Lovers Courageous is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Frederick Lonsdale.
The film stars Robert Montgomery, Madge Evans, Roland Young, Frederick Kerr, Reginald Owen and Beryl Mercer.
He cuts school by forging a letter to the headmaster, claiming his father is ill and he is needed at home.
The film cuts to present day and we see a now adult Willie (Robert Montgomery) in the crow's nest of a ship during a terrible storm.
Willie's mother (Beryl Mercer) is convinced that he'll be a "great man" someday, but his father thinks very little of him.
Not only is Mary engaged to Jimmy (Reginald Owen), but she also has a rapport with an officer on the naval base named Jeffrey (Roland Young).
Jeffrey pays attention to Mary and notices something has suddenly changed about her - that she is no longer bored or frustrated at being in South Africa as she once was.
Mary is dishonest with her family about where she is spending all of her time, pretending that her car has broken down while on a drive or that she's too ill to go out on calls with her mother.
He finally confirms his suspicions when he is taking the Blayne family dog out for a walk late one night and he sees Willie and Mary arriving after spending the evening together.
He tells them that he struggled with whether or not to say something because he does not believe that Willie is a bad person - in fact, he urges Admiral Blayne not to confront Mary in order to keep their secret from being revealed.
Willie mournfully watches the ship leave the dock, and Mary tearfully regrets her decision to go.
Although she tries to keep busy on Jimmy's estate, going riding and attending luncheons, she can't shake her feelings for Willie.
She is deeply unhappy, and Jeffrey tries to provide some hope - he casually implies to Mary that if she weds Jimmy, within a few years of their marriage she may be able to pursue an affair with another man.
When the Admiral returns to England, even he remarks that Mary doesn't appear to be a happy bride-to-be.
Meanwhile, Willie has left South Africa and returns to England, where he lives in poverty but continues working on his play.
Willie has not stopped pining for Mary, and he sends her a gift to let her know he is thinking of her - a little box of the same brand of cigarettes she purchased from him in the shop in South Africa.
However, he tells Mary that when she eventually leaves Willie, poor and starving, he'll take her back willingly.
He tells Jeffrey and his wife that Mary will come back to them - "starving, and hating [Willie]."
When the landlady barges in one day, insisting on getting her rent and telling Willie that they'll be out by the end of the week, he pounds the pavement looking for work.
Belton tells Willie that the play is too unbelievable - that a woman would never run away from her well-off family to marry a penniless man.
He expresses shame - he tells them that he gave up because he couldn't stand poverty, and he regrets losing Mary.
Lamone, however, likes the play and wants to produce it, and he sits with Willie to discuss some modifications he wants to make to the script.
We see that Gerald Lamone has produced "William" Smith's play, entitled "Courage".
It is the end of the first act, and Willie and his mother are standing outside, as he can't bring himself to sit and watch the performance.
When he arrives, the Admiral is furious and insists that he leave, but Willie ignores him and runs to Mary's side.
Willie excitedly tells Mary that they should go away to Paris or Rome to celebrate, but she gently implies that they need to stay home so they can have a baby instead.