The Sea Hawk (B or 3/4 stars)
Errol Flynn re-teams with director Michael Curtiz (The Adventures of Robin Hood) for a sometimes flat/mostly rousing swashbuckling epic in 'The Sea Hawk'. There are a few superb action/adventure sequences and, the lavish visuals aid the proceedings ... I just wish some of the more talky, verbose scenes were clipped to provide a more consistently fluid adventure flick. Flynn plays Geoffrey Thorpe, a 17th c. British pirate captain who takes issue with Spain’s ships, just as they are threatening war with England. As the film opens, Capt. Thorpe attacks a Spanish ship that has just stolen gold from the New World. Thorpe then rescues the British galley slaves (used for rowing) & encounters the beautiful Dona Maria (Brenda Marshall), niece of the respectable Don Jose Alvarez de Cordoba (Claude Rains).
Thorpe steals Maria's stolen-jewels, but gives them back in a gesture of good will, which, of course, allows for her to then fall in love with him down the line. The Queen of England (regal Flora Robson) then sends Capt. Thorpe on a secret mission to South America (the inlet of Panama) where the Spanish are continuing to plunder the native's gold. Thorpe gets caught in the jungle {tense scene, filmed in sepia-tinged lensing} and, in turn, is made a galley slave with his fellow crewmembers (including Alan Hale, a stalwart Warner Bros. actor). Thorpe eventually escapes {in glorious fashion} onto another ship, & heads across the Atlantic back to England where he discovers some integral information that Dona Maria must help him get to the Queen. But Thorpe must evade the scheming Spaniards, some well-trained guards, & a conniving, sword-wielding Lord Wolfingham (Henry Daniell) to even get to the Queen. Swashbuckling ensues.
Made during the onset of WWII, 'The Sea Hawk' certainly draws parallels from the time of the Spanish Armada to the political turmoil surrounding Adolf Hitler in 1940. Yes, 'The Sea Hawk' is a swashbuckling entertainment. But this film casts a dark shadow, as well. King Phillip II of Spain represents Hitler, as evidenced in dialogue such as this: "The riches of the New World are limitless, & the New World is ours - with our armies sweeping over Africa, the Near East, & the Far West. Only northern Europe holds out against us. Why?". And in the final scene of the film, Queen Elizabeth speechifies, "And now, a grave duty confronts us all: to prepare our nation for a war that none of us wants. We have tried in our power to avert this war. We have no quarrel with the people of Spain; but when the ruthless ambition of (one) man threatens to engulf the world, it becomes the solemn obligation of all free men to affirm that the earth belongs not to any one man, but to all men, and that freedom is the deed & title to the soil on which we exist". So yes, 'The Sea Hawk' was as much a propaganda film as any other in the 1940-43 range.
But enough of that. Propaganda film or not, I must comment on the overall quality of this entertainment. My verdict: it's good, not great. 'The Sea Hawk' has plenty of stirring action, especially the big sea battle early on. Part of the problem with the film (for me), however, is the pacing. That opening sea battle is the most exciting scene in the whole film and, subsequent actions scenes felt a tad anticlimactic, especially amid some too-talky scenes (an eerie, sepia-tinged attack in the jungle, a galley slave's uprising, even the big swashbuckling btwn. Capt. Thorpe & the traitorous Lord Wolfingham - while well-choreographed - lacked some danger).
Errol Flynn does his usual cocky, heroic thing, though some of his innate charm is subdued for this particular role. I did love how the film introduces his character; the camera pans across his ship and a monkey {who is used well throughout the proceedings as comic relief} climbs up, up, up onto Flynn's body and we see that devil-may-care grin on his face. Flora Robson is excellent as the tough, but kindhearted Queen Elizabeth. I loved when boldly exclaims (of Spain's King Phillip II), "Who does he think he is to tell the Queen of England what to do!?!?" Brenda Marshall is attractive, but only 'okay' as Dona Maria. I enjoyed Una O'Connor as Dona Maria's chaperone. And Claude Rains is great, if underused as the Spanish ambassador. So yeah, 'The Sea Hawk' is a good movie with nice action, lavish visuals & intriguing political innuendos, I just think it's too dramatic/serious for its own good and needed some judicious editing in order to be a great one.
Thorpe steals Maria's stolen-jewels, but gives them back in a gesture of good will, which, of course, allows for her to then fall in love with him down the line. The Queen of England (regal Flora Robson) then sends Capt. Thorpe on a secret mission to South America (the inlet of Panama) where the Spanish are continuing to plunder the native's gold. Thorpe gets caught in the jungle {tense scene, filmed in sepia-tinged lensing} and, in turn, is made a galley slave with his fellow crewmembers (including Alan Hale, a stalwart Warner Bros. actor). Thorpe eventually escapes {in glorious fashion} onto another ship, & heads across the Atlantic back to England where he discovers some integral information that Dona Maria must help him get to the Queen. But Thorpe must evade the scheming Spaniards, some well-trained guards, & a conniving, sword-wielding Lord Wolfingham (Henry Daniell) to even get to the Queen. Swashbuckling ensues.
Made during the onset of WWII, 'The Sea Hawk' certainly draws parallels from the time of the Spanish Armada to the political turmoil surrounding Adolf Hitler in 1940. Yes, 'The Sea Hawk' is a swashbuckling entertainment. But this film casts a dark shadow, as well. King Phillip II of Spain represents Hitler, as evidenced in dialogue such as this: "The riches of the New World are limitless, & the New World is ours - with our armies sweeping over Africa, the Near East, & the Far West. Only northern Europe holds out against us. Why?". And in the final scene of the film, Queen Elizabeth speechifies, "And now, a grave duty confronts us all: to prepare our nation for a war that none of us wants. We have tried in our power to avert this war. We have no quarrel with the people of Spain; but when the ruthless ambition of (one) man threatens to engulf the world, it becomes the solemn obligation of all free men to affirm that the earth belongs not to any one man, but to all men, and that freedom is the deed & title to the soil on which we exist". So yes, 'The Sea Hawk' was as much a propaganda film as any other in the 1940-43 range.
But enough of that. Propaganda film or not, I must comment on the overall quality of this entertainment. My verdict: it's good, not great. 'The Sea Hawk' has plenty of stirring action, especially the big sea battle early on. Part of the problem with the film (for me), however, is the pacing. That opening sea battle is the most exciting scene in the whole film and, subsequent actions scenes felt a tad anticlimactic, especially amid some too-talky scenes (an eerie, sepia-tinged attack in the jungle, a galley slave's uprising, even the big swashbuckling btwn. Capt. Thorpe & the traitorous Lord Wolfingham - while well-choreographed - lacked some danger).
Errol Flynn does his usual cocky, heroic thing, though some of his innate charm is subdued for this particular role. I did love how the film introduces his character; the camera pans across his ship and a monkey {who is used well throughout the proceedings as comic relief} climbs up, up, up onto Flynn's body and we see that devil-may-care grin on his face. Flora Robson is excellent as the tough, but kindhearted Queen Elizabeth. I loved when boldly exclaims (of Spain's King Phillip II), "Who does he think he is to tell the Queen of England what to do!?!?" Brenda Marshall is attractive, but only 'okay' as Dona Maria. I enjoyed Una O'Connor as Dona Maria's chaperone. And Claude Rains is great, if underused as the Spanish ambassador. So yeah, 'The Sea Hawk' is a good movie with nice action, lavish visuals & intriguing political innuendos, I just think it's too dramatic/serious for its own good and needed some judicious editing in order to be a great one.