The Sea Hawk (1940)

Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Howard Koch (screen play), Seton I. Miller (screen play)

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:

queen elizabeth i | spanish armada | pirate | grappling hook | naval battle | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 August 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beggars of the Sea

Filming Locations:

Laguna Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,700,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$2,000,000, 31 December 1940

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 Black and White (Sepiatone) (Panama Sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Warner Bros. constructed a huge sound stage then known as the Maritime Stage. It had an internal tank that could be flooded. The stage was large enough to house two full-sized sailing ships positioned side-by-side. A specially constructed backdrop mechanism realistically simulated the waves. The stage, numbered 21, was, at the time, the largest sound stage on the Warner Brothers lot and the second largest in Hollywood, second only to MGM's cavernous Stage 15. The Maritime Stage was destroyed by fire in 1951.

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Goofs

Spanish galleons of the Elizabethan era did not have oars.

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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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Alternate Versions

Reissue prints of "The Sea Hawk" run 109 minutes, and for years this was the only version available for television airing. Since the video restoration in the early 1980's, most TV stations now run the full 127-minute print.

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: Long John Peter (2008)

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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

Great adventure for the whole family

Get the family for this one, a terrific adventure picture.

The story is simple but when you add great sets, Errol Flynn and Korngold, it rises to the challenge of being an excellent adventure film.

The original black and white picture requires some restoration, some frames were missing when I viewed this on TCM.

The direction is nicely paced, never in a hurry except near the end. The production values are excellent, the director did a good job with the big battles.

Errol Flynn does his dashing swashbuckling hero with a great degree of confidence. The other performers back up the star very well.

The film comes into its own when you hear Korngold's powerful score, very dashing and loud, it will blow your mind. Korngold's style is very evident in John Williams' Star Wars and Superman compositions.

An excellent adventure picture for the entire family.

Avoid the colourized version, it's a disgrace that this practise was allowed to happen.