Captain Blood (1935)

Boring

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Flynn is absolutely charismatic in the title role. Never realised how dominating his physical presence is as well as his captivating personality! He just relishes the role. What a great James Bond he would have made 25 years or so later. Olivia de Havilland later fought the studio that forced her to play limiting roles like the one she plays here but she is wonderful with Flynn. Director Curtiz puts it all together excitingly, hardly slowing the pace. His lighting of night scenes is particularly memorable.

From the moment Blood learns that England has changed kings, from the bad King James to the good King William, and announces that he and his crew will fight the French to save Jamaica to the conclusion of the sea battle when the English flag is raised in triumph, this is as exciting as any movie scenes ever shot.Everything contributes: Michael Curtiz' brilliant direction, Erich Korngold's exciting music, the individual character creations by several of the actors.We will see a fair amount of this again, done even better, in the Curtiz-Flynn-Korngold collaborations The Sea Hawk and The Adventures of Robin Hood. But it is fascinating, and very exciting, to see how it all started.Historical note: I wonder if there is any connection between the change of English kings in this movie and the contemporary change of kings (1936) when Edward VIII abdicates and his younger brother George VI replaces him. (The subject of the excellent modern movie The King's Speech.) Certainly Edward VIII was not hated, as James II was. Was there a reason why George VI would have been a more inspiring monarch for the British in 1936? The Treaty of Munich was still two years away. How many English saw the country headed for war in 1936?

„CAPTAIN BLOOD" is an ambitious and very expensive project directed by Michael Curtiz. In 1935 year the adventure films are dominant. This genre was not so popular. That year the competition was great. Make a spectacular and expensive movie was "double-edged sword".Set design is mesmerizing. I think Curtiz targeted wanted to show adventurous beauty. Again, the scene is not supposed to act too exotic. Sound and effects are at a high level. The battles are spectacular. It is impressive to know that in certain sequences involved over 1,000 trainees. Errol and Olivia are practically "born" in this movie.Errol Flynn (Capt. Blood) very nice, good-looking, charming and dominant actor. Excellent fit in the adventure - action scenes. Former audience it was something new, somewhat exotic and exciting. His acting is not praised. I think, from the current point of view, that Flynn was a very good actor.Olivia de Havilland as Arabella Bishop was also on the beginning of her career. She picked up sympathy. Olivia is a very good actress and I'm not in any context discuss her beauty. She acts naturally and has a natural beauty. The chemistry between the two main actors is quite strange, but amazingly real. The duel between the Capt. Blood and Capt. Levasseur (Basil Rathbone) I would call epic. Well, the duel between the two men for a beautiful woman is almost always epic. Basil Rathbone, despite supporting role, has left a good impression.Lionel Atwill, who plays Arabella's uncle and, worse, Blood's nemesis, is a notch about the supporting player category. A somewhat strange and sinister person off screen, he was the in-house villain, ready and willing to snarl and glare.I think this movie, despite the year of issue, does not act old. The film begins and ends in a kind of a perfect circle. It features a lot of drama, adventure, action, charm and humor. This film, once watched, would or should bring a smile to everyone, except perhaps the most hardened movie goer. The story has flaws, but it is interesting. The soundtrack is excellent. Perhaps it is too much like a fairytale and romantic. Yes, in that fact I do not see anything wrong.

Captain Blood made a star out of Errol Flynn, its also fair to say he made a star out of Captain Blood.Flynn plays English doctor Peter Blood, a decent man sentenced to slavery in the outer colonies for the ridiculous crime of healing a man, whose loyalty was to Britain's enemies. Flynn's death stare in reply to the sentence, is one of the great close ups in cinema history. Its also a sign of things to come, because Blood goes on an epic rampage to wreak revenge, while simultaneously maintaining his strong sense of fairness. It's truly one of the great characters in film and Flynn embodies it with rapier like precision. I'm a huge fan of Michael Curtiz (director of Casablanca). As the story goes, He and MGM wanted an unavailable Robert Donat (39 Steps) and so took a chance on an inexperienced but plucky Aussie larrikan from Tasmania instead. Curtiz ordered that he take fencing lessons and filmed them. The resulting footage convinced MGM they had their man.Olivia de Havilland (who would return to Flynn's side for the legendary action adventure film, The Adventures of Robin Hood) plays his love interest. The chemistry was so stunning, it made them huge stars and led to them making seven more films together. De Havilland's sweetness plays well with Flynn's roguish charms.