Oscars: Best Actor–Worst Winners–Spencer Tracy, “Captains Courageous” (1937)

Captains Courageous is a sea adventure, passably directed by the vet Victor Fleming, better know for helming Gone With the Wind.

The tale centered on a spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship is picked up by a fishing boat, where he has to join the crew and work to earn his spot aboard the vessel.

Spencer Tracy, under contract to MGM, was one of the most respected performers of classic Hollywood cinema.

However, it’s unfortunate that both of his Oscar wins represent two of the weakest of the entire decade 1930s.

Each of his subsequent Oscar nominations, especially Bad Day at Black Rock, in 1955, was more deserving of Oscar gold.

My Oscar Book:

While Boys Town, for which he also won Oscar, isn’t his best work, it’s his performance in Captains Courageousthat stands out as one of his weakest–and fakest.

Tracy’s poor attempt at a Portuguese accent distracts from his performance, which in any case would not have been better due to the poor, utterly predictable script.

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