The Sea Hawk (1940)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Howard Koch (screenplay) and
Seton I. Miller (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 July 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

Dashing . . . romantic . . . Errol Flynn at his thrilling best!

Plot:

Geoffrey Thorpe is an adventurous and dashing pirate, who feels that he should pirate the Spanish ships for the good of England...

Plot Keywords:

Spanish | Queen | Queen Elizabeth I | Ship | Pirate

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars.

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	Captain Geoffrey Thorpe
Brenda Marshall	...	Doña Maria Alvarez de Cordoba
Claude Rains	...	Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Donald Crisp	...	Admiral Sir John Burleson
Flora Robson	...	Queen Elizabeth
Alan Hale	...	Carl Pitt
Henry Daniell	...	Lord Wolfingham
Una O'Connor	...	Miss Marthe Latham
James Stephenson	...	Abbott
Gilbert Roland	...	Captain Lopez
William Lundigan	...	Danny Logan
Julien Mitchell	...	Oliver Scott
Montagu Love	...	King Phillip II
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Eli Matson
David Bruce	...	Martin Burke

Also Known As:

Beggars of the Sea (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

109 min (re-release) | 127 min (original version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Black and White (Sepiatone) (some sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 | USA:Approved (certificate #6090) | UK:U | Australia:G | New Zealand:PG | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | France:U | Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Laguna Beach, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. First National

Trivia:

South African Orlando Boys Club (founded in 1937) were renamed to Orlando Pirates having been influenced by the film. Orlando Pirates are a Premier Soccer League team.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When what's left of Captain Thorpe and his men are coming back to their ship after being ambushed by the Spanish, you can see the shadow of a boom mic on the upper right portion of the ship on the screen.

Quotes:

[first lines]
King Philip II: The riches of the New World are limitless, and the New World is ours - with our ships carrying the Spanish flag on seven seas, our armies sweeping over Africa, the Near East, and the Far West; invincible everywhere... but on our own doorstep. Only northern Europe holds out against us; why? Tell me, why?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Il silenzio dei prosciutti (1994)

Soundtrack:

Old Spanish Song

Excellent film!

I'm always up for some good, old-fashioned swashbuckler fun, and The Sea Hawk is one of the most amusing entries in that field. Directed by specialist Michael Curtiz and starring the legendary Errol Flynn. They previously worked together on `Captain Blood', the film that started the trend of popular sea adventures. Even though Captain Blood has a lot more range and features more plot-diversity, The Sea Hawk definitely is more spectacular and the swordfight sequences are far more exciting. The cinematography on this action sequences has seemly improved in the period between the two films. Errol Flynn portrays Geoffrey Thorpe, captain of the Albatross. He's a Sea Hawk and those privateers serve and protect the English Queen in their own particular way. The greedy King Phillip of Spain has set his mind to conquering Britain as well and to cover up his plans, he politely sends an ambassador to meet the Queen. However, Captain Thorpe and his crew boycott the Spanish and they righteously foresee a war between the two nations. Things are getting even more complicated when some prominent members of the British counsel turn out to be betrayers and – of course – Capt. Thorpe falls in love with the beautiful niece of the Spanish ambassador.

Errol Flynn clearly developed more charisma over the years and he already looks a lot more believable in his role of privateer now. He's excellently supported by Alan Hale who plays his first crewmember, Mr. Pitt. Flora Robson seems to make a career out of playing Queen Elizabeth's look-alike, since it already is the third film in which she plays this role. The best actor in the cast (even beating Errol Flynn) obviously is Claude Rains with in his terrific role of the vicious Spanish ambassador. The Galleons (both the Spanish as the British) look great and some historical aspects (like slavery and inquisition) are greatly included. The Sea Hawk is excellent, well-made fun and a must for all the nostalgic movie lovers.