Draegerman Courage (1937) User Reviews

A study in contrasting philosophies

[mbhur · 6/10 · 9 July 2020]

Solid little movie about a mine cave-in, with good sets and the small town atmosphere nicely captured. But what struck me was how the movie presents two different life philosophies that could not be more different. Henry O'Neill plays the town's kindly doctor, who has barely a dime to his name since he's always treated the townspeople for what they can afford to pay, which is often nothing. When he needs money for an operation for his injured younger daughter, he's forced to ask for a loan of $400 from the town's richest citizen, the mine owner played by Robert Barratt. Baratt could give lessons in skin-flinted meanness to Scrooge or Mr. Burns. He calls the kindly doctor a fool for not living a life based totally on self-interest, as he has done, and refuses the loan. Even though it means a little girl might die, and EVEN THOUGH he is depending on the doctor to deliver his own baby, as his wife is due to give birth any day. I wanted the doc to say okay, I'll look out for myself for once. Give me a thousand dollars or I just might be unavailable when your wife is ready to give birth. Of course he doesn't say that, and instead has to let the skinflint take advantage of him in a business deal in order to get the $400.

The mine owner's greed results in the cave-in that makes up the dramatic conclusion of the movie. In the end, the tycoon has a change of heart and offers to donate money to give the town a hospital. But in my book he still goes down as a horrible human being.

The supposed star of the movie is Barton MacLane in a rare good guy role, but he actually doesn't have a lot to do. The movie's most vivid characters are the noble doctor and the evil tycoon, and it's their diametrically opposing views on life that gives this story real substance.

A most dangerous job

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 4 July 2020]

Based on a real incident that happened in Nova Scotia , Draegerman Courage refers to the right stuff it takes to work at a most dangerous job.

A beloved country doctor, a skinflint banker and a mine foreman played by Henry O'Neill, Robert Barrat, and Addison Richard are trapped in a mine cave in. Barton MacLane who is the fiance of O'Neill's daughter Jean Muir leads the rescue effort.

Nice no frills production from Warner Brothers B picture unit making good use of newsreel footage. You might recognize sets from Black Fury in this film

Art imitates life 55 years earlier with the 1992 Westray Mines disaster in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

[Ed-Shullivan · 7/10 · 25 June 2021]

An excellent film which reflects the initial greed and ignorance of this particular wealthy mine owner until he finds himself trapped in the mine himself but lucky for him he has the righteous town doctor trapped with him, who is encouraging the mine owner to have faith in the other miners above ground who will stop at nothing to rescue them, It is a FEEL GOOD movie in such that it does have a relatively happy ending which is not always the case with mine disasters.

Fast forward from 1937 when this Nova Scotia mine collapsed to the year 1992 in the town of Plymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, and there was a real mine explosion. The Westray mine opened in September 1991, but it was forced to close eight (8) months later when it was the site of an underground methane explosion on May 9, 1992, unfortunately and sadly killing all 26 miners working underground at the time. The week-long attempts to rescue the miners were widely followed by national media until it was obvious there would be no survivors. Lawsuits and a public inquiry by the government were initiated but no one went to jail for the possible sabotage, safety failures and/or accident of this mining disaster.

You would think based on this 1937 film Draegerman Courage, that mine owners would learn how dangerous mines are just by the sheer fact that mines are buried deep in the earth and men/women risk their lives working in them.

I give the film a solid 6 out of 10 IMDB rating.

Gripping second feature which reflects life in the mines, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 18 February 2015]

Recent events have dominated the press where the world watched as men working underground faced their possible death in a world of darkness. There have not only been real life incidents of mine collapses, but incidents where innocent children fell into a well and the world also watched with baited breath to see if they could be rescued. This mid 1930's drama focuses on a real life incident in Canada, and the results are just as gripping, even if some of the plot points are filled with sentimental pathos which threaten to weaken its structure.

The wonderful Henry O'Neill plays the owner of the mine who comes into financial strife when his young daughter is suddenly injured and needs major surgery. He agrees to sell the mine to the profit obsessed Robert Barrat. While inspecting the mines in order to make a decision and finalize their deal, O'Neill and Barrat are trapped, and the whole town waits for news of their fate. Before long, the press has arrived and the impending tragedy has become a major media event. Great detail goes into showing how the men (lead by mine foreman Barton MacLane) get through to attempt to rescue the two survivors of the collapse.

While MacLane and Jean Muir are top-billed (with Muir playing O'Neill's older daughter and MacLane's fiancé), it is the relationship between the two trapped men which stands out here and the details which take the viewer into the depths of these men's possible fate. The viewer will certainly feel the claustrophobia of the men, also felt in the beginning as a previous mine accident takes the life of one of the workers, causing O'Neill to become aware that more needs to be done to ensure the safety of the workers.

So good, you'd swear it wasn't a B!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 25 May 2021]

"Draegerman Courage" is an excellent B-movie...so good you'd swear it isn't a B! On one hand, its running time is under and hour and the leading men in the film are guys who traditionally are supporting actors (Barton MacLane and Henry O'Neill)....so it's clearly a B. But on the other, it's very well made....and looks as if Warner Brothers really believed in the project and gave it excellent and unexpected production values The cave-in scenes, for example. Are extremely well done...and that's something you'd not expect in a B.

The story is inspired by real events that occurred the year before the film was made. The 'Draegerman' that the title refers to is a man whose job it is to clean up cave-ins in mines and rescue the survivors. In this case, MacLane doesn't play his usual bad guy but the hero who is apparently the best at saving lives during these emergencies. How does it all play out? Well, see the film....as I don't want to ruin any surprise.

The acting, writing and production are all top notch....very well done and well worth seeing. In addition, the story is tense and exciting....and I really appreciated that folks didn't just 'phone this on in' like some Bs but really gave it their all.