Review of Captain Blood (1935) by Steve U — 18 Sep 2009

One of those old-timey swashbucklers that is revered as a classic, in reality it has a little too much buckle and not enough swash. The elements are all there: a wrongly accused hero-turned-amazing pirate leader, a pretty female lead, some good dialogue back and forth, and a decent enough premise.

Why isn't it all more memorable? Simply put, the plot is boring; over an hour goes by before Blood picks up a sword. Before that, the film focuses on a rather ho-hum escape from a slaver's plantation; once he gets out, he's a pirate.

Yippee. No real fights are shown, and those that are come too little, too late. When you see Basil Rathbone, for example, you might find yourself asking why he even got billing; the guy swordfights once and then dies.

As for the Spaniards' "timely interruption," Blood ought to change his name to Captain "Contrivance." (You'll understand after you've seen it.) Kudos to the screenwriters for some great romantic banter between Flynn and Havilland, and one easily gets the sense that Flynn fits this material exceptionally well (as proved by the far better, more exciting THE SEA HAWK), but because of the tiny bit of action there is in CAPTAIN BLOOD, those who love battles on the high seas are advised to chart a course to some other film.

The anchor keeps this one stuck in port. Lots of promise, no delivery.