directed by Michael Cutiz
1585. A Spanish ship carrying Don José Alvarez de Cordoba (Claude Rains), the ambassador of the King of Spain, and Dona Maria (Brenda Marshall), his niece, is attacked by the Albatross, an English ship. The Spanish ship was headed to England on a diplomatic mission. The Spanish ship is sunk by the crew of the Albatross who are led by Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn).
Thorpe delivers Don Alvarez and Dona Maria to the court of Queen Elizabeth. Don Alvarez protests the treatment they received at the hands of Captain Thorpe. The queen acts annoyed in court and promises to punish Thorpe but later in private she thanks him.
Thorpe plans a mission to steal more Spanish gold in Panama. He wants the queen's blessing but even though she likes the sound of his plan she cannot give him what he wants.
Thorpe visits Dona Maria while he is still in court. Miss Latham (Una O'Connor), her lady in waiting, urges her to get closer to Thorpe. She is resistant but even though she despised him at first her feelings start to change.
Don Alvarez and Lord Wolfingham (Henry Daniell), one of Queen Elizabeth's advisors, plot together to eliminate Thorpe. The queen gets wise to what is going on and sends word to Thorpe that he needs to leave immediately.
Captain Thorpe and his crew arrive in Panama. Don Alvarez got word to the military commander in Panama before the English arrived. They set a trap for Thorpe and his men. Unaware of what is in store for them, Thorpe and his men walk right into the trap.
Thorpe and six of his men are the only ones to survive. They are taken to Spain and tried by the Inquisition. They are sentenced to slave labor, aboard Spanish ships for the rest of their lives.
Don Alvarez visits the court of Queen Elizabeth to deliver the news of Thorpe's capture and sentence. His niece is present. She collapses when she hears the news. Don Alvarez goes on to insist that Queen Elizabeth disband the Sea Hawks, English privateers like Captain Thorpe. She refuses to comply with Don Alvarez's demand. She instead meets with her council to discuss what they should do. Lord Wolfingham urges her to comply with Don Alvarez.
Captain Thorpe and his men overcome their captors and take over the ship. They get their hands on orders from the Spanish king to Lord Wolfingham. They sail to England to warn Queen Elizabeth. Thorpe gets some help from Dona Maria. He crosses paths with Lord Wolfingham but he eventually gets through to Queen Elizabeth.
Thoughts
This is the 3rd of 4 movies in the Silver Screen Classics - Errol Flynn DVD set that I bought a year ago. The first was Captain Blood (1935) and the second was The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
The look of the movie changes when the setting changes to Panama. That part of the movie is filmed in a sepia tone, not black and white like the rest of the movie.
There was a silent film called The Sea Hawk which was released in 1924. That movie was based on a book called The Sea Hawk which was written by Rafael Sabatini. This movie was loosely based on the exploits of Sir Francis Drake.
The music for this movie was written by Erich Wolfgang Korngold who also wrote the music for The Adventures of Robin Hood.
I like this movie better than The Adventures of Robin Hood, which surprises me a bit.
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