Captain Blood (1935 film)

Infobox Film
name = Captain Blood


image_size = 200px
caption = Original film poster
director = Michael Curtiz
producer = Harry Joe Brown
Gordon Hollingshead
writer = Casey Robinson
starring = Errol Flynn
Olivia de Havilland
Basil Rathbone
Ross Alexander
music = Erich Wolfgang Korngold
cinematography = Ernest Haller
Hal Mohr
editing = George Amy
distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures
language = English
released = December 28, 1935 (premiere)
runtime = 119 min.
imdb_id = 0026174

"Captain Blood" is a 1935 swashbuckling film made by First National Pictures and Warner Brothers. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Harry Joe Brown and Gordon Hollingshead with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer. The screenplay, written by Casey Robinson, is based on the novel of the same name by Rafael Sabatini. It features a stirring musical score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Some of the impressive sea-battle footage was taken from "The Sea Hawk" (1924) (not to be confused with Flynn's 1940 film of the same name).

The film stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland with Lionel Atwill and Basil Rathbone. It was the first of eight films co-starring De Havilland and Flynn, and in 1938, the two would be re-united with Rathbone in "The Adventures of Robin Hood".

Plot

In seventeenth century England, Irish Dr. Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) is convicted of treason against the King for aiding a wounded friend who had participated in the Monmouth Rebellion. He is sold into slavery, and purchased by the beautiful Arabella Bishop (Olivia de Havilland). Doctor Blood and his fellow slaves escape, steal a Spanish ship and begin a life of piracy.

Eventually, Blood saves Arabella and a Royal dignitary from a treacherous fellow pirate and decides to return them to safety near the colony of Port Royal. However, Blood's crew sights the French attacking the colony while its defenders are nowhere to be found and elsewhere hunting for Blood. The dignitary pleads with Blood to save the colony, but the captain and his crew to a man refuse to sail for James II of England. However, the dignitary reveals that James II has been deposed in the Glorious Revolution and he is representing the new king, William of Orange.

At this delightful surprise, Blood and his crew immediately decide to sail under English colors and save the colony in a pitched battle. As a reward, Blood is appointed the new governor of the colony and has the pleasure to deal with his hostile predecessor, now in serious trouble for dereliction of duty, at his pleasure.

Award nominations

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and, despite not being nominated, Michael Curtiz received the second-greatest number of votes for Best Director, solely as a write-in candidate. Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Casey Robinson also failed to be nominated and also received substantially more votes for their work on this film than most of the official nominees.

External links

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* [http://www.dvdjournal.com/quickreviews/c/captainblood.q.shtml DVD Journal review]