Captain Blood (1935) Reviews

• Swashbuckling Triumph for Errol Flynn!

  cariart2003-08-15

  CAPTAIN BLOOD, Warners' 1935 remake of a popular 1924 silent film, is best remembered today as Errol Flynn's springboard to stardom, and the first of a series of classic swashbucklers from the studio. Yet the film was nearly shelved, and it's story is as entertaining as the film. Intended to attract the same audience that had made MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and TREASURE ISLAND box office hits, the film boasted great production values, a talented director (Michael Curtiz), a musical score from Hollywood's greatest composer (Erich Wolfgang Korngold, although time limitations forced him to borrow heavily from Franz Liszt), the captivating beauty of young Olivia de Havilland (in only her fourth film), and, originally, the respected British actor (and future Oscar winner) Robert Donat as physician-turned-pirate Peter Blood. Donat, however, had chronic health problems (which would, sadly, eventually curtail his film career), and Warners faced a major production starting date with no leading man. Legend has it that Jack Warner's wife recommended young Errol Flynn (just 26 at the time) for the role; she had described him as the most "gorgeous" man she'd ever seen, and helped convince the studio to bring him from England, where he was doing repertory theater, after several years of hell-raising around the world. His largest American role, to date, had been as a corpse in a Perry Mason B-movie, but his sexual conquests and social life were already becoming legendary, and he and new wife, actress Lili Damita, were constantly promoting the young actor around town. The studio finally decided to take a chance on the untested actor in the lead (budget-wise, picking a low-paid contract player was a smart financial move)...but it initially appeared to be a MAJOR blunder, as Flynn looked tense and amateurish in the dailies. Director Curtiz was unfazed, however, and worked with him, and gradually the actor developed confidence. Word spread around the studio that a charismatic new star was emerging, and the first few days' scenes were scrapped and re-shot. By the end of the hugely favorable test screenings, Warners knew it had finally had a bona-fide sex symbol of their own, who could compete for female audiences against Gable, Cooper, and Cary Grant. Errol Flynn had inherited Douglas Fairbanks' title of premier swashbuckler, and had done it with only one film! CAPTAIN BLOOD may lack the opulence of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, and the pure adventure value of THE SEA HAWK, but without this pirate saga, and the dynamic star it introduced, the 'Golden Age' of Hollywood may never have seen these subsequent classics reach the screen. CAPTAIN BLOOD has earned a place in film history that cannot be underrated.

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• England and the Caribbean, 1685 - 1688

  theowinthrop2005-09-12

  This is remembered as Errol Flynn's great opening movie role - which is partly true. He had a nice career in Australian movies (one a film about Fletcher Christian and the Bounty), but CAPTAIN BLOOD was his first Hollywood film as a star, and it was a brilliantly colorful opening role. Flynn plays Dr. Peter Blood, a physician who is the 1685 version of Dr. Samuel Mudd in the Assassination of Lincoln. Mudd, if you recall, treated John Wilkes Booth's broken leg, and was sentenced to life imprisonment as a result. Flynn treats some injured men not realizing they are soldiers in a revolt. When they are arrested so is he, and he ends up being transported as an indentured servant (little better than a slave) to Jamaica in the West Indies. The revolt, by the way, is that of James, Duke of Monmouth. The son of one Lucy Walters, his father was supposed to be King Charles II, one of several lovers Walters had when James was born. King Charles had ennobled Monmouth, and treated him well at court, but refused to legitimize him as the Whigs hoped (they wanted the Protestant Monmouth on the throne, rather than the Catholic brother of Charles, James, Duke of York. In the end Monmouth led this ill-fated revolt, which was defeated at the battle of Sedgewick Moor. Monmouth was beheaded at the Tower of London. King James II (the former Duke of York) sent his most belligerent jurist, Judge George Jeffreys to the west country where hundreds were hanged at fast trials (known forever after as "The Bloody Assizes". Jeffreys appears in the film as the judge that orders Blood's transporting to the New World. However in the film Blood (desperate to prove he is just a doctor) says the judge is suffering from tuberculosis. Jeffeys actually suffered from kidney stones, and was a heavy drinker and curser as a result. King James II made him Lord Chancellor for his work. Flynn's real adventures begin in Jamaica, where he is working at the estate of Colonel Bishop (Lionel Atwill) and his niece Arabella (Olivia De Haviland). It was the first film Flynn and De Haviland co-starred in. Atwill is a bully to these traitorous indentured servants, but Flynn's medical abilities raises him above the others. With the aid of two local doctors he plans an escape, and he and the other indentured servants (Guy Kibbee, Ross Alexander, etc.) escape after defeating a pirate attack on the island. They also have the pleasure of plundering and discomforting Atwill, who vows to hunt them down and destroy them. The only regret Flynn has in leaving is he and Arabella have fallen in love. We watch the rise of Peter Blood as a leading pirate, his temporary partnership with the French pirate Captain Lavasseur (Basil Rathbone) - which ends in a duel over De Haviland (and the first time Rathbone had to die at Flynn's hand in a duel in their films), and his gradual emergence as a friend of a reformed England represented by Lord Willoughby (Henry Stephenson) after the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 overthrows James II. Although not exactly the same, Blood's rise from Pirate king to Governor of Jamaica (as the film ends) is a mirror of the story (a decade earlier) of the rise of Pirate, Henry Morgan, to being Sir Henry Morgan, Lt. Governor/Governor of Jamaica. A closer acting job regarding Morgan was done by Laird Cregar in THE BLACK SWAN, where he played that Governor - and with a welsh accent. But Flynn does very nicely, with his charm, humor, good looks, and athletic grace. It was a good introduction to a Hollywood legend.

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• Delightful Classic Adventure

  claudio_carvalho2005-08-07

  In 1685, in England, the Irish Dr. Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) is unfairly accused of treachery of King James just because he treated a wounded rebel. He is sent to prison and six months later sentenced to hanging. In the very last moment, he is sent to Port Royal, a British colony in Jamaica, to work as a slave. Arabella Bishop (Olivia de Havilland), the niece of the powerful landlord Col. Bishop (Lionel Atwill), saves him from dying in the labor work in the mines, and when he heels the foot of the governor of Port Royal, he achieves a partial freedom in the island. With his intelligence and leadership, he escapes with his British slave comrades and becomes Captain Blood, a famous pirate in the Caribbean Seas. "Captain Blood" is a delightful adventure, certainly one of the best pirate movies I have ever seen. The direction of Michael Curtiz is perfect as usual. The screenplay has excellent lines, many plot points, and action, funny scenes and romance in right doses. The elegant Errol Flynn with the gorgeous Olivia de Havilland have a great chemistry in their charismatic roles. "Captain Blood" is a highly recommended movie for fans of adventure films. My vote is ten. Title (Brazil): "Capitão Blood" ("Captain Blood")

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• The Greatest Pirate Film to Date

  kevintuma2005-02-27

  'Captain Blood' is not easily understood by a lot of viewers. Although far from a "love or hate" film, it is frequently characterized as "boring" and "unconvincing" by people who do not understand its subject matter---buccaneers of the Caribbean. For a lot of people,"pirate" translates as "gruff bearded man with a wooden leg, a parrot on his shoulder, and a vocabulary consisting mostly of four words--"shiver me timbers" and "Aaaarrrrrrrgh!" In other words their definition of pirate derives from fictional pirate Long John Silver. Captain Blood is a more romanticized figure, and tends to leave fans of buffoonish pirates flat. Peter Blood, the protagonist, is much more influenced by the dashing exploits of Captain Henry Morgan---with a physician's mantle thrown in, formulaically speaking, to give him added genteel qualities. 'Blood' is, for the most part, however, the most realistic of pirate films made to date. Substantially more so than, say, 'Pirates of the Caribbean'--which dazzles with special effects, but displays little understanding of the historical period. The Jerry Bruckheimer film appears visually influenced by Barbara Cartland novels, and, like most pirate films, depicts Port Royal unrealistically. I cannot vouch for exactly what Port Royal looked like a few centuries ago--considering that it was destroyed once by an earthquake in 1692, and burned a decade later---but it's doubtful that it resembled a quaint cliff side tourist retreat in the Grenadines. In Captain Blood, Port Royal is seen as flat and sandy, with colonial Spanish buildings. This is more authentic; the real-life city was a captured Spanish colony built on a sandpit. Similarly, in most respects Captain Blood is carefully constructed, and does not resort to the hackneyed and often silly stunts seen in most pirate films.....such as exploding buildings with gunpowder (for no particular reason), searching for buried treasure, Twentieth Century-style fistfights (and karate-kicks), female pirates in every ship's crew, anorexic women in ruffled skirts who kick ass, etc. In terms of characterization, Captain Blood is a tour-de-force, depicting the practice of white slavery (quite common in the colonial era) and the escape of Blood's slave band to become a crew of buccaneers. He is pursued by his former slave owner, an insolent, hateful man named Bishop, as a matter of personal grudge. As opposed to the usual cops-and-robbers chase scenes with British soldiers we see in most pirate shows. (In real-life Caribbean colonies, privateers and pirates were often ignored by the authorities..if not,in fact,quietly encouraged behind the scenes.) The ships in Captain Blood also move like real ships (slowly, and by wind power only), and the final battle sequence between Blood's galleon and a French Frigate is extraordinarily vivid, especially considering the special effects used when the original film was made (1935). As with many pictures from the 1930s, the film is chock-filled with corny characters who provide "color", but in so doing, still leave a more lasting impression than modern-day characters who do nothing but grunt, sweat, and bleed. This is a stunning and very likable action film--and head and shoulders above all other Hollywood pirate movies. Perhaps the next Johnny Depp film will get it right, and surpass Captain Blood..but I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

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• Flynn and De Havilland in one of the best pirate movies of all time...

  Doylenf2001-07-04

  'Captain Blood' made stars of Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland when it was released, both winning their roles by default when other casting attempts failed. It's a rousing pirate adventure tale, told as only Rafael Sabatini in his novel could do. Aside from a splendid script, it has Michael Curtiz at the directorial helm and Erich Wolfgang Korngold supplying the stirring background music. The Flynn-de Havilland-Korngold-Curtiz package would be repeated many times by Warner Bros. since the ingredients proved a smash hit, most notably in 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'. Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) is a physician wrongly accused of being a traitor and sent to the West Indies into a life of slavery. He is purchased at the auction block by a spirited beauty (Olivia de Havilland) whose father happens to be the Governor (Lionel Atwil). When he leads other prisoners in an escape plan and succeeds, he becomes a pirate on the high seas. Eventually he is involved in a fight, a duel to the death with another pirate (Basil Rathbone) in order to win the fair heroine. The climactic duel between Flynn and Rathbone is on par with their other famous duel in 'Robin Hood'. Fans of either Errol Flynn or Olivia de Havilland cannot fail to enjoy this romantic adventure done in the grand style by a studio that knew it had two future stars in the making.

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