Terry Brennan isn’t in love with his own reflection as his identity is darkly mirrored in a bottle of gin or the bottom of a whiskey glass. It’s his loyal and faithful wife Annie who keeps the family afloat. Literally. Mervyn Leroy’s tempestuous drama is dominated by Marie Dressler’s wonderfully self-deprecating performance as the titular character who earns her money the hard way: by working her jawbone of an Ass off! DP Greg Toland elevates the film another notch with beautiful high and low angle shots, finding interesting ways to shoot the film often in the tight confines of a small tugboat cabin. There are some very good special effects camerawork with miniatures in the final act that impress too.
Annie and drunken hubby Terry barely make ends meet as their Narcissus fights for its own tiny workspace in the competitive tugboat racket. They live an honest yet gritty existence, blue collars stained by years of grease, oil and sweat. Annie is the captain of the boat and marriage because Terry is affable yet a drunkard: he’s not full of piss and vinegar but gin and tonic. He constantly subverts Annie’s directions which eventually leads to their financial catastrophe. Their only son Alec grows up to Captain a huge passenger ship and becomes the glory of their existence, proud parents of a child whose career exceeds their own achievements. Of course, this builds the friction throughout the story as Alec is embarrassed and ashamed of his father’s drunken mendacities (yet still full of good intentions!). The film is grimy and awash in unwashed interiors and exteriors, reeking of its realistic environment aboard a tugboat whose boilers leak and moan when under pressure. It’s refreshing to see “people” represented in a film and not a romanticized representation: though Terry’s alcoholism leads to some laughs his consequences are always too real and justified. The final storm when Terry must crawl into the boiler to fix the pipes while it is still burning fuel is truly inspired. Toland films this tight space of fire and smoke with flickering light and gets the camera in for close-ups. The suspense and drama keeps us on the edge-of-our seats! The Narcissus is the little tugboat that could...and it does. Thanks to Annie and her slovenly (yet kindhearted) husband.
For my money, Dressler should have been nominated for an Academy Award.
Final Grade: (B+)