Tiger Shark (1932)

good back-story, and good acting

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

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.

When Spencer Tracy played the Portugese fisherman in MGM's "Captains Courageous", he dealt with wags laughing at him for his Chico Marxx hairdo. Here, Edward G. Robinson has the same job and the same issue. If, unlike, Spencer Tracy, he didn't win an Oscar for his performance, he still rates an "A" for giving an excellent portrayal in an entertaining if sometimes over-the-top and gruesome melodrama.The story of Portugese fisherman Robinson starts when he is revealed to be one of three survivors of a capsized boat off the coast of Baja California in shark infested waters. Robinson immediately disposes of one of them into the briny sea after attempting to steal their water supply. The other sole survivor is young Richard Arlen who fights off the sharks right before one of them bites off Robinson's hand, leaving him an American version of Captain Hook. Robinson and Arlen become buddies and share many adventures together. Later, Robinson must visit young Zita Johann to tell her that her father was killed at sea, and ends up marrying her. But Arlen strikes her fancy in spite of her initial rejection of him, and when Robinson sees them in a romantic clinch, he plots revenge.Set on the Mexican Pacific coast for its fishing sequences and near San Diego for its dramatic story, "Tiger Shark" is an enjoyable mix of action and melodrama. Robinson provides a very layered performance as the rather ruthless fisherman who is loyal to his crew members but deadly to his foes. His final scene really sums up what is inside this character as he faces his own mortality. The film was remade several times by Warner Brothers, most notably as "Manpower" (1941), where Robinson played basically the same role, co-starring George Raft and Marlene Dietrich. That version switched the story from deep sea fishing to the world of men who repair electrical lines, and was used as a major plot device in the Warren Beatty gangster bio "Bugsy".

Edward G. Robinson is Mike, a Portugese immigrant who makes his living as a fisherman in "Tiger Shark," a 1932 movie also starring Richard Arlen and Zita Johann. Mike loses his hand while trying to save Quita's (Johann's) father from a shark, but he does manage to save his buddy Pipes. He falls in love with Quita when they meet, and, seeing that she is alone, he eventually proposes. She accepts but says that she does not love him. He apparently doesn't notice that one of his mates, Pipes,(Richard Arlen) has a crush on Quita, so Pipes is around a lot.This is a very dated and movie with stiff performances from everyone but Robinson. The character of Mike is very stereotypical now, but probably wasn't back then - the paunchy immigrant, kind of dumb, with false bravado, and don't forget about the hook for a hand. Very similar to "They Knew What They Wanted." There are endless scenes of fishing, which these men did with poles and harpoons, not nets. It looked dangerous, and I guess if Quita's father died and Mike lost his hand, it was.The pretty Roumanian actress Zita Johann, who was married to John Houseman, is effective as Mike's shy, young and grateful bride - but after she spots handsome Pipes, she realizes gratitude can only take one so far. Here she's dressed plainly with little makeup - but one can see that with the Dorothy Lamour treatment, she probably looked very exotic. Arlen, of "Wings" fame, is pretty hunky. He died in 1978 and worked practically until his last breath, giving him a career span of 57 years. His heyday, however, was in the silent era.Edward G. Robinson is excellent as always, but the film just doesn't hold up today. Robinson proved early on that he could do just about anything, though in the '30s, he was most often cast as a thug. When you see Mike in action toward the end of the movie, you'll realize this role isn't that far from what he did as Little Caesar.I can't really recommend this unless you're interested in fishing circa 1932.

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.