Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

evanston_dad Short on adventure and long on talkiness, this 1952 big-budget release from MGM sinks faster than you can say "Mayflower." Yes, one of the most famous of famous ships is the main character, and it's only slightly more wooden than the cast that climbs aboard and ventures to the new world. That cast is led by perennial grump Spencer Tracy, who commands the ship and hates all the passengers, until their goody-goodness and preaching about God and opportunity makes him see the error of his ways. Leo Genn gives the film's best performance as the passenger with the best oratorical skills. He also happens to be married to Gene Tierney, who's given absolutely nothing to do until she gets to commit suicide, probably to escape from the boredom of the film, in a plot twist that makes absolutely no sense since nothing was done by the screenplay up to that point to establish it.Speaking of the screenplay, the writers must have been paid by the word, because this particular group of passengers talk a LOT about all the things that aren't interesting, while few of the things that would be interesting about a story like this never happen. The film got the lavish Technicolor treatment from MGM and a sea storm garnered it an Oscar for Best Special Effects, but even if the pilgrims themselves were not dead on arrival, the movie certainly is.Grade: C-

Neil Doyle An already aged-looking SPENCER TRACY is Captain Jones of the Mayflower in this MGM visualization of what the crossing to the New World may have been like on an overcrowded ship full of hopeful, determined passengers and crew. But neither he nor GENE TIERNEY (as Mrs. Bradford) seem at home in roles that are never really fleshed out by the script. Nevertheless, Tierney gets plenty of wistful close-ups as she gazes toward the horizon (or Tracy), but little of substance to do.Neither does VAN JOHNSON get more than a brief supporting role as John Alden. LEO GENN gets more material as Tierney's stuffed shirt husband but little can be said of the other passengers except for LLOYD BRIDGES who struts around as a bronzed, blue-eyed pirate with taking ways. He at least livens up the scene whenever he's around.The main trouble is the lack of strong drama in the script. Most of the passengers are a dull lot. Added to that, the lack of real chemistry between Tracy and Tierney makes it difficult to believe their love could be deep enough for her to care about this rude and cynical man completely lacking any sort of refinement in his nature.The big storm scene is well realized and staged for maximum effect, but only serves to remind us how dull the other sections of the film are.Summing up: A very uneven drama about an historical event that celebrated the birth of the New World. Should have been so much better.

vincentlynch-moonoi Spencer Tracy is tied right up there with Cary Grant as being my favorite actor. And I like (not love) this film. It certainly has a lot going for it -- Tracy, Gene Tierney (whose co-starring role is pivotal, yet smaller than one might expect), Van Johnson, and Leo Genn. The scenes at sea are done well, particularly the storm sequences. Yet, somehow, this film seems to come up just a bit short.While it's definitely fictionalized, there's a lot of history here, too. I tend to read up on historical films, and this one seems more realistic with the history than one is used to. Oddly enough, Van Johnson -- in my view an "okay" and "pleasant enough" actor -- probably comes off best of actor in this film. Spencer Tracy comes off waaaaay too dour for most of the film, although that does facilitate his redemption after landing at Plymouth; I would have to say that in regard to that characterization, perhaps the director overdid it. Gene Tierney plays who role well, but I think she might have been disappointed in the scope of it. There appears to be at least a possibility that her character did indeed commit suicide in real life, as portrayed in the film. Leo Genn does well as William Bradford (husband of the Tierney character). Lloyd Bridges isn't quite a swashbuckler here -- too earth for that, but plays his role nicely.So what is it that's missing here. Well, perhaps its that this is a story that should have been inspiring, yet in this rendition seems depressing. A number of Clarence Brown's (director) films are quite notable and enjoyable, and he had worked with Tracy (as Edison) before. But this time the results are disappointing. Interestingly, although this was his last film (1952), he lived another 35 years. Perhaps he realized he no longer had the spark.

rockinghorse Spencer Tracey must have hated this movie. He sure played the part as if he hated it, and I can hardly blame him. His captain is an angry man who hates all his passengers except Gene Tierney, whom he seduces away from her husband. This may be realistic, though it's difficlut to tell. Would a Puritan woman have been so repressed that she goes for a rough man like the captain instead of her equally repressed husband? So she makes everyone thorougly miserable by killing herself. I can't remember whether this is before or after the passengers throw a party for the captain, who made no secret of the fact that he'd really rather they'd all drowned. All except Gene Tierney, of course.I wonder whether Spencer Tracey was as angry as the captain or as bored as the audience. We all have different tastes. I don't think suicide is in the least romantic, but an awful lot of people do.