The Sea Hawk. 1940. Directed by Michael Curtiz.

(5/8/01)

The Sea Hawk looks more visually polished than Captain Blood but it is not as good a film. The main problem with it is that it's all politics. The film is about a struggle between England and Spain and we are told that England is the good side and Spain the bad. It doesn't have the level of human interest of Captain Blood which is a moving story about one man.

Errol Flynn struck me as somewhat stiff in this film as compared with Captain Blood. I had a sense of him as a professional instead of a heroic young man. (For some reason the word "professional" suggests detachment to me, a lack of passionate engagement.) He was less attractive, less earnest, less passionate, less gallant. It was like he was already starting to lose interest.

Brenda Marshall did not have the sparkle of Olivia de Havilland in her films with Flynn. There was no real excitement in their scenes together, even though she was initially resistant to him. And Claude Rains was wasted in an uninteresting role.

There is not much atmosphere or sense of place. At least, not any that you would take home with you. I did like Korngold's exotic music for the tropical locale, but that was about it. It is really a straightforward action picture.

It doesn't have the comic accents of Captain Blood. The monkey running around the palace with the nightcap on his head just seemed silly. I did enjoy Flora Robson's Queen Elizabeth after watching Bette Davis's flamboyant portrayal the week before.

This film is highly regarded--at least it was by the authors of The Films of Errol Flynn--but I was disappointed in it. But perhaps it only suffers by contrast with Captain Blood. Seen by itself it might have been an enjoyable experience.