User Reviews

This is a tale of the competition between Consuelo(Gianna Canale): daughter of a retiring successful pirate captain, and William(Anthony Steel): one of his crew, and Consuelo's boyfriend, to succeed the old man as captain of the Santa Maria. The competition begins with William's victory over another man, in a sword duel, then Consuelo's victory over William. No one challenged her, so she was declared the new captain. It's also the story of the ambition of Anne, Duchess of a Spanish principality, and her retainer: Robert, together and separately, to steal a fortune in booty, hidden by the old captain, whose location was known only by the dead captain, Consuelo, and William..... The film was produced by an Italian concern, directed by Luigi Capuano, who earlier had directed the rather similar "Queen of the Pirates", also starring the beautiful Gianna Canale. I'm also familiar with the Hollywood films "Anne of the Indies" and "Against All Flags", which also feature a tigress as a pirate captain......If you're looking for a classic sea battle or 2 between a pirate ship and it's prey, this isn't the right film. There are several massive battles between the pirates and the Spanish, but they are either on land, or between Spanish and pirates already on the same ship. After Consuelo was decreed the new captain, her father:' The Tiger of the Sea' was knifed in the back, dying. The knife was identified as belonging to William, hence he was the assumed murderer, perhaps disappointed that he wasn't chosen the new captain. He was about to be sentenced to death when a horde of Spanish soldiers overran the pirates on land. William and a few other pirates ran toward the Santa Maria, and sailed off. Consuelo and a few other pirates also escaped, but missed the Santa Maria Thus, Consuelo had 2 big reasons to catch William and the Santa Maria. had two . They rowed a small boat out to sea. Soon, an armed Spanish ship was sighted. Next thing we know, Consuelo and the others were on that ship(How did they board her?), and soon staged a rebellion, taking over the ship, which became Consuelo's pirate ship. Soon, she attracted more men, and became known as the Tigress of the Seven Seas, as her ship was quite successful in subduing prey. Eventually, the Santa Maria came close, but William raised the white flag. He came on board to parlay with Consuelo, convincing her that he was not the murderer of her father, despite the damning physical evidence. He also said he meant to turn over the Santa Maria to Consuelo. However, this didn't happen immediately, instead they got caught up in an attack on Anne's castle, where the murderer of Consuelo's father was though to be......I will skip over the details of the adventures in and around Anne's castle. I will say, that, surprisingly, Anne achieved her ambition. Consuelo also achieved her goal of killing the murderer of her father(whom you should recognize). As to whether she achieved her goal of making peace with William, finally becoming captain of the Santa Maria, the film leaves us hanging, as they bicker. A reasonable solution to the conflict as to who would command the Santa Maria would have been to have Maria continue captaining her very successful Spanish ship, with the two ships forming a team......See it at YouTube

Man and woman, both commanding, both learning from mistakes. He assumes that she can't do the job. She assumes that he killed her father. Both making rash assumptions, and both ultimately wrong. Does it matter that they're pirates? Not really. The captain of a pirate ship plans to retire and give the winner of the duel the title of captain. Much to the anguish and pride of Anthony Steel, the predicted winner, the captain's daughter (Gianna Maria Canale) ends up with the title, becoming the Anne Romney of this ship.

The problem isn't just Steel's pride of losing to a woman, but the woman he loves. What Jolly Roger wants to be bossed around by his wife? His initial problem established, it only gets worse as he's accused of killing her father, and she doesn't believe that he's innocent. As they are forced to escape the ship together, they're not exactly getting along, but as she realizes the truth over the furies from her father's enemies, Canale joins forces with him and they become a formidable team, although she remains more commanding throughout than him.

This isn't about just the chauvinism or her determination to prove that anything he can do, she can do better. She's a commanding, strong spirit (reminding me of Maureen O'Hara) who just happens to be female. It's obvious that she was made to lead, and had she been a royal princess, she would be perfect as a queen ruling her own country. Canale walks away with the film, beautiful and strong. Steel's good, but she's just better, perfect for this part. Lots of action helps too, and by the end, the most chauvinist of men will want her as their imaginary captain as well.