Themes: Unlikely Friendships, Journey of Self-Discovery
Main Cast: Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew, Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Grapewin
Release Year: 1937
Country: US
Run Time: 116 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
A boy learns life-changing lessons about the importance of friendship and the dignity of labor in this adventure saga based on a story by Rudyard Kipling. Young Harvey Cheyne (Freddie Bartholomew) is the working definition of a spoiled brat; the only child of a wealthy widowed businessman, Harvey has everything he needs, but never stops asking for more, convinced he can get anything if he yells, pouts, or throws the right tantrum. Even other boys his age are disgusted with his antics, and when he accompanies his father on an ocean cruise, he finds he has no friends to play with. After wolfing down six ice-cream sodas, Harvey gets sick to his stomach and while vomiting over the side of the ship, he falls into the drink. He is rescued by Manuel (Spencer Tracy), a Portuguese old salt who drags him on board a Gloucester fishing boat where he's a deck hand and doryman. Harvey shows no gratitude to Manuel for saving his life and demands to be taken home immediately; Manuel and the crew, not the least bit sympathetic, inform him that once they've filled the ship's hold with fresh catch, they'll return to shore, and not a moment sooner. Over the next few weeks, Harvey grows from a self-centered pantywaist into a young man who appreciates the value of a hard day's work, and in Manuel he finds the strength, guidance, and good sense that he never got from his father. Spencer Tracy earned an Academy Award for his performance in Captains Courageous and even sings a bit; the story was parodied years later (with a few rather drastic changes) in the Chris Elliott vehicle Cabin Boy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Rudyard Kipling's well-known novel enjoys an excellent adaptation in Victor Fleming's splendidly directed film. There are some well-directed action sequences that get the heart pounding, but the core of the story is in the slowly developing relationship between Harvey and Manuel. In an unlikely "love" story, these two opposites -- a privileged, tyrannical child who has never known a moment of pain or want, and a gentle, humble man who has had to work very hard for everything he has and endure some real hardships along the way -- learn to love each other. Through a combination of forbearance, forgiveness, and firmness, Manuel teaches Harvey more about life in his three months on the boat than he would have learned if he had spent his entire life in his penthouse apartment. The climax of the film may bring tears to even the most hard-bitten viewer. Captains Courageous was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Spencer Tracy, who won his first of two consecutive Best Actor Oscars, was the only one to walk away with a statuette. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide
The film tells the adventures of Harvey Cheyne Jr. (played by Freddie Bartholomew, then 12 years old), the arrogant and spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, business tycoon (Melvyn Douglas).
In the opening scene at his wealthy father's imposing mansion, the pampered Harvey orders his butler to bring him breakfast in bed, as he tries to impress some visiting schoolmates. Later, as the lads travel back to their exclusive private boys' school in the Cheyne's chauffeur-driven limousine, Harvey attempts bribery and finally threatens to join a school fraternity, the "Buffaloes".
Harvey finds himself eventually shunned by his classmates and rebels against the school's discipline. When the headmaster informs Mr. Cheyne that his son has been "rusticated" (suspended) for the remainder of the term, the mogul realizes that the boy needs closer attention and guidance. Cheyne decides to take his son with him on a business trip to Europe.
Enroute, Harvey falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a Portuguese-American fisherman, Manuel (Spencer Tracy), on the Grand Banks and taken aboard the fishing vessel. Harvey fails to persuade the captain to take him ashore, nor convince the crew of his wealth. However, the captain of the vessel, the We're Here, Disko Troop (Lionel Barrymore), offers him a low-paid job as part of the crew until they return to port months later. With no other choice, Harvey accepts. He is befriended by Captain Troop's son, Dan (Mickey Rooney), and begins to learn the ways of working at sea.
Under the guidance of Manuel and his equally tough crew-mates, Harvey thrives, and learns that his former practice of cheating, bragging, and whining, do not go far in real life. Tragically, Harvey loses his surrogate father when Manuel is drowned in an accident as the boat heads for port. Eventually, the schooner returns to port and Harvey is reunited with his father, who had given him up for dead (not having any word since his son's disappearance - the vessel We're Here has no radio). The father rushes to the fishing town (Gloucester, Massachusetts) and is surprised to find that his bratty, self-centered child has become a mature, considerate young man. The father also learns that he has neglected his motherless son and learns the joy of being a good father.
Awards
Freddie Bartholomew as Harvey Cheyne, the erstwhile spoiled brat, coming of age as a We're Here fisherman
A New York Times review said it "brings vividly to life every page of Kipling's novel". A VHS version 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.
