Captain Tugboat Annie
Cast & Crew
Phil Rosen
Jane Darwell
Edgar Kennedy
Charles Gordon
Mantan Moreland
Pamela Blake
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
On the day that the U.S. government relaxes wartime restrictions and allows tugboats to return to work, Alec Severn, the proprietor of Secoma Towing & Salvage, desperately searches for Tugboat Annie Brennan, the captain of his fleet. Wanting to replace Annie, his longtime nemesis, rival captain Bullwinkle gives Severn an incorrect address for Annie. The indomitable Annie nonetheless reaches Severn's office just in time and signs a new contract with him. Annie then hires her crew, all of whom are veterans: Pinto and Shiftless, who worked with Annie before the war; a newcomer named Missouri Jones; and Johnny Webb, who was injured while saving the lives of the other three men in combat. Soon after Annie begins work with her crew, they are interrupted by the appearance of Susan Henley, an orphan whose father used to work for Severn. Susan, a violin prodigy, wishes to stay with Annie, who wants to adopt her, but Severn convinces Annie that Susan would be better off living with his family. Annie still pines for a child, however, so Severn arranges with Judge Abbott for her to adopt one of the juvenile delinquent boys under his jurisdiction. On the day of her "son's" arrival, Annie is dismayed that the "boy" sent to her is Terry Jordan, a young veteran on probation for beating the man who swindled Terry's now-deceased mother while he was fighting overseas. The hostile Terry rejects Annie's friendly advances, and his treatment of Annie does not endear him to her crew either. Later, Annie and Marion Graves, Abbott's secretary, arrange for Susan to make her debut with famed conductor Alfred Puccini, a womanizer whom Annie knew when he was the ordinary Al Pucci. In order to prevent Pucci from discovering that Susan is only eleven years old, Annie convinces him to wait to meet his new "protegee" until the night of the concert. As Susan rehearses, Annie and her men work hard, although Annie continues to feel hurt by Terry's rejection. One day, after learning that Severn has given Annie an important assignment, Bullwinkle empties her fuel tanks and disables her radio so that he can steal the job. The crew mistakenly believes that Terry is responsible for the sabotage, and Johnny challenges Terry to a fistfight. Terry beats Johnny until he sees Johnny's leg brace, and after he allows the disabled man to win the altercation, Terry invites the other crewmen to get their licks in. Having won the men's respect, Terry then forces Bullwinkle to admit that he committed the sabotage. Annie's faith in Terry is restored, but he disappears before she can reconcile with him. He leaves behind a note apologizing for his behavior and promising to return someday. Although she misses Terry, Annie gladly attends Susan's debut, during which the amazed Pucci is so impressed with her talent that he forgets the trick played upon him by Annie. After the concert, Annie and her crew return to the waterfront, where they immediately help battle a fire started by a welder. Terry has also returned and pitches in to help, as does Bullwinkle. As Annie's tug tows a blazing oil tanker away from the wharf, Johnny sacrifices his life to save Terry, who was attempting to free the tanker from Annie's boat. Afterward, Annie wants to quit, but Severn assures her that her bravery and that of her men has won them a lucrative contract. Terry, who has just married Marion, also asks Annie to stay, and finally embraces her and calls her "Mom." Susan is set on the road to stardom with a contract with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and Annie playfully reconciles with Bullwinkle, who dives into the water rather than accept a kiss from her.
Director
Phil Rosen
Cast
Jane Darwell
Edgar Kennedy
Charles Gordon
Mantan Moreland
Pamela Blake
Hardie Albright
H. B. Warner
Jack Norton
Barton Yarborough
Fritz Feld
Anthony Warde
Joe Crehan
Pierre Watkin
Saundra Berkova
Cyril Delevanti
Guy Wilkerson
Robert Elliott
Kernan Cripps
Marion Mcguire
Betty Sinclair
Eddie Earle
Vic Potel
Sam Flint
Ralph Linn
Eddie Chandler
Harry Depp
Harry Lang
Crew
Irving Bibo
Harry Bourne
James S. Burkett
George Callahan
Martin G. Cohn
Eddie Davis
Ernie Hickson
Edward J. Kay
Tom Lambert
Neil Mcguire
David Milton
Harry Neumann
Harry Ross
Pablo Sarasate
Howard Sheehan
Don Steward
Wm. Strohbach
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Tugboat Annie's Son. The first "Tugboat Annie" story was published in The Saturday Evening Post in the July 11, 1931 issue, and others appeared frequently in that magazine until author Norman Reilly Raine's death in 1971. A book by Raine entitled Tugboat Annie was published in New York in 1934.
According to Los Angeles Examiner and Hollywood Reporter news items, Marjorie Rambeau, Marjorie Main and Lulu McConnell were first considered for the role of "Tugboat Annie." Although Hollywood Reporter production charts include Russell Simpson in the cast, his appearance in the completed picture has not been confirmed. Hollywood Reporter news items noted that producer James S. Burkett and director Phil Rosen intended to make a series of "Tugboat Annie" features starring Jane Darwell and Edgar Kennedy, but Captain Tugboat Annie was the only one they completed. Other pictures featuring Raine's characters are the 1933 M-G-M production Tugboat Annie, which was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starred Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery, and the 1940 Warner Bros. film Tugboat Annie Sails Again, directed by Lewis Seiler and starring Marjorie Rambeau and Alan Hale (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.4783 and F3.4784). A series based on the Raine characters, starring Minerva Urecal, appeared on television in 1957 under the title The Adventures of Tugboat Annie. In 1968, Empire Films announced preparations for a remake of Tugboat Annie, to star Jack Oakie and Dorothy Keller, but the project was not produced.
