Man's Castle

This is very dated, but that's part of the charm with this 1933 movie. You can say the same for most Pre-Code films; they're just different, and usually in an interesting way.

It was the short running time, the great acting of Spencer Tracy and the beautiful face and sweetness of Loretta Young's character which kept me watching and enjoying this stagy-but-intriguing film.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer girl than "Trinna," played by the 20-year-old Young who was already into making her 50th movie! (She started acting as a small child. That, and the fact they made movies quickly back in the old days.) The camera, although in soft focus throughout much of the film, zoomed in on Loretta's face and eyes many times and I was mesmerized by her beauty.

Playing a crotchety man with a cynical outlook on life, Tracy's "Bill" slowly transformed into a loving man, thanks to Trinna. Spencer delivered his lines here with such naturalness that you hardly knew he was acting.

Although they have small roles, supporting actors Walter Connolly, Marjorie Rambeau, Arthur Hohl and Glenda Farrell leave lasting impressions long after viewing this 75-minute film. I was particularly fascinated with Connolly's role as the minister/father figure of the camp.

The story is a little far-fetched but - hey - that's the movies. This story is about two lonely Great Depression victims trying to survive in a "Hooverville"-type camp and it winds up to be a very touching tale.

As other reviewers have noted, this is an unjustly neglected Depression-era film. Directed by Frank Borzage (two Oscars) and written by Jo Swerling (Leave Her to Heaven, The Westerner, Lifeboat, etc.), it is a tough-minded, well-structured and -realized move about denizens of a New York City shantytown. They're grifters, beggars, and women forced into prostitution, but they're a community of people both good and bad, with loyalties as complex as any group's.

Perhaps primary among this movie's many admirable qualities is the contrast between Spencer Tracy's character, Bill, and Loretta Young's Trina. He tough-talking, physically aggressive, and evidently fearless-- but Bill is not the character who gives this film its steely sense of survival. While he blusters, Trina actually hangs tough (if that term can be applied to a character so ladylike). Her devotion to him is obvious, and complete. When she becomes pregnant, she says she will raise it herself if he wants to leave. Such is the dignity of Loretta Young's performance (at age 20) as a very simple, even simple-minded character, that she seems neither weak or dependent, but rather a woman who recognizes happiness when she finds it, and love, and who has learned the hard way that it's worth holding on to because it doesn't come around often, and what's rare is precious.

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.

This is a curious but wonderfully acted love story. The protagonists are not your typical love-struck young romantic couple but complicated broken people just about surviving the poverty of living in one of the Hooverville shanty towns of 1932's New York. There's not a lot of humour in this drama but that doesn't make it at all miserable and depressing. It's not like a badly written naïve play where happiness blooms in the face of adversity - it's more thoughtful than that but is nevertheless quite uplifting.

Spencer Tracy's character, Bill is the absolute opposite of a romantic hero. He is such a well written character played so well by Spencer Tracy that we really don't really know what he is like, who he is or what he's done. We would however love to find out who is really there behind that façade or how he got like that. On the surface he seems to be an unpleasant battle-scared shell of a man incapable of expressing any emotion, feelings or even sense of being part of society.

Loretta Young's 'Trina' could not be more different. She is from a different place to Bill, she is from a world that disappeared when Wall Street crashed three years ago and is a complete stranger to the world Bill seems so comfortable in. She longs for love and longs for the impossible dream of a happy life in this upside down world. Loretta Young's almost impossible prettiness adds to the tragedy and pathos of her character who seems so lost, so unable to cope with the life she now has to live. Bill is her lifeline and she's not going to let go. She throws herself into the fantasy of happiness with him despite being treated like his slave, despite the constant emotional cruelty and despite Bill having a fling with the local show-girl. If this story were written today, she would be the archetypical battered, mentally and physically abused wife, not leaving her abusive husband because she knows deep down that he loves her.

This has the feel of being a really good drama that you'd pay good money to watch live in a cramped theatre. It's a mature and surprisingly subtle look at how love - if indeed it is love, can happen in the most unlikely of places. Although it is quite stylised, especially the camp which doesn't look as awful as I suspect in reality it was, as a motion picture it is excellent. Director Frank Borzage creates an enclosed real little world inhabited by real people which plays with your emotions. Sometimes you're hoping Trina and Bill will stay together and live happily ever after - sometimes you're hoping something or someone will separate them because you can see that it's a destructive relationship. It's also beautifully filmed and although it gets a little slow at times is still entertaining and stays in your mind long after the final credits.

I haven't seen this for years, but I remember both Spencer and Loretta being as hot as a pistol, brimming with talent and longing. Interesting pre-code depiction of tramp-town down by the river. There's a sparkling scene of Spencer working as a sandwich-board man. Great photography which shows the influence of Murnau's Sunrise.