The Sea Hawk (1940)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.7/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Escritores:

Howard Koch (screenplay) and
Seton I. Miller (screenplay)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

1 julio 1940 (USA)

Género:

Acción | Aventura | Romance

Frase comercial:

Dashing . . . romantic . . . Errol Flynn at his thrilling best!

Plot:

Geoffrey Thorpe is an adventurous and dashing pirate, who feels that he should pirate the Spanish ships for the good of England...

Plot Keywords:

Spanish | Queen | Ship | Queen Elizabeth I | Pirate

Premios:

Nominated for 4 Oscars.

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Some minor flaws, but major assets

Reparto

Errol Flynn	...	Geoffrey Thorpe
Brenda Marshall	...	Doña Maria
Claude Rains	...	Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Donald Crisp	...	Sir John Burleson
Flora Robson	...	Queen Elizabeth
Alan Hale	...	Carl Pitt
Henry Daniell	...	Lord Wolfingham
Una O'Connor	...	Miss Latham
James Stephenson	...	Abbott
Gilbert Roland	...	Captain Lopez
William Lundigan	...	Danny Logan
Julien Mitchell	...	Oliver Scott
Montagu Love	...	King Phillip II
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Eli Matson
David Bruce	...	Martin Burke

También conocida como:

Beggars of the Sea (USA) (working title)
El halcón del mar (Spain) (Venezuela) [es]

Duración:

109 min (re-release) | 127 min (original version)

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Negro y Blanco | Negro y Blanco (Sepiatone) (some sequences)

Relación de Aspecto:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Clasificación:

Portugal:M/6 | USA:Approved (certificate #6090) | UK:U | Australia:G | New Zealand:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Locaciones de Filmación:

Laguna Beach, California, USA

Compañía:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivialidades:

Whit Bissell's film debut.

Errores:

Anacronismos: The story takes place in 1588. The flint-lock muskets and pistols used in the film were not in use until two-hundred years later.

Citas:

[first lines]
King Philip II: The riches of the New World are limitless, and the New World is ours - with our ships carrying the Spanish flag on seven seas, our armies sweeping over Africa, the Near East, and the Far West; invincible everywhere... but on our own doorstep. Only northern Europe holds out against us; why? Tell me, why?

Conexiones de Película:

Apareció en The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action (2005) (V)

Banda de Sonido:

Strike for the Shores of Dover

Some minor flaws, but major assets

There a only a couple of things that make this fall short of classic status, and they are not enough to keep it off of anyone's list of favorite/best adventure films.

The film is somewhat overproduced. The settings are too opulent, the costumes too magnificent, and the score is almost too rousing. This is particularly true when Flynn and his entire crew start singing, backed up none too discreetly by the entire Warners chorus and orchestra. Who sings while climbing riggings, anyway?

The other shortfall is the absence of color. Warners was known for their cost-consciousness, but it is ironic to note that a bit of trimming in the costuming and settings department would have probably allowed them to use the tri-color process, which was used to such spectacular effect in The Adventures of Robin Hood.

That said, the Sea Hawk possesses an embarrassment of riches. The semi-historic story line is strong, as are the performances of a truly stellar cast. Flora Robson, Claude Rains are tremendous, and Henry Daniell darn near out-sneers Basil Rathbone as the duplicitous villain. Brenda Marshall is no Olivia de Havilland, but she doesn't have do be; its nice to see Errol flirting with another comely wench.

Errol himself is also a treat. This was 1940, before his rape trial and before he got tired of movie making. He is obviously engaged in the production, and is at his most dashing self in pushing it along. Perrenial sidekick (on and off screen) Alan Hale is outstanding as well in his portrayal of...Well, Alan Hale.

Best of all is the score, composed by gool old erich Wolfgang Korngold. It is no coincidence that his music is at the heart of Flynn's best movies. It matches the action scene for scene in a manner again reminiscent of Robin Hood.

Although I cannot rank this as Flynn's best vehicle, there is a solid minority of Flynnatics who do. A compelling argument can be made for it.