be warned.

This is my favorite movie of all time. I have seen thousands of movies but none can come near Captains Courageous for its warmth, compassion, drama and meaningfulness. A wonderful story of single-parent bonding and hero worship. Spencer Tracy as Manuel the Portugese fisherman was absolutely fantastic. Just looking at the sparkle in his eyes when mentoring Harvey (Freddie Bartholomew) was beautiful. I have shown this film to my senior class in Strategic Management and they all loved it. And what a supporting cast, Lionel Barrymore, Melvin Douglas, Mickey Rooney, John Caradine. It was also one of the first Hollywood movies to treat a black character with dignity and respect. The ship's cook was even bilingual, speaking both English and Portugese, and was a respected member of the crew, not just an Uncle Tom. They don't make them any better than this--and not a single word of profanity, no sex or sexual episodes, must a wonderful story, well acted, sad but uplifting.