The Buccaneer (1938)

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers:

Harold Lamb (writer)
Jeanie Macpherson (adaptation)

Release Date:

4 February 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History

Tagline:

The most thrilling war scenes ever filmed!

Plot:

Semi-fictional account of pirate Jean Lafitte's involvement in the War of 1812.

Plot Keywords:

Colonel | Lieutenant | Dog | U.S. President | Epic

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Fredric March	...	Jean Lafitte
Franciska Gaal	...	Gretchen
Akim Tamiroff	...	Dominique You
Margot Grahame	...	Annette de Remy
Walter Brennan	...	Ezra Peavey
Ian Keith	...	Senator Crawford
Spring Byington	...	Dolly Madison
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Governor William C.C. Claiborne
Robert Barrat	...	Captain Brown
Hugh Sothern	...	General Andrew Jackson
Beulah Bondi	...	Aunt Charlotte
Anthony Quinn	...	Beluche
Louise Campbell	...	Marie de Remy
Montagu Love	...	Admiral Cockburn
Eric Stanley	...	General Ross

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #3654)

Filming Locations:

Baldwin Oaks, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Editors Anne Bauchens and Hans Lubitsch spent three months editing the movie after principal photography was completed.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Yankee Doodle

Cecil B. DeMille's The Buccaneer is a rousing historical epic

Having just moved back to Baton Rouge, La. in 2003 after living in Jacksonville, Fla. for the previous 16 years, I started getting reacquainted with the history of the state I had first lived much of my life from age 7 to 19. One of those sources was from this Cecil B. DeMille account of Louisiana's pirate-hero Jean Lafitte. It was he and his men who helped General Andrew Jackson with his troops defeat the British at The Battle of New Orleans. This was in exchange for a full pardon for him and his men after originally getting a price on his head from the Governor of The Pelican State. Fredric March makes a dashing Lafitte with Akim Tamiroff splendid as his sidekick Dominique. Margot Grahame is Lafitte's fiancée while Franciska Gaal is the Dutch girl Gretchen who falls for Jean after walking the plank from another ship that was lead by a man who betrayed Lafitte. Walter Brennan is funny here as Peavey, a sidekick to General Jackson (Hugh Sothern). Watch what happens when he and Tamiroff have a scene together! Because of some of the accents and the speed of some of the dialogue, I couldn't understand everything that was said but most of the time it was the action that got to me, especially when the American military men initially were attacking Lafitte's men as they were about to welcome them. Grahame and Gaal had their own feminine charms that made either one good chemistry with March so whichever one ended up with him would have been fine. I think I've said enough so I'll just say for anyone who loves a good old-fashioned story with some history thrown in, I highly recommend Cecil B. DeMille's The Buccaneer.