Runtime: 127 minutes
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson
From: Warner Bros.
I realize that there have been various unsavory accusations made against Errol Flynn in the past; this includes hanging out w/ girls not exactly 18 years old and two-way mirrors all over his mansion as he allegedly was a perv. That said, TCM is showing many of his movies in April and if you ignore his off-screen boozing (& worse), what a star he was on screen. I'm not surprised that when my mom was alive, she was a fan of his. I've watched a few of his films but this was new to me.
Quite simply, it's a fun adventure of old that is perfect for the adage “they don't make 'em like they used to.” Flynn plays a privateer in the days of Queen Elizabeth... the first. The opening is his ship capturing a Spanish ship that has not only an ambassador, but also his lovely niece, who thankfully is of age, along with English men forced to be galley slaves that row the ships. The relationship between the niece and Errol goes as you'd expect; first she hates them then... as the Spanish are portrayed as the villains of the piece it is easy to root for the English against the evil machinations planned by Spain. In fact this was an allegory to World War II and Spain was a substitute for Nazi Germany.
This had exactly what I wanted: intrigue, spies, double-crossers, romance, sword fights, brawls on ship decks, swamp action, plenty of dialogue that remains interesting as it advances the feud between the two countries, and a speech at the end from Elizabeth that was meant to psych audiences to fight against the enemy in war. The movie was a lot of fun, and a huge asset was the great score from Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Among talents I knew like Flynn, Claude Rains and Donald Crisp, it was Flora Robson who shone the brightest in her supporting role as Elizabeth I.
One last note: most of the movie looks like a standard grey-colored black and white picture. When the section set in Latin America begins, however... it turns into a yellow-colored hue. Yes, that apparently was a cliché in Hollywood more than 80 years ago and isn't a 21st century trope to have warm cinematography for Latin America.
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