Review of Captain Blood (1935) by Iida L — 20 Oct 2007

The moment American sound cinema first showed signs of a spring in its step? By way of evidence, look at how high the walls are on the sets in Michael Curtiz's adaptation of the Rafael Sabatini swashbuckler: whether we be in a doctor's surgery in Bridgwater, a Caribbean mansion, or Taunton Crown Court, it's as though the talkies' new-found confidence (and opulence) could no longer be contained by conventional structures.

.. Elsewhere, the script, direction, performances, cinematography (Hal Mohr, painting shadows on those walls while helping de Havilland glow) and stuntwork are so totally assured as to make for a tantalising taster of the golden age of studio filmmaking the following decade would bring about.