evanston_dad
A smashingly entertaining swashbuckler from work horse director Michael Curtiz that reunites him with Errol Flynn in another Robin Hood-esque story, this one set on the high seas. Flynn leads the Sea Hawks, a group of English sailors who disrupt the tyrannical pillaging of Spain, which has designs on the English throne and wants to take over the world. There are a whole bunch of exciting set pieces, high production values, and a healthy dash of wit, and the whole thing moves briskly by to an exciting conclusion.Curtiz's "The Adventures of Robin Hood" from two years prior, also starring Flynn, has cemented itself more firmly with today's audiences as the classic to be remembered, but I thought "The Sea Hawk" was better.Claude Rains stars as the dastardly Spanish ambassador, and Flora Robson has a ball as Queen Elizabeth. A final speech extolling the bravery of the English navy turns the film in its last moments into a bit of WWII propaganda.Nominated for four Academy Awards but winning none: Best Art Direction (Anton Grot), Best Scoring (Erich Wolfgang Korngold), Best Sound Recording (Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department), and Best Special Effects (Byron Haskin and Nathan Levinson).Grade: A
Filipe Neto
This film revolves around the Invincible Armada and the attempted Spanish invasion of England during the reign of Elizabeth I. The main character is the daring Captain Thorpe, an English privateer obviously inspired by the historical figure of Sir Francis Drake. It's inevitable to look at this movie and make comparisons with "Captain Blood", a very similar film, which also speaks of piracy and also has Errol Flynn as the protagonist. Most people seem to think that "Sea Hawk" loses when compared to it, and and I agree. Brenda Marshall never establishes a credible chemistry with Flynn, her romantic partner (not to mention that Olivia de Havilland is much superior as an actress) and the plot is not very interesting nor captures public's attention. However, Flora Robson does very well as the English queen and Claude Rains is very well as the Spanish ambassador. The scenes in the sea are good, the ships are beautiful, as well as the scenarios, thought to the detail. Of course, the film has several very good fencing scenes.In summary, this film is a classic swashbuckler movie, full of humour, action and romance. It can be seen by the whole family easily and deserves a friendly place on the shelf of any good movie lover.
Edgar Allan Pooh
. . . requires a different skill set than winning a beauty pageant. Helen Mirren is typecast as the present Queen Elizabeth, and Cate Blanchett made her career playing the first one. Michelle Pfeiffer has not portrayed either Elizabeth on screen. Ms. Blanchett has been cast as Bob Dylan, and I think that Ms. Mirren played a dude in RED or RED 2. Flora Robson certainly fits the mannish Elizabethan mold as the British monarch in THE SEA HAWK. One of the few facts about QEI that I remember from my school days is that she died NOT with her boots on, but with an INCH of make-up caked up over the decades on her face. Since the current queen has now lived far longer than her namesake, getting up close and personal with her is quite a frightening thought. One of the main things I've learned about English law and cuisine is that only the queen can eat swans. I see swans daily near my home, and more often than not, I half expect to see QEII emerge from the bushes and come running after them with a bib tied around her neck, fork and knife in hand!
utgard14
English privateer Errol Flynn is betrayed by a traitorous countryman and captured by the Spanish, who don't take kindly to his acts of piracy against their ships. Flynn still finds time for romance, though, with pretty Spanish royal Brenda Marshall. Another great teaming of Errol Flynn and director Michael Curtiz. This may not rank up there with Robin Hood or Captain Blood, but it's still very entertaining. Brenda Marshall is very pretty but no Olivia de Havilland. Flora Robson is fun as Queen Elizabeth. Claude Rains is never bad. The rest of the cast is made up of reliable WB contract players like Alan Hale and Donald Crisp. Really good lineup. Solid swashbuckler that fans of Errol Flynn should love.
AD
