Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for an attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons... Read allGeoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for an attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills with the sword.Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for an attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills with the sword.
- Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 4 nominations total
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaHenry Daniell couldn't fence. The climactic duel had to be filmed using a double and skillful inter-cutting.
- GoofsAt the beginning of the movie during King Phillip's monologue, the map on the wall shows western and northern parts of the North American continent which were not known at the time.
- Quotes
Dona Maria Alvarez de Cordoba: I'm not in the habit of conversing with thieves. I thought I made that quite clear, Captain Thorpe.
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe: Why, yes, all except your definition. Tell me, is a thief an Englishman who steals?
Dona Maria Alvarez de Cordoba: It's anybody who steals... whether it's piracy or robbing women.
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe: Oh, I see. I've been admiring some of the jewels we found in your chest... particularly the wrought gold. It's Aztec, isn't it? I wonder just how those Indians were persuaded to part with it.
- Alternate versionsThe British version, available on video, includes an additional scene at the very end of the film, featuring an uplifting wartime speech from Queen Elizabeth.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Extraordinary Seaman (1969)
- SoundtracksStrike for the Shores of Dover
(1940) (uncredited)
Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Lyrics by Jack Scholl and Howard Koch
Sung by the oarsmen when they take over the ship
Played also in the score
Flynn's character is Geoffrey Thorpe, who is a "sea hawk", a privateering ship captain in the late 1500's indulged by Queen Elizabeth (Robson) and allowed to raise havoc with Spanish shipping in a time when Spain's dominance was at its peak. The story in "The Sea Hawk", like the action in "The Adventures of Robin Hood", is loosely based on historical circumstances, although this time the tone is often more serious. This film is in black-and-white instead of Technicolor, giving it a different feel. (There is a very nice touch when the scenes in the New World are tinted in golden-brown, an effective way of emphasizing the different setting.) There are also extensive scenes of the suffering and humiliation experienced by the English galley slaves imprisoned by the Spanish fleet, instead of the very brief scenes of Saxon suffering in "Robin Hood". But the main emphasis is still on the swash-buckling action that made Flynn so popular.
There are ship-to-ship fights, chases, escapes, and of course sword fights. Flynn's charisma and infectious good nature are usually enough to carry even far-fetched action, and here the story itself is more than good enough to be worthwhile in its own right. "The Sea Hawk" is good, classic entertainment.
- Snow Leopard
- May 20, 2001
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,700,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 7 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1