Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950) Reviews

• So What Happened To The Jamaica Post?

  bkoganbing2007-06-22

  As everyone remembers in the classic Errol Flynn version of Captain Blood, he whipped his fellow pirate Basil Rathbone in a dual on the dunes, he took Lionel Atwill's place as royal governor of Jamaica after the House of Orange threw out the House of Stuart in The Glorious Revolution and married Atwill's niece Olivia DeHavilland to live happily ever after. I think it was understood there'd be no more pirating under William and Mary. Yet here we have Captain Blood, this time played by Louis Hayward, back at his old trade again. I guess politics must have bored him, but what happened to Olivia because Hayward's got a couple of girls panting after him in this story. The women are the Spanish viceroy's niece Patricia Medina and an innkeeper's niece, Dona Drake. It seems as though several of Blood's crew were betrayed on a shopping trip for supplies and sold into slavery. Doing the selling was George MacReady who's been charged by the King of Spain to bring in Captain Blood dead or alive. He's also got a lustful gleam in his eye for Patrica Medina and who could blame the old reprobate. Hayward's mission is to free his captive crew members and he has to involve himself with a whole lot of intrigue, political and romantic. In a way he really acts like a heel towards Drake and it does kind of lessen audience sympathy for him. Harry Cohn at Columbia did not want to spend as much money as Jack Warner did on his version and it shows. Hayward is capable enough as Peter Blood, but I kind of like MacReady in this film, he really does dominate it whenever he's on screen. Alfonso Bedoya is also good as the slave overseer. When all's said and done Fortunes of Captain Blood just doesn't measure up to what made Errol Flynn a star.

• Great adventure is a good follow up to the Errol Flynn movie

  dbborroughs2007-08-26

  Mostly landlocked follow up to the Errol Flynn movie and based on another novel in the series concerns Louis Hayward trying to rescue a number of his crew who have been captured by an evil governor and forced into slavery as pearl divers. Most of the film has Hayward disguised as a fruit merchant attempting to get information that will help him free his men...while flirting with several women and fighting off bad men. A mindless swashbuckler this is perfect Sunday afternoon fare, far from taxing it will simply put you into a place far away from all your troubles. 7 out of 10

• Louis Hayward proves there was only one Errol Flynn...

  Doylenf2007-06-22

  FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD never rises above being a pedestrian take on the Captain Blood legend originated by Rafael Sabatini in his immortal pirate tale, CAPTAIN BLOOD. This is strictly secondary stuff, with LOUIS HAYWARD as the doctor turned pirate on the high seas. He's competent in the swashbuckling role rather than charismatic--and there lies the difference between him and Flynn. At times, he seems almost bored with his role. DONA DRAKE does nicely enough as a peasant girl who flirts with Captain Blood (while he's assuming the name of Pedro), and PATRICIA MEDINA is equally at home in her role as a headstrong aristocratic lady. LOWELL GILMORE and GEORGE MACREADY are likewise competent as the rather villainous men interested only in pearls and wealth--but the story and its characters barely rise above the routine in a lifeless pirate tale. ALFONSO BEDOYA at least furnishes a bit of sly humor as the prison overseer hoodwinked by Captain Blood (he was the man with the famous line about "We don't need no stinkin' badges" from TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE). But the saga only really comes to life during the last half-hour, and then it's standard pirate swordplay and cannon fire until the predictable happy ending finds Captain Blood and the aristocratic lady sharing a kiss before the fadeout. Summing up: Standard pirate tale with only occasional flashes of lively swordplay. As for Hayward, he was much better as "The Man in the Iron Mask".

• The Mis-"Fortune of Captain Blood"

  zardoz-132007-06-23

  A Columbia Pictures' release, "The Fortunes of Captain Blood" (1950) neither boasts the epic scale nor the lavish quality that Warner Brothers' poured into its classic 1935 Errol Flynn original with Erich Wolfgang Korngold's exhilarating orchestral score. Essentially, this thoroughly routine black and white swashbuckler confines itself largely to intrigue on land rather than adventure on the high seas. The budgetary constraints no doubt forced veteran director Gordon Douglas to stage only two less than spectacular sea battles that take place at the outset and during the finale. These lackluster clashes occur with the opposing ships miles apart rather than hull to hull. You won't see any pirates with cutlasses clenched in their scrofulous teeth as they swing from the rigging of their ship to board the enemy vessel. The pompous Hispanic monarch, King Charles II (Kurt Bois of "The Desert Song"),warns the Marquis de Riconete (George Macready of "Knock On Any Door")that unless he captures lawless Irish buccaneer Captain Blood (Louis Hayward of "Captain Pirate"), the king will strip him of all his wealth and position. Charles II also places a bounty of 50-thousand pieces of eight on Blood's head. Blood has has been devastating Spanish galleons in the West Indies. Blood and his ship the Avenger lie off the island of La Hacha, the most important Spanish possession in the West Indies. They are awaiting a signal from the mainland to pick up supplies and ammunition from a trusted merchant. Unfortunately, it's a trap, and the Marquis bags a boatload of Blood's men. Although we never see them once they wind up behind bars, we learn from the expository dialogue in the loquacious screenplay by Frank Burt of "Barbary Pirate," Michael Hogan of "Tall in the Saddle," and Robert Libott of "Captain Pirate," that these poor souls are forced to dive for pearls in shark-infested waters with slim chances of survival. Captain Blood refuses to tolerate this unhappy situation. He remembers his own days as a prisoner and he ventures ashore against the advice of his second-in-command to free his men. Masquerading as a harmless fruit peddler, Senor Morales, so that he can have open access to the town, he sets out to rescue his enslaved sailors. Along the way, he encounters a hot-blooded little tomato, Pepita Maria Rosados (Dona Drake of "Road to Morocco"),who takes a shine to him. Pepita's boyfriend is the Prison Overseer, Carmilio (Alfonso Bedoya of "Treasure of the Sierra Madre," who uttered the famous line of dialogue from the Humphrey Bogart classic: "We don't need no stinkin' badges!"). "The Fortunes of Captain Blood" contains few surprises or revelations during its trim 90 running time. A clean-shaven Louis Hayward makes an adequate Captain Blood, but he sorely lacks the charisma of an Errol Flynn. Consequently, Hayward seems somewhat wooden in the role. In his defense, Hayward doesn't perform any feats of valor like Flynn did because the scenarists give him nothing in the way of grandstanding heroics. On the other hand, George Macready doesn't make your blood boil as the villainous Marquis. As the Marquis' relative Isabelita Sotomayor, beautiful Patricia Medina of "Mr. Arkadin" spends more time off-screen than on-screen. Eventually, Captain Blood gets around to wooing Isabelita, but he devotes more time to spunky Pepita so he can befriend Carmilio and orchestrate the release of his men. However, since there is no suspense, Blood has few close calls with his adversaries and rarely appears in jeopardy. The miniature ships look fine, but the back projection aboard the ships when the heroes and villains weight anchor is obvious. The sword fighting choreography is strictly second-rate with the combatants never moving far from where the fight started. The last scene before the final ship battle when Blood and his men switch ships and capture a Spanish warship anticipates the future cinematic antics of Captain Jack Sparrow against the British.

• why has no one EVER commented on this film?

  TequilaMockingbird632005-03-22

  There is not even a brief outline? Maybe because it's a typical 1950 B Pirate movie. Pirate guy meets unlikable bad guy meets sexy Spanish girl. Odd British accents, weak sword fights and over the top acting abound. The only reason i even looked up this film was to find out the background of one semi-annoying typical Spanish character actor. Alfonso Bedoya who played "Carmilio" the Prison Overseer. To my surprise Bedoya was accomplished indeed. In The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) Bedoya delivered the famous line about not needing any "stinking badges". He made a number of popular films in the U.S. but a drinking problem destroyed his health. He died at the age of 53. I don't need to go on about the film as no one will probably ever read this. Apparently this film is not popular at all. However! I now have a new respect for the actor i wanted to dislike. Thanks IMDb.