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.
