Captain Blood (1935)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

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
J. Carrol Naish	...	Cahusac (as J. Carroll Naish)
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Don Diego
George Hassell	...	Governor Steed
Harry Cording	...	Kent
Leonard Mudie	...	Baron Jeffreys
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Prosecutor (as Ivan Simpson)
Stuart Casey	...	Capt. Hobart
David Cavendish	...	Lord Gildoy (as Dennis D. Auburn)
Mary Forbes	...	Mrs. Steed
E.E. Clive	...	Clerk of the Court
Colin Kenny	...	Lord Chester Dyke
Maude Leslie	...	Mrs. Baynes
Gardner James	...	Slave
Vernon Steele	...	King James
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gene Alsace	...	Oliver Clark - Pirate (uncredited)
Sam Appel	...	Gunner (uncredited)
Reginald Barlow	...	Dixon (uncredited)
Matthew 'Stymie' Beard	...	Governor's Attendant (uncredited)
Wayne Castle	...	One-Legged Pirate (uncredited)
Yola d'Avril	...	Girl in Tavern (uncredited)
Florence Fair	...	Woman with Baby (uncredited)
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Lord Sunderland (uncredited)
Murray Kinnell	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	French Officer (uncredited)
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Sentry (uncredited)
Jim Mason	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Tina Menard	...	Girl in Tavern (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Kansas Moehring	...	Pirate (uncredited)
John Northpole	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Artie Ortego	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Henry Otho	...	David Sampson - Pirate (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	French Officer (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	French Captain (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Cliff Saum	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Tom Steele	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Jim Thorpe	...	Pirate (uncredited)
David Thursby	...	Lookout on English Ship (uncredited)
Renee Torres	...	Girl in Tavern (uncredited)
Blackie Whiteford	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Tom Wilson	...	Pirate (uncredited)
William Yetter Sr.	...	Pirate (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits
Rafael Sabatini		(novel "Captain Blood")
Casey Robinson		(screenplay)

Produced by
Harry Joe Brown	....	producer (uncredited)
Gordon Hollingshead	....	producer (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Erich Wolfgang Korngold		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ernest Haller		(photographed by)
Hal Mohr		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
Anton Grot

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Lueker	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Sherry Shourds	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Robey Cooper	....	props (uncredited)
Harper Goff	....	set designer (uncredited)
John More	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Nathan Levinson	....	sound director (uncredited)
C.A. Riggs	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Fred Jackman	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Iron Eyes Cody	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Steele	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buster Wiles	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William Classen	....	grip (uncredited)
Bob Davis	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
L. De Angelis	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Alan Ladd	....	grip (uncredited)
Mickey Marigold	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Robert Surtees	....	second camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Erich Wolfgang Korngold	....	music arranger
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Ray Heindorf	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Milan Roder	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Milan Roder	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Stanley Logan	....	dialogue director
Fred Applegate	....	continuity (uncredited)
Len Boyd	....	publicist (uncredited)
Fred Cavens	....	fencing master (uncredited)
Hertzel Effensachs	....	marine director (uncredited)
Hertzel Effensachs	....	water safety (uncredited)
Charles Farmer	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Ralph Faulkner	....	fight choreographer (uncredited)
Robert Lord	....	supervisor (uncredited)
Ann Robinson	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Jean Sepulveda	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Bob Splane	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Clarence Wertz	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (A Cosmopolitan Production)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vitaphone Corporation, The (1935) (USA) (theatrical) (as The Vitaphone Corp.)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• ClassicLine (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Television (????) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Western Costume Company  costumes supplied by (uncredited)

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) | Australia:G | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Corona, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Because, Erich Wolfgang Korngold had only three weeks for scoring this picture, he used portions of two tone poems by Franz Liszt for some of the action scenes. However, he insisted on the screen credit "Musical Arrangements by" although still 90 % of the score was original.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Arabella Bishop is on the ship returning from England, she sees another ship in the distance, but the shot of the other ship was taken from land, not from the ocean, since we see waves starting to break in the near foreground of the shot.

Quotes:

[Arabella sees Peter leaving the Governor's house after treating him for gout]
Arabella Bishop: Oh, forgive me for not recognizing you, Dr. Blood. You're so changed... and for the better.
Dr. Peter Blood: The Governor tells me I have you to thank for that.
Arabella Bishop: You don't sound very grateful, Dr. Blood.
Dr. Peter Blood: Do you suppose I'd be grateful for an easy life, when my friends are treated like animals? Faith, it's they deserve your favors, not I. They're all honest rebels. I was snoring in my bed while they were trying to free England from an unclean tyrant.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Supernatural: Wishful Thinking (#4.8)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Fugal Episode from Prometheus

Delightful Classic Adventure

In 1685, in England, the Irish Dr. Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) is unfairly accused of treachery of King James just because he treated a wounded rebel. He is sent to prison and six months later sentenced to hanging. In the very last moment, he is sent to Port Royal, a British colony in Jamaica, to work as a slave. Arabella Bishop (Olivia de Havilland), the niece of the powerful landlord Col. Bishop (Lionel Atwill), saves him from dying in the labor work in the mines, and when he heels the foot of the governor of Port Royal, he achieves a partial freedom in the island. With his intelligence and leadership, he escapes with his British slave comrades and becomes Captain Blood, a famous pirate in the Caribbean Seas.

"Captain Blood" is a delightful adventure, certainly one of the best pirate movies I have ever seen. The direction of Michael Curtiz is perfect as usual. The screenplay has excellent lines, many plot points, and action, funny scenes and romance in right doses. The elegant Errol Flynn with the gorgeous Olivia de Havilland have a great chemistry in their charismatic roles. "Captain Blood" is a highly recommended movie for fans of adventure films. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Capitão Blood" ("Captain Blood")