The first thing I want to say is that "Tugboat Annie" is not just a comedy. I wouldn't even say it's primarily a comedy. It is a drama first and a comedy second.
Annie Brennan (Marie Dressler) owned and operated a tugboat with her shiftless drunkard of a husband, Terry (Wallace Beery). The two had a son named Alec who grew up to be the youngest captain of an ocean liner and they couldn't have been more proud. Annie was a good mother and Alec (Robery Young) was an excellent son. Even after he'd made something of himself he didn't high hat his parents. Though they were still nothing more than unrefined tugboat operators Alec showed them off with pride.
If Annie had one flaw it was her loyalty to Terry. His drinking got them into one problem after another. It even put Annie on the rocks with her own son. She was hopelessly torn between her loyalty to both men when Alec told his mother she'd have to make a choice: leave Terry and live in a nice apartment inland or stay with Terry on the Narcissus (the name of their tugboat).
"Tugboat Annie" was touching, saddening, maddening, and even suspenseful. Yes, it was funny at times, but I'm glad it didn't try to make it as a straight comedy. Dressler and Beery make an incomparable combo. They also starred together in "Min and Bill" (1930) which was a good movie as well. Also of note in "Tugboat Annie" was Maureen O'Sullivan ("Skyscraper Souls" and "Payment Deferred") who played Alec's fiance, and Paul Hurst.
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