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
Clifford Brooke	...	William Tuttle
Clyde Cook	...	Walter Boggs
Fritz Leiber	...	Inquisitor
Ellis Irving	...	Monty Preston
Francis McDonald	...	Samuel Kroner
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Captain Mendoza
Ian Keith	...	Peralta
Jack La Rue	...	Lieutenant Ortega (as Jack LaRue)
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Astronomer
Alec Craig	...	Judocus Hondins - The chartmaker
Victor Varconi	...	General Aguirre
Robert Warwick	...	Captain Frobisher
Harry Cording	...	Slavemaster
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Herbert Anderson	...	Eph Winters (uncredited)
Mary Anderson	...	Maid of Honor (uncredited)
Whit Bissell	...	Gate guard at Palace entrance (uncredited)
Edgar Buchanan	...	Ben Rollins (uncredited)
J.W. Cody	...	Whipper (uncredited)
Maurice Costello	...	Man Carrying Spear (uncredited)
Michael Harvey	...	Sea Hawk (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	Officer (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Arnold Cross (uncredited)
Dave Kashner	...	Whipper (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Officer (uncredited)
Crauford Kent	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
Frank Lackteen	...	Captain Ortiz (uncredited)
Lester Matthews	...	Guard Officer (uncredited)
Art Miles	...	Drum beater (uncredited)
Gerald Mohr	...	Spanish Messenger (uncredited)
Leonard Mudie	...	Castle Sentry (uncredited)
Nestor Paiva	...	Slavemaster (uncredited)
Elizabeth Sifton	...	Maid of Honor (uncredited)
Harry Silversmith	...	Native (uncredited)
John Sutton	...	Captain of the Guard (uncredited)
David Thursby	...	Driver (uncredited)
Anthony Warde	...	Whipper (uncredited)
Frank Wilcox	...	Martin Barrett (uncredited)
Frederick Worlock	...	Darnell (uncredited)
Harry Worth	...	Spanish Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

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

Produced by
Henry Blanke	....	associate producer
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Cinematography by
Sol Polito		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
Anton Grot

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jack L. Warner	....	in charge of production
Frank Mattison	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Sullivan	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Leo K. Kuter	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Francis J. Scheid	....	sound

Special Effects by
Byron Haskin	....	special effects
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (as H.F. Koenekamp)

Stunts
Ned Davenport	....	fencing double (uncredited)
Ralph Faulkner	....	fencing double (uncredited)
Harry Froboess	....	stunts (uncredited)
Don Turner	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buster Wiles	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestrator
Ray Heindorf	....	orchestrator
Howard Koch	....	lyricist: songs
Milan Roder	....	orchestrator
Simon Bucharoff	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Jo Graham	....	dialogue director
Ali Hubert	....	technical advisor
William Kiel	....	technical advisor
Thomas Manners	....	technical advisor
Fred Cavens	....	fencing master (uncredited)
Ralph Faulkner	....	fight choreographer (uncredited)
Robert Foulk	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
Georg Rothkegel	....	german version dubbing director/german dialogue 1949 (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. First National

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (edited)
• Dominant Pictures Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (edited) (re-release)
• Swashbuckler Films (2006) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Union-Film (1962) (Austria) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. (1947) (France) (theatrical)
• ClassicLine (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Key Video (video)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (VHS)
• Sociedade Importadora de Filmes (SIF) (Portugal)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (video)

Other Companies

• Filmstudio Tempelhof, West Berlin, Germany  German dubbing 1949 (uncredited)
• RCA  recording system

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 | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Laguna Beach, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. First National

Trivia:

Henry Daniell couldn't fence. The climactic duel had to be filmed using a double and skillful inter-cutting.

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 Terror Night (1987)

Soundtrack:

Strike for the Shores of Dover

Great Entertainment From Flynn & Co.

In "The Sea Hawk", hero Errol Flynn, director Michael Curtiz, and composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold provide great entertainment very similar to that in their earlier classic that starred Flynn as Robin Hood. Supporting actors Alan Hale, Claude Rains, and Una O'Connor also are back, joined by Brenda Marshall, Flora Robson, and Henry Daniell. The movie provides rousing action, a good story, and some memorable characters.

Flynn's character is Geoffrey Thorpe, who is a "sea hawk", a privateering ship captain in the late 1500's indulged by Queen Elizabeth (Robson) and allowed to raise havoc with Spanish shipping in a time when Spain's dominance was at its peak. The story in "The Sea Hawk", like the action in "The Adventures of Robin Hood", is loosely based on historical circumstances, although this time the tone is often more serious. This film is in black-and-white instead of Technicolor, giving it a different feel. (There is a very nice touch when the scenes in the New World are tinted in golden-brown, an effective way of emphasizing the different setting.) There are also extensive scenes of the suffering and humiliation experienced by the English galley slaves imprisoned by the Spanish fleet, instead of the very brief scenes of Saxon suffering in "Robin Hood". But the main emphasis is still on the swash-buckling action that made Flynn so popular.

There are ship-to-ship fights, chases, escapes, and of course sword fights. Flynn's charisma and infectious good nature are usually enough to carry even far-fetched action, and here the story itself is more than good enough to be worthwhile in its own right. "The Sea Hawk" is good, classic entertainment.