Sword Fishing

I've done some spear fishing in my time, but this is the first time I've encountered arrow fishing. We listen to Ronald Reagan narrate this short subject, shot wild, of some men who go fishing for marlin, the big sports fish. While one guy is happy to fish fish for the big blues in the usual way, with a line and reel -- at least until the marlin breaks free and the fisherman falls down -- Howard Hill shoots them with his little bow and arrow.

Hill was a Hollywood specialist when it came to stunts: if you needed something shot with an arrow, he was your man. It was he who shot the arrows for Errol Flynn in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. He also directed and produced about ten shorts on archery.

This one looks goofy, but then someone who tries to catch swordfish in the usual way wind up looking pretty dumb too.

This short was nominated for an Oscar. It's principal point of interest today is its narrator, one Ronald Wilson Reagan. There are some nice archery shots and the sword fish scores a moral victory of sorts, but it's only average or slightly above average. Turner Classic Movies runs this as filler and your best bet to catch it is in March during their "31 Days of Oscar" festival. Worth wtching to a degree. I was rooting for the fish myself.

Sword Fishing (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Oscar-nominated short has Ronald Reagan narrating the story of "the world's greatest archer" Howard Hill who jumps on a boat and shows off his skill by shooting various fish including a marlin. This is a mildly entertaining short but needless to say members of PETA might want to stay away as there are quite a few fish that are killed and the large marlin seems to suffer quite a bit before finally dying. With that out of the way, there's nothing overly special about the short but it doesn't make for a bad ten-minute filler. The film pops up quite often on Turner Classic Movies so someone there must think it's very entertaining. Reagan's narration is actually very good as he comes off rather energetic and the archery shots are also nicely done.

There is some really impressive slo-motion photography in this short documentary narrated by Ronald Reagan, but I really couldn't help but feel sorry for the marlin! It's archery champion Howard Hill who is showing off his prowess on a yacht, effortlessly impaling flying fish to be used as bait, and then targeting these 250lb giants of the sea with an arrow adapted to host quite a substantial hook that really gives the fish precious little chance at all. He does have a fellow fisherman on his boat who, given the size of their quarry, keeps the end of his fishing rod in quite a precarious position before having to adjourn to a smaller dinghy that offers the heavily armed fish a chance to go out in style. It might have been fairer had he got into the water and evened up the odds a bit...!