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IMDbPro

Captains Courageous

  • 19371937
  • GG
  • 1h 57m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
9.9K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
15,920
299
Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, and Freddie Bartholomew in Captains Courageous (1937)
Trailer for this nautical tale
Play trailer2:27
1 Video
46 Photos
AdventureDramaFamily
A spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.A spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.A spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
9.9K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
15,920
299
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Victor Fleming
    • Writers
      • Rudyard Kipling(novel)
      • John Lee Mahin(screen play)
      • Marc Connelly(screen play)
    • Stars
      • Spencer Tracy
      • Freddie Bartholomew
      • Lionel Barrymore
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Victor Fleming
    • Writers
      • Rudyard Kipling(novel)
      • John Lee Mahin(screen play)
      • Marc Connelly(screen play)
    • Stars
      • Spencer Tracy
      • Freddie Bartholomew
      • Lionel Barrymore
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 106User reviews
    • 37Critic reviews
    • 81Metascore
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 4 wins & 6 nominations total

    Videos1

    Captains Courageous
    Trailer 2:27
    Captains Courageous

    Photos46

    Freddie Bartholomew and Melvyn Douglas in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, and Freddie Bartholomew in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Lionel Barrymore, Freddie Bartholomew, Mickey Rooney, and Melvyn Douglas in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, and Freddie Bartholomew in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Lionel Barrymore and John Carradine in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Freddie Bartholomew and Melvyn Douglas in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Spencer Tracy, portrait for "Captain Courageous," 1937. Modern silver gelatin, 14x11, estate stamped. $600 © 1978 Ted Allan MPTV
    Spencer Tracy in "Captain Courageous," 1937. © 1978 Ted Allan MPTV
    Lobby Card, 14" x 11"
    Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew in Captains Courageous (1937)
    Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew in Captains Courageous (1937)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Spencer Tracy
    Spencer Tracy
    • Manuel
    Freddie Bartholomew
    Freddie Bartholomew
    • Harvey Cheyne
    Lionel Barrymore
    Lionel Barrymore
    • Captain Disko
    Melvyn Douglas
    Melvyn Douglas
    • Mr. Cheyne
    Charley Grapewin
    Charley Grapewin
    • Uncle Salters
    Mickey Rooney
    Mickey Rooney
    • Dan
    John Carradine
    John Carradine
    • 'Long Jack'
    Oscar O'Shea
    Oscar O'Shea
    • Cushman
    Jack La Rue
    Jack La Rue
    • Priest
    • (as Jack LaRue)
    Walter Kingsford
    Walter Kingsford
    • Dr. Finley
    Donald Briggs
    Donald Briggs
    • Tyler
    Sam McDaniel
    Sam McDaniel
    • 'Doc'
    • (as Sam McDaniels)
    Bill Burrud
    Bill Burrud
    • Charles
    • (as Billy Burrud)
    Norman Ainsley
    • Robbins
    • (uncredited)
    Wally Albright
    Wally Albright
    • Boy
    • (uncredited)
    Betty Alden
    Betty Alden
    • Bit Role
    • (uncredited)
    C.E. Anderson
    C.E. Anderson
    • Fisherman
    • (uncredited)
    William Arnold
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Victor Fleming
    • Writers
      • Rudyard Kipling(novel)
      • John Lee Mahin(screen play)
      • Marc Connelly(screen play)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When production finally wrapped in late February 1937, Spencer Tracy was relieved. "Well, I got away with it," he said later. "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. I've never said this before, and I'll never say it again. Freddie Bartholomew's acting is so fine and so simple and so true that it's way over people's heads. It'll only be by thinking back two or three years from now that they'll realize how great it was."
    • Goofs
      It does not make sense that Harvey's teachers could expect him to be independent if he is only ten. In the novel he was fifteen.
    • Quotes

      Harvey: I bet I know a lot of things you don't know. I know that's not French you're singing.

      Manuel Fidello: That's right. About ten million people know it Portuguese.

      Harvey: I bet you can't speak French.

      Manuel Fidello: Right now, I sorry I speak *English*.

    • Crazy credits
      The opening credits are letters on planks, like the lettering on the side of ships, and between screen-fulls, a foaming wave of water splashes over it and then runs off. In the initial sets of credits, these appear to be actually letter-forms attached to the wood, as the water gets deflected by some of the letters; in later sets of credits, this effect is harder to see and the sets may be credits superimposed upon wood.
    • Connections
      Edited into Catalogue of Ships (2008)
    • Soundtracks
      Ooh What a Terrible Man
      (1937) (uncredited)
      Lyrics by Gus Kahn
      Music by Franz Waxman

    User reviews106

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    We all need a lesson in selflessness.
    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.
    helpful•22
    4
    • lee_eisenberg
    • Aug 11, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 25, 1937 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Portuguese
    • Also known as
      • Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous
    • Filming locations
      • Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,645,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 57 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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