Captains Courageous

For once, a script perfectly suited to its director and star and one of the most lyrical children's classics ever made. Read full review

The production values are incredible; in both drama and visuals, I'd put this sea tale up against the unsinkable "Titanic" any day. It's emotionally engaging too, though it's a different kind of love story. Director Victor Fleming (before "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind") makes chopping fish heads seem romantic. [04 Mar 1999, p.F18]

With its rich production, magnificent marine photography, admirable direction and performances, the film brings vividly to life every page of Kipling's novel and even adds an exciting chapter or two of its own. Read full review

The 1937 movie excels with outstanding performances by child star Freddie Bartholomew and Spencer Tracy. [20 Jun 1999, p.56]

The Kipling yarn, built around a wealthy, motherless brat who accidentaly lands with a cod-fishing fleet, and undergoes regeneration during an enforced three months’ piscatorial quest, has been given splendid production, performance, photography and dramatic composition. Read full review

On either end of Harvey’s adventure, Captains Courageous goes on a bit too long; the circumstances of his boarding-school transgressions are needlessly overcomplicated, and the emotional denouement is less than concise. But the seafaring section that makes up the majority of the film is well-crafted and gives way to surprising emotion. Read full review

One of M-G-M's powerhouse moralizing "family" entertainments, it's beefy and rousing, with almost guaranteed tears and laughter for children.