Dorathen
Better Late Then Never
filippaberry84
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
JohnHowardReid
Edward G. Robinson (Mike), Richard Arlen (Pipes Boley), Zita Johann (Quita Silva), Vince Barnett (Fishbone), William Ricciardi (Manuel Silva), J. Carroll Naish (Tony), Leila Bennett (Muggsey), Maurice Black (Fernandez), Sheila Bromley (Red), Edwin Maxwell (doctor), Toshia Mori (lady barber), Henry Otho, Harry Semels, Pedro Regas, Hector Sarno (crewmen), Inez Palange (Mike's neighbor). Director: HOWARD HAWKS. Screenplay: Wells Root. Based on the story, "Tuna", by Houston Branch. Photography: Tony Gaudio. Film editor: Thomas Pratt. Art director: Jack Okey. Costumes designed by Orry- Kelly. Music: Bernhard Kaun. Music director: Leo F. Forbstein, conducting The Vitaphone Orchestra. Marine supervisor: Captain Guy Silva. Stills: Mac Julian. Assistant cameraman: Carl E. Guthrie. Assistant director: Richard Rosson. Sound recording: C.A. Riggs and A.D. Mair. Associate producer: Bryan Foy. Copyright 3 September 1932 by First National Pictures, Inc. Released through Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Winter Garden: 22 September 1932. U.K. release: 4 March 1933. 8 reels. 77 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A triangle love story between the boastful skipper of a tuna boat, the daughter of a deceased crewman, and a sailor whom the skipper has rescued from the sea at the cost of his left hand. COMMENT: Here's Edward G. Robinson hamming it up for all he's worth in this awful fishing yarn which is not only a waste of time, but unduly gruesome and cruel to boot. I beg pardon. There is one redeeming feature. Her name is Zita Johann, the exotic heroine of one of my favorite cult films, The Mummy (1932). In fact, The Mummy was Miss Johann's very next movie, but what a contrast to her role in this time-wasting tosh. True, she does what she can with this poorly-written cliché of a role, but she'so hemmed in by loud-talking Robinson, nondescript Arlen and unfunny funnyman Barnett, she's given little chance to make any but the most superficial impression. Hawks's disinterested direction doesn't help. At times, he even forgets the story entirely and turns the movie into a boring (and often hideous) documentary about tuna fishing. As for Robinson, this is undoubtedly his worst performance ever. His constant attempts at a funny accent are never less than appalling.I repeat: If it were not for Zita Johann, this movie would be qualified for instant dismissal in the nearest trash bin.
marcslope
How many times has this plot been used? The older guy--hearty, well-liked, a good man--wins the pretty young thing, but she's attracted to his best friend. It's like "They Knew What They Wanted," with Edward G. Robinson changing Charles Laughton's Italian accent to Portuguese and becoming an ace fisherman instead of a vintner. He's wonderful, in a showy yet subtle performance, and the beautiful Zita Johann is a prize worth fighting for. The writing isn't wonderful, though--we never understand why this lying blowhard is so popular, and the third side of the triangle, Richard Arlen, is given no personality at all. Howard Hawks must have liked the maritime setting, or just being on a boat, because there are yards of irrelevant footage of tuna fishing, leading to a climax that's not very clearly edited (just how does Arlen get out of this, and why does Eddie G. do such a turnaround?). But it leads to a moving big finale. It's atmospheric, with lots of outdoors shooting that makes it seem less studio-bound, and Robinson is always worth watching.
MARIO GAUCI
I had once taped this one off Italian TV (during a lengthy Howard Hawks season of films shown in English but with Italian subtitles) but my VCR developed a fault and the recording was subsequently unwatchable! I sure am glad to have caught up with it now… First of all, Edward G. Robinson is the whole show here: his portrayal of the central character, a Portuguese fisherman who sees himself as the best in the business and speaks in amiable broken English (his catchphrase is: "Absolutely indeed") is first-rate and it was also quite funny to watch him sporting an earring. The plot is predictable enough (a woman comes between two best friends and the situation is resolved through tragedy) but that may be because the same elements were recycled so many times, even by Warner Bros. themselves, over the years: SLIM (1937), THE WAGONS ROLL AT NIGHT (1941), Raoul Walsh's MANPOWER (1941; with Marlene Dietrich coming between Edward G. Robinson and George Raft), etc.Even more importantly, however, the imprint of director Howard Hawks is all over it: the vivid recreation of a man's world, the bonds which grow stronger through the everyday adversity which that entails, the invasion of a woman into this enclosed world which sets about the inevitable tragedy, etc. In fact, the brotherly (or even father-son) relationship seen here between Robinson and his younger protégée, Richard Arlen, is reprised in many another Hawks film – Pat O'Brien and James Cagney in CEILING ZERO (1935), Thomas Mitchell and Cary Grant in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (1939), Walter Brennan and Humphrey Bogart in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944), John Wayne and Dean Martin in RIO BRAVO (1959), etc; the unceremonious intrusion of the female character onto a perfectly ordered way of life is also seen enacted by Katharine Hepburn in BRINGING UP BABY (1938), Jean Arthur in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, Barbara Stanwyck in BALL OF FIRE (1941), Lauren Bacall in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, Joanne Dru in RED RIVER (1948), Margaret Sheridan in THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951), Angie Dickinson in RIO BRAVO, Elsa Martinelli in HATARI! (1962) and Paula Prentiss in MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT? (1964); early on, the "boys" in TIGER SHARK are gathered around drinking and singing to their hearts' content – a similar instance occurs also in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, RIO BRAVO and HATARI! Besides Robinson's performance and the fascinating early look at the Hawksian themes elaborated on more fully in his later films, TIGER SHARK is also notable for its exciting fishing sequences especially the rather grisly (for their time) shark attacks; the scene where Robinson loses his hand to one of the marauding beasts is particularly effective.Actually, this viewing of TIGER SHARK has reminded me of several notable films which Robinson appeared in around the same time but with which I'm not all that familiar having watched them only once years ago, namely TWO SECONDS (1932), THE MAN WITH TWO FACES (1934), John Ford's THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALIKING (1935), Hawks' own BARBARY COAST (1935), THE LAST GANGSTER (1937), A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER (1938), THE AMAZING DR. CLITTERHOUSE (1938), CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY (1939), THE SEA WOLF (1941) and MANPOWER!
drednm
Exciting film about a love triangle on the Monterey coast with Edward G. Robinson and Richard Arlen best friends and tuna fishermen. Robinson falls for bad girl Zita Johann who of course falls for handsome Arlen. Familiar storyline but Robinson is excellent as the Portuguese fisherman who battles the sea and the sharks to make a living. Arlen was a so-so actor but very handsome, and Johann had a strange exotic look. She's best remembered for The Mummy with Boris Karloff. Vince Barnett is funny and J. Carroll Naish has one scene. Leila Bennett plays a barber for some reason with pretty Toshio Mori as her assistant. Inez Palange plays a neighbor. Good film all around. But the highpoint is the truly remarkable footage of tuna fishing in a stormy sea.
