Captain Blood (1935)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Rafael Sabatini (novel)
Casey Robinson (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 December 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

THE MOST MAGNIFICENT & THRILLING SEA ADVENTURE EVER FILMED (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

An enslaved English doctor and his comrades in chains escape and become pirates of the Robin Hood variety.

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Pirate | Swashbuckler | Slavery | Caribbean

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars.

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	Peter Blood
Olivia de Havilland	...	Arabella Bishop
Lionel Atwill	...	Col. Bishop
Basil Rathbone	...	Levasseur
Ross Alexander	...	Jeremy Pitt
Guy Kibbee	...	Hagthorpe
Henry Stephenson	...	Lord Willoughby
Robert Barrat	...	Wolverstone
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Dr. Bronson
Donald Meek	...	Dr. Whacker
Jessie Ralph	...	Mrs. Barlow
Forrester Harvey	...	Honesty Nuttall
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	Rev. Ogle
Holmes Herbert	...	Capt. Gardner
David Torrence	...	Andrew Baynes

Also Known As:

Unter Piratenflagge (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Capitaine Blood (Belgium: French title) [fr]
Capitan Blood (Italy) [it]
Captain Blood (Greece) [el]
El capità Blood (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
El capitán Blood (Spain) [es]
Kapitän Blood (Austria) [de]
Kaptajn Blod (Denmark) [da]
Kapteeni Blood (Finland) [fi]
Kapten Blod (Sweden) [sv]
Kapten Blood (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Le capitaine Blood (France) [fr]
O Capitão Blood (Portugal) [pt]

Runtime:

119 min | USA:99 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Germany:12 | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Sweden:Btl | New Zealand:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #1552) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-12 (1949) | Finland:K-16 (1936) | Australia:G | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Corona, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Robert Donat was cast in the title role, but didn't turn up at the start of shooting. Warner Brothers scrambled to find a replacement, asking Brian Aherne to take the role, but he refused. Warners decided to take a gamble on an unknown Australian named Errol Flynn.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The courtroom scene is introduced by a shot of the royal coat of arms, in the form adopted in 1837. In the next scene, a window in the palace shows the shield correct for 1603-1707, reflecting the claim on the crown of France first made by Edward III of England in 1340.

Quotes:

Dr. Peter Blood: For those of you who aren't English it means a chance to fight for Captain Blood *and* the loot you find on the French ships!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pirate Party on Catalina Isle (1935)

Soundtrack:

Fugal Episode from Prometheus

Flynn and De Havilland in one of the best pirate movies of all time...

'Captain Blood' made stars of Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland when it was released, both winning their roles by default when other casting attempts failed. It's a rousing pirate adventure tale, told as only Rafael Sabatini in his novel could do. Aside from a splendid script, it has Michael Curtiz at the directorial helm and Erich Wolfgang Korngold supplying the stirring background music. The Flynn-de Havilland-Korngold-Curtiz package would be repeated many times by Warner Bros. since the ingredients proved a smash hit, most notably in 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'.

Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) is a physician wrongly accused of being a traitor and sent to the West Indies into a life of slavery. He is purchased at the auction block by a spirited beauty (Olivia de Havilland) whose father happens to be the Governor (Lionel Atwil). When he leads other prisoners in an escape plan and succeeds, he becomes a pirate on the high seas. Eventually he is involved in a fight, a duel to the death with another pirate (Basil Rathbone) in order to win the fair heroine. The climactic duel between Flynn and Rathbone is on par with their other famous duel in 'Robin Hood'.

Fans of either Errol Flynn or Olivia de Havilland cannot fail to enjoy this romantic adventure done in the grand style by a studio that knew it had two future stars in the making.