The Black Swan (1942)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

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

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edward Ashley	...	Roger Ingram (uncredited)
Bonnie Bannon	...	Lady in waiting in the courtroom (uncredited)
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Don Miguel (uncredited)
John Burton	...	Capt. Blaine (uncredited)
Rita Christiani	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Helene Costello	...	Woman (uncredited)
Bryn Davis	...	Woman (uncredited)
William Edmunds	...	Town Crier (uncredited)
Charles Francis	...	Capt. Higgs (uncredited)
Willie Fung	...	Chinese Cook (uncredited)
Jody Gilbert	...	Flossy Woman with Tommy (uncredited)
Arthur Gould-Porter	...	Assemblyman (uncredited)
Keith Hitchcock	...	Majordomo (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Clerk Reading Proclamation (uncredited)
Boyd Irwin	...	Assemblyman (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Sea Captain (uncredited)
George Kirby	...	Assemblyman (uncredited)
Frank Leigh	...	Sea Captain (uncredited)
Cyril McLaglen	...	Capt. Jones (uncredited)
Charles McNaughton	...	Mr. Fenner (uncredited)
Clarence Muse	...	Margaret's Servant (uncredited)
Stuart Robertson	...	Capt. Graham (uncredited)
C. Montague Shaw	...	Assemblyman (uncredited)
Arthur Shields	...	The Bishop (uncredited)
David Thursby	...	Sea Captain (uncredited)
Frederick Worlock	...	Speaker of Assembly (uncredited)

Directed by
Henry King

Writing credits
Ben Hecht		(screenplay) and
Seton I. Miller		(screenplay)
Seton I. Miller		(adaptation)
Rafael Sabatini		(novel)

Produced by
Robert Bassler	....	producer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Alfred Newman

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Barbara McLean

Art Direction by
James Basevi
Richard Day

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Earl Luick

Makeup Department
Guy Pearce	....	makeup artist

Production Management
William Koenig	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Albert R. Broccoli	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Henry Weinberger	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)
George Leverett	....	sound

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Hamilton	....	location photographer (uncredited)
Ray Rennahan	....	location photographer (uncredited)
Irving Rosenberg	....	location photographer (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera: Technicolor (uncredited)
Al Thayer	....	location photographer (uncredited)
Paul Uhl	....	location photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
David Buttolph	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Hugo Friedhofer	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
George Parrish	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Henri Jaffa	....	associate technicolor director
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor director
Lionel Bevans	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
Fred Cavens	....	fencing instructor (uncredited)
William Gallagher	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Harold Godsoe	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Ray C. Moore	....	location manager (uncredited)
Harold Lloyd Morris	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Robert D. Webb	....	location director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Television (????) (USA) (TV) (as 20th Televison)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)

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:

Although it is supposed to be based on Rafael Sabatini's novel "The Black Swan", in fact the story is completely original, and the only character retained from the original novel is the historical personage Henry Morgan.

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 20 Dates (1998)

Soundtrack:

Heave Ho

Ty At His Swashbuckling Best

The Black Swan And The Mark of Zorro show Tyrone Power at the height of his career. This was the Tyrone Power that the public wanted to see, but who he got tired of being. He was constantly after 20th Century Fox and Darryl Zanuck to give him more challenging roles.

Jamie Warring is another of Power's patented hero/heel characterizations. When we first meet him, Power's a totally unrepentant scalawag who has but one virtue, loyalty to the former pirate leader Henry Morgan. Morgan by all accounts was an effective and charismatic leader both in this film and in history. But that leadership is put to the test when the British government decides he's the only man capable of dealing with his former compatriots.

Laird Cregar as Morgan makes a plea for the group to turn honest. But there's a fly in the ointment. A dissident group led by George Sanders and Anthony Quinn don't want to give up the pirate lifestyle. It's up to Morgan, Power and the rest to then eradicate them.

Power at his hero/heel best is not above forcing his attentions on Maureen O'Hara the daughter of the former governor of Jamaica. Those attentions gradually move from the unwanted to the very much wanted, especially after Power and O'Hara are captured by Sanders. For the rest, well as they you just have to tune in.

The Black Swan deservedly won Oscars for special effects and color cinematography. It's unfortunate that today there are so few actors capable of playing the swashbuckling hero the way Ty Power could. He may have wanted to do more, but Darryl Zanuck knew exactly what the public wanted to see Tyrone Power in. It's worth a look.