6/10
Known tale of adventures , love and mystery , being the classic version based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
10 November 2017
The exciting story of two brothers, Scottish noblemen whose family is torn apart by the Jacobite rising of 1745 , rallying all the nobles and chieftains of all the Scottish clans supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie . Bonnie Prince Charlie raises his royal standard on the 19th of August 1745 and claims the crowns of England , Scotland and Ireland in front of a gathering of Scottish nobles and chieftains . The Jacobite Rebellion has begun . During the succession debacle, the House of Stuart received the support of their Catholic subjects , while King George II of the House of Hanover had the support of the Protestants . Catholic France supported the House of Stuart's claim to the English , Scottish and Irish thrones. And there took place Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at Culludon . Flynn plays as the forceful Jacobite Jamie Durrister , the heir to Scottish title who sets off wearing the white cockade, the symbol of the cause , and he gets involved in a rebellion with Bonnie Prince Charlie against the English Crown , then the riot fails . Flynn heads for the west Indies where he and his partner and faithful servant (Roger Livesey) undertake several adventures . As Jamie accompanied by his new friend Irishman Francis Burke find themselves on board a smugglers ship . Both of them amass quite a fortune through piracy . As he becomes a pirate and fights against the French Capt. Arnaud (Jacques Berthier). Meanwhile, Jamie winning ways in fair ladies . Jamie eventually returns to Scotland where he finds that his brother has taken over his title as well as his longtime sweetheart . The outrageous Master Jamie is torn between vengeance and brotherhood , versus his brother Henry Durie (Anthony Steel) who has more traditional values and social wiles . The enmity between the fraternal rivals and the love, for both , of the stalwart Lady Alison (Beatrice Campbell) is also a main theme .

This is an amusing rendition based on vintage book , set in 18th century Scotland , during the Jacobite Rebellion ; as the plot revolves around what happens after the brothers toss a coin to see who joins Prince Charlie and who remains to oversee the family estate . The screenplay may not be entirely correct in detail but the portrayal of the Jacobite Rebellion is both very accurate and insightful , surprisingly good for a Hollywood film . Colorful flick developing deeds about battle of Culludon and subsequent events with superb cinematography in Tecnicolor by Jack Cardiff and powerful score by William Alwyn . This classic story of romantic adventure , filmed in location , comes to life enriched by the brilliant photography , as the color of the Scotland's fields is stunning and being freely based on historical facts . A good clean fun with a legendary Scottish adventurer against the British army , the Red Coats . It is a fun adventure movie that certainly hits the mark ; being plenty of action , thrills , brilliant costumes and catching score ; all meld together under William Keighley 's fine direction along with a frankly excellent support cast . Combination of overwhelming battles , and full of villainy , romance , swashbuckler and heroism . Master of swashbuckling , Flynn could happily have found a better vehicle for his faculties than this entertaining rendition . Flynn's sword flashes as often as his smile . Well played by Errol who starred various ¨Sword and Swagger¨ films and was superstar of Warner Brothers swashbucklers . Although Errol isn't nearly at his most agile and deft style . Errol Flynn was 43 when he made this movie , but his wild lifestyle had diminished his health and made him less able to perform his own stunts , as he had in earlier films . Previously , Flynn made his best swashbucklers and played successes as ¨Captain Blood¨ , ¨Adventures of Robin Hood¨, ¨The prince and the pauper¨ , ¨Sea Hawk¨, ¨The private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ , ¨Gentleman Jim¨ . Flynn also performed some Westerns as ¨Dodge City¨, ¨Virginia City¨, ¨Santa Fe Trail¨, ¨They died with their boots on¨, ¨San Antonio¨, ¨Silver River¨ , ¨Montana¨. And wartime movies as ¨Objective Burma¨, ¨Norhern pursuit¨, ¨Dive Bomber¨ , ¨Edge of darkness¨ , ¨Desperate journey¨. Errol Flynn's last film for Warner Bros before he was released from his contract in 1952 , he had been with the studio for 18 years . Nevertheless, Flynn's riotous life had put him long past his peak swashbuckling days , as this movie unfortunately demonstrates it , and the 43-year-old Errol was generally felt to look too old to play the dashing young hero .

The Scottish Highlands are a treat for your eyes in glamorous Technicolor similarly to recent TV series ¨Outlander¨ . Being luxuriously shot by Cardiff who also directed some pictures and including a sensitive as well as thrilling musical score . The movie was well made by William Keighley who shot Noir Films : ¨Each dawn I die¨, ¨Ladies they talk about¨,¨ The Street with no name¨, ¨G men¨, ¨Bullets and ballots¨ ; Costumer : ¨The prince and the pauper¨; Drama : ¨Green pastures¨, comedy : ¨The bride came COD¨, ¨the man who came to dinner¨, ¨George Washington slept here¨ and adventure : ¨The Master of Balantry¨ . However , this film would be a failure and panned by critics ; it is , nowadays , best considered . The flick will appeal to adventures buffs .

Other retelling about this popular novel are : TV movie 1984 by Douglas Hickox with Michael York , John Gielgud , Ian Richardson , Timothy Dalton , Nickolas Grace , Finola Hughes , Ed Bishop , Brian Blessed , Nick Brimble ; TV series , 1975 , with Brian Cox , Julian Glover , Brigit Forsyth , Fulton Mackay and TV series , 1962 , with John Breslin ,John Cairney ,Hilary Thomson .
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