Man's Castle (1933)

Thanks for the memories!

Just what I expected

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Any fan of either Spencer Tracy or Loretta Young should watch this movie when the opportunity presents itself. (It is currently in rotation on Antenna TV which is broadcast ((not cable)) in most major markets.) I particularly enjoyed the opening dinner date between the two and how Tracy "pays" for it. The real worth of this movie is its depiction of the time (early Depression) and the values of the time in which it was made. 1933 was, indeed, a very different world and a character like Tracy's and his attitude towards women was not that uncommon then. (Probably not that uncommon now, but an attitude only allowed to be expressed in the action genre.) Young plays a smitten young woman of 19 who may indeed be an "idiot" to use one other reviewer's less than charitable description of her, but that type of young "idiot"ic and naive woman is very much with us today and putting up with far worse from their men than anything Tracy dished out in this film. (Many of today's reputedly liberated young women will by the CDs with the most misogynistic lyrics which make up so much of what passes for modern music and call themselves the most vile and basest of names. There is no way Loretta Young's character in this movie would do that. Needless to say a woman clinging to an abusive man is a recognizable type in any era - as is an abusive man.) To my eye, Tracy's character was "abusive" only because he wanted to drive her away as he saw (correctly) that she would be able to tame him if given the chance. The only thing that truly surprised me was the out-of-wedlock pregnancy - mention of which was never made in films of that time, except for this one. And to see the very devout Tracy and Young in those roles in light of what came later for both of them personally was very surprising.Frankly I think that sums up this film for me - very surprising. The setting surprises. Ditto for the characters. The screenplay works well enough to bring out the world in which Bill & Trina, and Ira & Flossie and all the rest find themselves, and how they attempt to deal with it and to find what happiness they can.

SPENCER TRACY plays a rough and tumble character in a role that was tailor made for Clark Gable. Somehow, his chemistry with LORETTA YOUNG is not quite what it should be. She, however, gives a very sensitive performance as the lovely girl attracted to him despite his arrogant behavior. This is the weakness of the story. If played by a charmer like Clark Gable, Loretta's yen for Tracy would be more understandable. As it is, he plays a real scoundrel without any attempt to soften his character for the sake of romance. He's sometimes so despicable that he alienates the viewer from sympathizing with him.But it's Loretta Young who holds the film together, even though her character often seems naive and foolish to stay with Tracy. MARJORIE RAMBEAU is effective in a good supporting role as a woman with backbone who helps Tracy and Young when he has to flee the authorities. WALTER CONNOLLY, as a man Tracy attempts to rob, is also fine.The film looks as though it was bathed in soft focus, perhaps to make the tone of the love story less gritty than it would have looked if filmed realistically. Whatever, Loretta Young has never looked more beautiful. Her costuming belies the fact that she's a Depression era heroine. Another unrealistic touch by director Frank Borzage, who has chosen to tell the story as if it were a fairy tale Depression story.

I generally find Loretta Young hard to take, too concerned with her looks and too ladylike in all the wrong ways. But in this lyrical Frank Borzage romance, and even though she's playing a low-self-esteem patsy who puts up with entirely too much bullying from paramour Spencer Tracy, she's direct and honest and irresistible. It's an odd little movie, played mostly in a one-room shack in a Hooverville, unusually up-front about the Depression yet romantic and idealized. Tracy, playing a blustery, hard-to-take "regular guy" who would be an awful chauvinist and bully by today's standards, softens his character's hard edge and almost makes him appealing. There's good supporting work from Marjorie Rambeau and Glenda Farrell (who never got as far as she should have), and Jo Swerling's screenplay is modest and efficient. But the real heroes are Borzage, who always liked to dramatize true love in lyrical close-up, and Young. You sort of want to slap her and tell her character to wise up, she's too good for this guy, but she's so dewy and persuasive, you contentedly watch their story play out to a satisfying conclusion.

Man's Castle is a wonderful example of a Pre-Code film. It involves realistic events with truly enjoyable and imperfect characters. Spencer Tracy plays Bill, a free soul without a dime in his pocket. He makes a living doing odd jobs and traveling to a new city when he gets bored of his surroundings. One night, he meets Trina, a beauty by any standards who is cold and alone. She has refused to resort to prostitution so she has not eaten for several days, but the two take very well to each other and form a relationship. His free spirit tempts him to leave her, so life is rocky, but there is a true spark between the two, even if they live in a shack by the river.Tracy is one of the great actors of the silver screen. His characters are amazing and relatable. We can see his thoughts on his face, making him easy to identify with, even if we believe he is behaving badly. Young is great in pre-code films. Her character is very sweet but far from perfect, making her all the more likable.Pre-code elements include skinny dipping, pregnancy before marriage, and crime.