Rudyard Kipling's classic novel of maturation & responsibility has been expanded & updated and turned into a wonderful film by MGM. Captains Courageous is a fine family film in every sense of the word.Ī 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.

The fishing scenes are well done and Director Victor Fleming gives you a good picture of life on a commercial fishing vessel. Of the crew also pay close attention to John Carradine who resents and then accepts Bartholomew with the crew. As Freddie Bartholomew watches the interaction between Barrymore and Mickey Rooney, father and son, sharing not just playtime, but the father's profession, he realizes what he and Melvyn Douglas have missed out on. Lionel Barrymore is the perfect conception of a hearty New England fishing boat captain. And the scenes where he tries to repair his relationship with young Bartholomew are poignant. His performance as a man who lost his only child and then had him miraculously returned from the dead is touching. Just as Freddie Bartholomew is not a bad kid at heart, Douglas is not a bad man either. Melvyn Douglas does not get enough recognition for this film.

That is what he imparts to Freddie Bartholomew. Manuel's a simple guy, but with a good way of life and an appreciation for the important things life has to offer. The Portugese are a hearty, seafaring group though and I certainly never heard any complaint that his performance was in any way demeaning. By necessity Tracy had to adopt an accent if for no other reasons than to distinguish him from the other members of Lionel Barrymore's crew and their clipped New England speech. It's a good blend of the roughneck characters Tracy was used to playing and the new father figure persona he adopted in San Francisco. Of Tracy's two Oscar winning performances, the part of Manuel the Portugese fisherman, transplanted to New England is a bit more showy than Father Flanagan. He joins the crew and becomes close to Tracy. Truth is Melvyn Douglas has been neglecting the kid for business and young Bartholomew is not really as bad a kid as originally thought. He's fallen in literally with a bunch of people who work for a living and have no real interest in him because his Daddy's the richest guy around. After his catch is made, Tracy returns to the boat that captain Lionel Barrymore is commanding. By the merest chance, Spencer Tracy is in his dory fishing and reels in young Bartholomew. Young Freddie Bartholomew the spoiled son of tycoon Melvyn Douglas falls overboard off an ocean liner. That was quite a catch that Spencer Tracy made that day in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

Free stream committed 2000