The Black Swan (1942)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Ben Hecht (screenplay) and
Seton I. Miller (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 December 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | History

Tagline:

Seas Ablaze...with black villainy, with fiery romance, with breathless deeds of daring...in the roaring era of Love, Gold and Adventure!

Plot:

When notorious pirate Henry Morgan is made governor of Jamaica, he enlists the help of some of his former...

Plot Keywords:

Governor | Pirate | Jamaica | Henry Morgan | English

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Tyrone Power	...	Jamie Waring
Maureen O'Hara	...	Lady Margaret Denby
Laird Cregar	...	Capt. Sir Henry Morgan
Thomas Mitchell	...	Tom 'Tommie' Blue
George Sanders	...	Capt. Billy Leech
Anthony Quinn	...	Wogan - Leech's First Mate
George Zucco	...	Lord Denby

Also Known As:

Rafael Sabatini's The Black Swan (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

87 min (copyright time) | USA:85 min (current existing footage) | Portugal:85 min (re-release) (censored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8421)

Filming Locations:

Cuba

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

To help out the war effort, the actors tried hard to keep the number of takes low so as to conserve film. Roughly thirty of the scenes were done in one take.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Although the story is supposed to take place in the 17th century, Lady Margaret has a medallion with a colour photo inside. You can clearly see it's a photo when Jamie first finds the medallion and then opens it. Photography was not invented until the 19th century.

Quotes:

Jamie: Church bells.
Tom 'Tommy' Blue: Aye. Some people likes to hear them. I like trumpets better.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Conrack (1974)

Soundtrack:

Heave Ho

Avid lover of Pirate films

This movie is so wonderful. I remember seeing it for the first time when I was around six years of age, and Tyrone Power became my first crush. After seeing the Black Swan I became ridiculously obsessed with pirates. (My mother wondered if there was something wrong with me, considering all the other girls on my block were playing with Barbies and I was watching movies about pirates.) I think the cinematography is just perfectly lovely in this film, and Tyrone Power truly is a great actor. People speak truthfully when they say he did not get the credit he deserved, (much like Johnny Depp) but I deeply respect the late actor, and he captured my heart. If you love films of mutineers, swashbuckling adventure, and roguish characters, then this film is for you. It will sweep you away to an old world where gallantry was sought after and pirates were the scum of the earth.....