Man's Castle (1933)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I saw this film on TCM the other evening and I really liked it. I think I particularly enjoyed Loretta Young's character. Anyway, the acting is that pre-Method type of acting that was pretty much the standard in films before 1950. For modern, young audiences it might take a little adjustment. It's like riding in a classic car; you don't do it for the luxury or to get some place in a hurry, but just to enjoy it.It is a pre-code film so the two lead characters were seen actually living together, and pawing each other. Then, before the wedding of the two, the female character announces that she is pregnant. It presents Tracy's character with a dilemma; does he do what his gut wants him to do, or does he do what his heart wants him to do.Despite the old-fashion acting, I thought that Tracy and Young showed a lot of chemistry together. I actually became a bit mesmerized by the two's performances.

Man's Castle (1933) *** (out of 4) A rather bizarre love story from Borzage set during the Depression-era as two different people are brought together through being poor. Spencer Tracy plays a hot tempered man who has the charm to live a good life but instead plays it day to day just making what he has to. He takes in a poor woman (Loretta Young) and they hit it off well even though he mistreats her and she might want something out of him that he'd never be able to give. If the term love story makes you want to pass this film up then you might want to think again because this isn't the tear jerker that would have women lining up buying tickets. Instead, this is a pretty mean spirited pre-code that has all sorts of stuff from premarital sex to abused women to suffering because of being poor and even a brief mention of an abortion. Did I mention that Tracy and Young go skinny dipping early in the movie? At the heart of the film is a love story but we've got so much other stuff going on that you might lose site of that. For starters, Tracy's character is one of the biggest S.O.B's you'll likely see in a film from this era. He's incredibly mean and often takes it out on Young who doesn't mind getting insulted or being left behind when he's out with other women. I think a lot of people are going to be turned off because of how mean he is but I guess this is a part of the "moral" in the film. Tracy delivers another fine performance and I think the reason I personally didn't hate his character more is because of how good the actor was. He certainly pulls off the meanness without any trouble but at the same time you can just look at him and know there's something under that toughness. Young, perhaps my favorite actress, also delivers another winning performance. She's very believable in the abused woman role even though you want to ask her why she's with the jerk. The film has a message about a lot of issues and this is another reason why it remains rather fresh today especially since we're going through another hard time with people without jobs and unable to eat. The speech Tracy's character gives to a restaurant early on is something that would probably get a standing ovation today.

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. nothing more.

SPENCER TRACY plays a rough and tumble character in a role that was tailor made for Clark Gable. Somehow, his chemistry with LORETTA YOUNG is not quite what it should be. She, however, gives a very sensitive performance as the lovely girl attracted to him despite his arrogant behavior. This is the weakness of the story. If played by a charmer like Clark Gable, Loretta's yen for Tracy would be more understandable. As it is, he plays a real scoundrel without any attempt to soften his character for the sake of romance. He's sometimes so despicable that he alienates the viewer from sympathizing with him.But it's Loretta Young who holds the film together, even though her character often seems naive and foolish to stay with Tracy. MARJORIE RAMBEAU is effective in a good supporting role as a woman with backbone who helps Tracy and Young when he has to flee the authorities. WALTER CONNOLLY, as a man Tracy attempts to rob, is also fine.The film looks as though it was bathed in soft focus, perhaps to make the tone of the love story less gritty than it would have looked if filmed realistically. Whatever, Loretta Young has never looked more beautiful. Her costuming belies the fact that she's a Depression era heroine. Another unrealistic touch by director Frank Borzage, who has chosen to tell the story as if it were a fairy tale Depression story.