Captains Courageous is a 1937 adventure drama film directed by Victor Fleming. The film stars Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, and Melvyn Douglas. Captains Courageous is an adaptation of the 1897 novel of the same name written by Rudyard Kipling.
Director: Victor Fleming
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast: Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas, Charley Grapewin, Mickey Rooney, John Carradine, Oscar O’Shea
US Box Office: $4,220,000 ($168,300,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Black & White
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Release Date: May 11, 1937 (premiere); June 25, 1937 (general release)
Plot Summary: Harvey Cheyne (Freddie Bartholomew) is the young and spoiled son of business tycoon Frank Cheyne (Melvyn Douglas). One day Harvey falls off his father’s cruise ship and nearly drowns before he is rescued by Portuguese fisherman Manuel Fidello (Spencer Tracy). Manuel takes Harvey back to the fishing schooner We’re Here, captained by Disko Troop (Lionel Barrymore). Onboard the We’re Here, Manuel teaches Harvey how to fish and many other important life lessons. Although Harvey is resistant at first, he soon forms a close friendship with Manuel.
Production: In late 1935 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio executives began working on a film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s coming-of-age novel Captains Courageous (1897), about a spoiled boy who falls off his father’s yacht and is rescued by a fishing schooner where he becomes a member of the crew. Studio executives chose Louis D. Lighton to produce Captains Courgaeous. John Lee Mahin, Marc Connelly, and Dale Van Every wrote the film’s screenplay based on Kipling’s novel. Victor Fleming was chosen to direct Captains Courageous. Fleming had been an Army photographer in World War I before he became a silent film cinematographer and director. He signed a contract with MGM in 1932 and had recently directed the romantic comedies Reckless (1935) and The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935), and the adventure film Treasure Island (1934).
English child actor Freddie Bartholomew was cast as Harvey Cheyne. Bartholomew was discovered by producer David O. Selznick while in London and his first Hollywood film was Selznick’s David Copperfield (1935) for MGM. Bartholomew notably received his first top-billing in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936). Harvey was fifteen years old in Kipling’s novel, but the character’s age was lowered to better suit the twelve year old Bartholomew. At the insistence of MGM co-founder and producer Irving Thalberg, Spencer Tracy was cast as Portugese fisherman Manuel Fidello. Tracy didn’t want the part at first because he believed that the Manuel role was secondary to Bartholomew’s part, but Fleming convinced him to accept it. Tracy recently starred in the crime film Fury (1936) and in the disaster-drama film San Francisco (1936), receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in the latter.
Child star Mickey Rooney played a supporting role in Captains Courageous as Dan Troop, the son of Captain Disko Troop, played by Lionel Barrymore. Rooney had been working as a child star since 1927, but had yet to become a big star. In 1937 Rooney also had a supporting role in the MGM comedy film A Family Affair as the character Andy Hardy. That film and Rooney’s character in particular were unexpectedly popular, so the Andy Hardy character became more prominent in the sequels to A Family Affair and Rooney was eventually made the star of the Andy Hardy film series. Around this time Rooney additionally received critical acclaim for his role opposite Spencer Tracy in the drama film Boys Town (1938).
Captains Courageous was originally supposed to begin filming on September 14, 1936, but filming was briefly postponed following the unexpected death of MGM co-founder Thalberg on the 13th. Principle photography on Captains Courageous began on September 23 and wrapped up in mid-February, 1937. The scenes featuring the actors were primarily shot on set at MGM Studios in Culver City, CA. A four-fifths size replica of the We’re Here schooner was built on a “wet set” soundstage at MGM Studios. Establishing shots and other extreme long shots of the We’re Here were photographed on location by the second unit crew and featured a real ship. Some of these shots were filmed off the coast of Long Beach Harbor, CA. Long distance shots of the ship during the storm scene were shot off the coast of Mazatlán, Mexico. Location shooting for exterior and background shots was also done in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland; Shelbourne, Nova Scotia; and Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Freddie Bartholomew would later state that Captains Courageous was the film that he most enjoyed working on. The shoot lasted several months and Bartholomew grew close to his co-stars during this time. Spencer Tracy wasn’t satisfied with his performance as Manuel, he didn’t think that his accent was believable and he resented having to get his hair curled for the part. Despite this, Tracy thought that working alongside Bartholomew helped to make Manuel a more believable character. Tracy stated in an interview with Modern Screen, “Well, I got away with it. Want to know why? Because of Freddie, because of that kid’s performance, because he sold it 98 per cent. The kid had to believe in Manuel, or Manuel wasn’t worth a quarter. The way he would look at me, believe every word I said, made me believe in it myself.”
One of the sailors on board the real ship used to represent the We’re Here in long shots was Mr. Kristen Gonmesen. Gonmesen was killed during the shoot and his widow Helen sued MGM alleging that the ship used was unsafe and unseaworthy. On November 18, 1938 US Federal Judge Henry Hollzer ruled in favor of Mrs. Gonmesen and ordered that MGM pay her $30,000 for the death of her husband.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Captains Courageous was one of three films based on Rudyard Kipling works released in 1937, a year after the author’s death. The others were The Elephant Boy (an adaptation of the short story “Toomai of the Elephants” from The Jungle Book [1894]) starring Indian child star Sabu and Wee Willie Winkie (based on Wee Willie Winkie and Other Child Stories [1888]) directed by John Ford and starring Shirley Temple.
Captains Courageous was one of five films to costar Freddie Bartholomew and Mickey Rooney. The two previously starred together in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) and The Devil is a Sissy (1936). They later appeared together in Lord Jeff (1938) and A Yank at Eton (1942). Rooney and Lionel Barrymore previously appeared together in Ah, Wilderness! (1935) and A Family Affair (1937). A Family Affair was the first film in what would become the Andy Hardy series, Rooney played Andy (who was only a supporting character in this film) and Barrymore played Judge Hardy (who was the lead). Lewis Stone played the part of Judge Hardy in the film’s sequels, in which Rooney’s character was the star.
Reception: Captains Courageous premiered in New York City on May 11, 1937. The film’s Los Angeles premiere was held on May 17 at the Carthay Circle Theater. Captains Courageous went into wide release in June. Captains Courageous was one of the top ten highest grossing films of the year and was a financial success for MGM, earning a healthy profit for the studio. After watching Spencer Tracy’s performance as Manuel, actress Katharine Hepburn became determined to work with him. The two starred together in several films, beginning with Woman of the Year (1942) and had a long affair together.
Captains Courageous received critical acclaim when it was first released. Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times had strong praise for Fleming’s direction, the acting performances, the cinematography, and the film’s overall high production values. The critics at Variety similarly lauded Captains Courageous for its production values, acting performances, and screenplay. Harrison’s Reports called the film “Excellent!” and praised Captains Courageous for its emotional impact. Meyer Levin of Esquire similarly commended the film for its emotional screenplay. Film Daily ranked Captains Courageous as one of the top ten best films of 1937.
Captains Courageous continues to receive mostly positive reviews from modern film critics. Mike Massie of Gone With The Twins had strong praise for Spencer Tracy’s performance and for the film’s moral values. Dan Jardine of All Movie Guide commended Fleming’s direction, the acting performances, and the emotional screenplay. Steve Crum gave Captains Courageous a perfect 5/5 star rating, while Daniel M. Kimmel of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress both gave the film 4/5 star reviews.
Oscars: Captains Courageous was nominated for four Oscars at the 10th Academy Awards ceremony: Best Picture (Louis D. Lighton for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), Best Actor (Spencer Tracy), Best Screenplay (John Lee Mahin, Marc Connelly, and Dale Van Every; based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling), and Best Film Editing (Elmo Veron). Spencer Tracy won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Manuel Fidello. Captains Courageous lost the Oscras for Best Picture and Best Screenplay to Warner Bros.’ The Life of Emile Zola. Elmo Veron lost the Best Film Editing Oscar to Gene Havlick and Gene Milford for Lost Horizon.
Why You Should See It: Captains Courageous is strong coming-of-age drama film. The actors all give good performances, especially Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew. Harvey starts out as a spoiled brat and it is satisfying to see him grow as a character and become more admirable over time. It is similarly satisfying to see the friendship between Harvey and Manuel grow over time. Director Victor Fleming did a great job shooting the thrilling moments in Captains Courage, including the storm scene.
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