Man's Castle (1933)

A Disappointing Continuation

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Nothing much new about the romantic stuff. Spencer Tracy takes Loretta Young into his shack, neither of them having anything resembling other resources. Tracy finds an older blond who is willing to keep him in food and clothes, but then Loretta Young has to go and spring it on Tracy that she's preggers. It puts Tracy in a quandary. He likes to think of himself as a free man, a drifter who rides the rails at will. He tries to pull off a robbery after marrying Young, with the intention of leaving the boodle with her and taking off on his own. But they are in love and he winds up taking her with him. Last scene: the married pair lying together on the straw of an empty box car rattling through the night.It sounded so dull at first that I thought for a moment box cars were forming on my retina. However, the film is saved by its ethnographic perspective and by the earnest performances. You just have to swallow the love story which, by the way, isn't entirely boring.The movie was released in 1933, meaning it was shot in 1932 and written a bit earlier. That was pre-code and in the depths of the Great Depression. (If it weren't pre-code, you wouldn't have Loretta Young getting pregnant and planning to have a bastard child.) But what a glimpse of life at the bottom when no one had any work. Tracy's Hooverville shack somewhere in New York City is made out of garbage. Cardboard, corrugated iron, no stove, discarded automobile doors, and other junk, a divine assembly of bricolage. And, boy, does Loretta Young dress it up and turn it into a home. Women are always doing things like that. They just can't leave a man alone to live like a billy goat. Anyway, it illustrates some of the stresses associated with utter poverty.The performances are fine too. Many actors seemed to follow a similar trajectory -- small parts in clumsy early movies (Bogart, Cary Grant) -- but Tracy came straight from Broadway and brought with him the persona that would last him throughout his career. He was tough, restrained, practical. Loretta Young -- I never realized how many movies she made in the 30s when she was young. She began at the age of 15 with a major part in one of Lon Chaney's silents. She's powerful pretty in an innocent and slightly chubby way. She can fix up the hovel I live in any time.

Wow. Watching this film today, you can't help but be appalled by the writing of this film. Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young play a couple who, in modern times, might be featured on "The Jerry Springer Show"--as they have a sick and abusive relationship...and inexplicably, the writers appear to be endorsing it! The film begins with a hungry and homeless Loretta being shown the ropes by the poor but very resourceful Spencer Tracy. He shows her how by conniving you can do very well with little money and takes her home to his shack to stay. It's never clear whether or not they marry--and considering it's a Pre-Code film, you can assume they aren't even though they are cohabiting. Their relationship is very strange...and rather sick. While you can see that Tracy cares about her by his actions, he is verbally abusive and a total jerk---and Young comes running back for more like some sort of dog. He calls her "skinny" or "ugly" and these are, in a sick way, his way of using endearments! Later, when he starts fooling around with another woman (Glenda Farrell), she tells her friend that if that's what he wants, it's okay with her!!! It sure smacks of a sado-masochistic relationship and you can't help but feel a bit horrified. Sure, he doesn't hit her but the relationship is very abusive. To show how sick it is, when Young gets pregnant, she tells him "...it's your baby and it's mine, but you don't need to worry, I'll take all the blame for it"!! Yikes! Doesn't this all seem a bit like looking through a peephole into a sick and dysfunctional home?! Later, in a case of art imitating life, Tracy proves what sort of man he is and disappears. After all, he can't be burdened with a baby--even if it's his. But, he changes his mind and decides to return home. Wow...that's bit of him! And, when he returns, he's nasty and acts like IF he stays, he isn't obligated to care for the kid!! And, she tells him he's "a free man...free as a bird"! Wow, I was almost in tears at this tender moment...NOT! Soon, this crazy pair are married...and, naturally, Young is depressed because he seems to be staying as long as it suits him--not because of any love or sense of responsibility. So how can you salvage anything with this sort of sick characters? What would you do? Well, as for the writers, they have Tracy soon commit a robbery to help pay for the brat! The romantic aspects of the film are underwhelming to say the least! During the robbery, Tracy behaves like a chump--doing almost nothing to take precautions not to get caught--like he was secretly hoping to get sent to prison. And, to show what sort of nice guy he is, the guy he tries to rob is one of his best friends.While there's more to the film, the bottom line is that Tracy is a jerk and Young is an idiot in the film. Despite both being very good actors, there's absolutely no way they could make anything of this crap the writers produced. Nice music, nice sets, good acting...and a script that is 100% poo. How the film is currently rated 7.4 is beyond me and I wonder how anyone can ignore the pure awfulness of the characters. A horrible misfire that somehow didn't destroy the careers of those involved.Oh, and if you wonder if Loretta EVER gets a backbone in this film or plays a person who is the least bit strong, the answer is NO! By the end, she's learned nothing and hasn't changed one whit for the better.They sure don't make films like they used to...and in this case...thank God!

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.

"Man's Castle" is one of the most important American films of the 1930s. As Andrew Sarris has noted, it's one of the few films that was able to capture the emotional nuances of the Depression. Borzage's sweet, ethereal love story concerns a tough-guy Bill (Spencer Tracy) and penniless girl Trina (Loretta Young) who are incurably optimistic lovers. They setup house together in a squalid shanty town. Their romance transcends, in Borzage's spiritual vision, the Depression and worst possible squalor. Borzage typically championed the proletariat no better than in this film with the tease of material success at the very beginning of the film with Tracy's self-indulgent character and then challenge to the audience to accept a different set of circumstances. What impressed me the most about "Man's Castle" was Loretta Young. She actually became that character Trina. Her devotion and innocence are heartbreaking. Not to mention she carries Bill's unborn baby, and it would be a crime if he doesn't return the love she expresses to him. Bill loves Trina but he does it in a tough or bullying manner that almost becomes annoying. One of the most moving moments in the film occurs when he buys her a stove that she always wanted to get. She couldn't believe it and falls down on his knees and cries. Bill cannot help but moved by what he did. Despite his tough mannerisms, he ultimately succumbs to Trina's fragility, as they ride the freight train at the end, transcending the Depression and its harshness.