Tugboat Annie

A film about a tugboat captain and his wife. Annie and Terry are a couple working in the port of Seattle. They run the tug together. Terry drinks, neglects the work, and Annie saves the situation every time. They argue constantly and do not separate. Their son Alec grows up and goes to maritime school. He takes a post on a large passenger ship and becomes an officer. Annie is proud of it, but another matter arises: the boy is ashamed of his father. That is what the film describes: the distance between a child who has moved up and a family that has not. The register moves between comedy and melodrama; the pair shout at each other, the audience laughs, and then the narrative turns serious. Marie Dressler plays Annie and Wallace Beery plays Terry; the two were among the biggest draws of the period. Robert Young plays the son. Mervyn LeRoy directed. It was among the studio's highest-grossing productions in its year. A popular example of its period for anyone who likes early Hollywood and character comedy. For a viewer expecting a modern manner, the film uses its emotional emphasis openly and its humour belongs to its time.