The Black Swan (1942)

The Black Swan
Directed by Henry King
Written by Ben Hecht and Seton I. Miller from the novel by Raphael Sabatini
1942/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Jamie: In Tortuga when a woman slaps a man’s face, it means she wants him to grab her, over-power her, and smother her with kisses. I understand in Jamaica a gentleman must refuse such overtures.[/box]

The pictures I am posting do not do justice to the Technicolor glory that is this swashbuckler.

When pirate chief Henry Morgan (Laird Cregar) is named Governor of Jamaica his crew splits up.  Jamie Waring (Tyrone Power) and Tommy Blue (Thomas Mitchell) remain loyal and go with Morgan to run Jamaica.  Rapscallion Capt. Billy Leech (George Sanders with curly red hair and a bushy beard) continues to plunder the Caribbean.  When Morgan arrives in Jamaica, the former Governor Lord Darby (George Zucco) sabotages his rule (and enriches himself) by providing inside information on British treasure ships to the pirates. Jamie falls in love with Lord Darby’s fiery daughter Lady Margaret (Maureen O’Hara) who won’t give him the time of day.

 Margaret is about to be married to one of Lord Darby’s shady henchmen and Jamie abducts her when he sets out to bring Capt. Billy to justice.  Plenty of sea battles and sword fights ensue with a generous dollop of Hollywood romance thrown in for good measure.  With Anthony Quinn as Capt. Billy’s right-hand man.

This is a classic pirate movie with all the trimmings and it looks simply stunning.  Laird Cregar is super-flamboyant and enjoyable as the heavily bewigged Henry Morgan. If it weren’t for his voice, Sanders would be unrecognizable.  As it is, he does well with a red-blooded part, so uncharacteristic of his many effete roles.  The score is really stirring.  If you like this kind of thing, I recommend it.

The DVD I rented had a wonderful commentary by Rudy Behlmer with Maureen O’Hara. At age 83, she was a trove of information and seemed like a really fun person to know.

Leon Shamroy won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color for The Black Swan.  The film was also nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects and for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Alfred Newman).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgFg3nsXXvA

Trailer