The Sea Hawk (1940)

Geoffrey Thorpe is an adventurous and dashing pirate, who feels that he should pirate the Spanish ships for the good of England. In one such battle, he overtakes a Spanish ship and when he ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

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

Stars:

Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains

Nominated for 4 Oscars.

Cast

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

Storyline

Geoffrey Thorpe is an adventurous and dashing pirate, who feels that he should pirate the Spanish ships for the good of England. In one such battle, he overtakes a Spanish ship and when he comes aboard he finds Dona Maria, a beautiful Spanish royal. He is overwhelmed by her beauty, but she will have nothing to do with him because of his pirating ways (which include taking her prized jewels). To show his noble side, he suprises her by returning the jewels, and she begins to fall for him. When the ship reaches England, Queen Elizabeth is outraged at the actions of Thorpe and demands that he quit pirating. Because he cannot do this, Thorpe is sent on a mission and in the process becomes a prisoner of the Spaniards. Meanwhile, Dona Maria pines for Thorpe and when he escapes he returns to England to uncover some deadly secrets. Exciting duels follow as Thorpe must expose the evil and win Dona Maria's heart.

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Plot Keywords:

spanish | queen | queen elizabeth i | ship | pirate | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beggars of the Sea

Filming Locations:

Laguna Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min 109 min (re-release)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone) (South America sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie during King Phillip's monologue, the map on the wall shows western and northern parts of the North American continent which were not known at the time.

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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?

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Connections

Referenced in Peeks at Hollywood (1945)

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Soundtracks

"Strike for the Shores of Dover"
(1940) (uncredited)
Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Lyrics by Jack Scholl and Howard Koch
Sung by the oarsmen when they take over the ship
Played also in the score

User Reviews

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.