IMDb RATING
6.2/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
Danny, a poor northern Californian Mexican-American, inherits two houses from his grandfather and is quickly taken advantage of by his vagabond friends.Danny, a poor northern Californian Mexican-American, inherits two houses from his grandfather and is quickly taken advantage of by his vagabond friends.Danny, a poor northern Californian Mexican-American, inherits two houses from his grandfather and is quickly taken advantage of by his vagabond friends.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Barbara Bedford
- Nun
- (uncredited)
Jack Carr
- Herman Scrivani
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- Trivia"NOT IN THE SCRIPT: A scene for 'Tortilla Flat' required five dogs to jump on Frank Morgan simultaneously while he was sitting in church. For a time it seemed like an impossibility until director Victor Fleming started hiding things in the beard Morgan wears for the role. Bits of meat, a rubber mouse, fish and bacon were tried. The meat did the trick. 'How do you feel,' Fleming asked Morgan when a good 'take' was finally made. 'With five dogs getting lunch out of my beard,' said Morgan, 'I feel like an automat'..." (Newspaper Enterprise Association, "Erskine Johnson's Hollywood," The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Sunday 8 February 1942, Colume 48, page 16.)
- GoofsToward the end of the movie, Pilon is holding a "Creamery Butter" cardboard box containing the raffle tickets while a small boy on his father's shoulder is choosing a ticket. When the camera shifts to a different angle, there are differences in the cardboard box, such as a large sticker that was not on the box just seconds beforehand.
- Quotes
Jose Maria Corcoran: What's the matter with him? Is he crazy?
Pilon: They say that a little love is like a little wine. Too much of either makes a man sick.
- Alternate versionsAlso shown in a computer-colorized version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Personalities (1942)
- SoundtracksAy, Ay, Paisano!
(1942) (uncredited)
Traditional
Adapted by Franz Waxman
Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Played during the opening and end credits and often as background music
Played on guitar by John Garfield and sung by him, Spencer Tracy, Akim Tamiroff and Sheldon Leonard
Reprised a cappella by Spencer Tracy
Featured review
Synthetic casting of MGM stars as lazy fishermen in seaport town...
There are two standout features of this film version of John Steinbeck's TORTILLA FLAT. One is the improbably beautiful HEDY LAMARR as a Portugese girl, showing more fire and spirit than usual in an unusual role (for her). The other is FRANK MORGAN, who in an exquisite sequence set in a forest, does an unforgettable job as an old man who thinks his dogs have seen a vision.
Other than that, it's pretty hard to accept SPENCER TRACY (again assuming the sort of accent he had in CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS) as the town's laziest and most conniving drifter, JOHN GARFIELD, SHELDON LEONARD and others as Latinos with Brooklyn accents showing, and AKIM TAMIROFF, the only supporting player who seems the least bit authentic.
The story is almost non-existent, a minor trifle in which it's pretty obvious that the California fishing community has been filmed on studio soundstages at MGM with the actors often photographed against location shots filmed in northern California's Monterey.
Definitely a Victor Fleming film that hasn't dated well and many will find offensive in its racial stereotypes. It's a wonder J. CARROL NAISH didn't find his way into the suppporting cast. He would have been a lot more believable than casting actors like ALLEN JENKINS and CONNIE GILCHRIST as Chicanos.
An almost unrecognizable FRANK MORGAN deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination as The Pirate, a lazy, dog-loving eccentric whom Tracy tricks into revealing the whereabouts of his money. He's in the film's most memorable sequence but most of the film is slow and talky to an irritating degree and filled with unsympathetic characters.
Other than that, it's pretty hard to accept SPENCER TRACY (again assuming the sort of accent he had in CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS) as the town's laziest and most conniving drifter, JOHN GARFIELD, SHELDON LEONARD and others as Latinos with Brooklyn accents showing, and AKIM TAMIROFF, the only supporting player who seems the least bit authentic.
The story is almost non-existent, a minor trifle in which it's pretty obvious that the California fishing community has been filmed on studio soundstages at MGM with the actors often photographed against location shots filmed in northern California's Monterey.
Definitely a Victor Fleming film that hasn't dated well and many will find offensive in its racial stereotypes. It's a wonder J. CARROL NAISH didn't find his way into the suppporting cast. He would have been a lot more believable than casting actors like ALLEN JENKINS and CONNIE GILCHRIST as Chicanos.
An almost unrecognizable FRANK MORGAN deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination as The Pirate, a lazy, dog-loving eccentric whom Tracy tricks into revealing the whereabouts of his money. He's in the film's most memorable sequence but most of the film is slow and talky to an irritating degree and filled with unsympathetic characters.
helpful•2014
- Doylenf
- Dec 25, 2007
- How long is Tortilla Flat?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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![Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, and John Garfield in Tortilla Flat (1942)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTcxNWMwZmYtYzVlNS00NWVhLWJmMWMtOWRhMTE2YjE4ZWZlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)