A good story, although a bit too broad to compress into a 90 minute movie; today this would be at least a 2 hour film. A war. An unplanned trip to the South Seas. Meeting up with pirates. Back to Scotland to settle old quarrels. Just too much for 90 minutes.
Production qualities that were erratic. Some scenes seemed well provisioned, others had matte paintings that were none too good. In fact, in the late escape scene, the rock walls of a tunnel shake when one of the actors bumps into it. And the fencing sequence toward the end of the film was poorly choreographed. Disappointing on that score.
If you like swashbuckling stories, this should satisfy you, although that's where the slightly flabby comment comes in. In some of the fencing scenes you can see that this was hard work for Erroll Flynn. He was well past his prime, and his lifestyle had slowed him down considerably. And, he was just a bit too old for the role to begin with. But, he was great at this type of action film, so he pulled it off.
In terms of the acting, Flynn still had it; real presence on screen. Roger Livesey as an Irish colonel -- and sort of the Walter Brennan rule -- was good, although I was not familiar with him. The rest of the cast did their jobs, but none impressed me much.
The film has its limitations, but it's enjoyable enough. And, for all intents and purposes, Flynn's last (sorta) great screen role.
Production qualities that were erratic. Some scenes seemed well provisioned, others had matte paintings that were none too good. In fact, in the late escape scene, the rock walls of a tunnel shake when one of the actors bumps into it. And the fencing sequence toward the end of the film was poorly choreographed. Disappointing on that score.
If you like swashbuckling stories, this should satisfy you, although that's where the slightly flabby comment comes in. In some of the fencing scenes you can see that this was hard work for Erroll Flynn. He was well past his prime, and his lifestyle had slowed him down considerably. And, he was just a bit too old for the role to begin with. But, he was great at this type of action film, so he pulled it off.
In terms of the acting, Flynn still had it; real presence on screen. Roger Livesey as an Irish colonel -- and sort of the Walter Brennan rule -- was good, although I was not familiar with him. The rest of the cast did their jobs, but none impressed me much.
The film has its limitations, but it's enjoyable enough. And, for all intents and purposes, Flynn's last (sorta) great screen role.