König der Freibeuter

Semi-fictional account of pirate Jean Lafitte's involvement in the War of 1812 with some of the most thrilling war scenes ever filmed . This remake of Cecil B DeMille's 1938 production starts with a prologue : Jean Lafitte , last of Buccaneers , lives on in Lord Byron's immortal words : ¨He left a Corsair's name to other times , linked with one virtue and a thousand crimes¨. These American Presidents condemned , pardoned and again condemned this pirate . But Fate placed into the hands of this man without-a-country the destiny of a country - the United States - fighting for its very existence in the war of 1812 . Defeat has followed defeat . Now , only one man stood guard to ward off the final death blow , a backwoods General called Andrew Jackson with a handful of squirrel hunters and raw recruits . However , this prologue fails to mention the great irony of the Battle of New Orleans: by the time it was fought, a treaty to end the War of 1812 had already been signed in London , but word of the signing did not reach New Orleans until weeks later. The British have sacked Washington and hope to capture New Orleans, where pirate Jean Lafitte (Yul Brynner) romances blueblooded Annette (Inger Stevens) and openly sells his loot in a pirates' market. But he never attacks American ships . General Andrew Jackson (Charlton Heston previously played this role in The President's Lady) has only 1,200 men left to defend New Orleans when he learns that a British fleet will arrive with 60 ships and 16,000 men to take the city. In this situation an island near the city becomes strategically important to both parties, but it's inhabited by the last big buccaneer: Jean Lafitte , Lord of Barataria, Louisiana. When the battle gets nearer, Lafitte is drawn between both sides . His heart belongs to the United States , but his people urge him to unite the party that's more likely to vanquish .

Lavish film , 2 million dollars swashbuckling epic , magnificent adventure yarn , being spectacular and marvelously set in the War of 1812 against Britain . Cecil B DeMille 's last picture , he was seriously ailing and died while it was being made and completed by his son-in-law , Anthony Quinn. Anthony played the role of Beluche in the first version (1938) starred by Fredric March , Walter Brennan , Ian Keith , Akim Tamiroff , also directed by Cecil , for this one, Quinn is the director ; in fact, it is the only instance in his film career of taking on that job. The long-time associated Henry Wilcoxon , who starred ¨DeMille's The Crusades¨, took over as producer and the filmmaking went to actor Anthony Quinn who realized such a nice work that one wonders why it was the only one he made . The picture is based on historical deeds , though there is no historical evidence to prove that Lafitte actually was present during the battle. Facts were changed to protect 1950s sensitivities. Lafitte did have an affair with a Claybourne lady, but it was the Governor's wife, not his daughter. Interesting screenplay by Jesse L Lasky Jr , Cecil B. DeMille's usual screenwriter , but original script developed the story as a musical, then Cecil changed his mind when Yul Brynner, dissatisfied with the treatment of the material, threatened to back out of the film. A lot of exciting items cropped out for this high budgeted epic such as colorful cinematography by Loyal Griggs , rousing musical score by Elmer Bernstein , breathtaking production design by Albert Nozaki, Walter Tyler and Hal Pereira . It is adorned by the most notorious bald in the world , the great Yul Brynner , stands out Charlton Heston playing one of his ordinary historic characters , Claire Bloom as a tough pirate girl , an attractive Inger Stevens as Governor's daughter , Edgar G Marshall as Governor , a brilliant Charles Boyer as Dominique You , Henry Hull who wields a spirited rifle and many others ; including brief performances from a numerous support cast such as Lorne Greene as Mercier , Ted de Corsia as Capt. Rumbo , Douglass Dumbrille as Collector of the Port and who in the first adaptation acted as Governor , Robert F. Simon as Capt. Brown , Woody Strode , John Dierkes , Henry Brandon , Kathleen Freeman , among others . The motion picture was well directed by Anthony Quinn and Cecil B DeMille . DeMille oversaw production of the film, and appears in the prologue, but was unsatisfied with Quinn's efforts as director, as well as the work of old friend Henry Wilcoxen as producer, and tried to change and improve the film during and after production. DeMille died in January, 1959, only a month after the film's release.

If you're at all interested in pirates, pirate movies, New Orleans/early 19th century American history, or Yul Brynner, see this film for yourself and make up your own mind about it. Don't be put off by various lacklustre reviews. My reaction to it was that it is entertaining, well acted (for the most part), has some very witty dialogue, and that it does an excellent job of portraying the charm, appeal and legendary fascination of the privateer Jean Lafitte. While not all the events in the film are historically accurate (can you show me any historical film that succeeds in this?), I feel the film is accurate in its treatment of the role Lafitte played in New Orleans' history, and the love-hate relationship between the "respectable" citizens of New Orleans and this outlaw who was one of the city's favorite sons. Don't worry about what the film doesn't do, but watch it for what it does do, i.e., for its study of one of New Orleans', and America's, most intriguing historical figures.

Charlton Heston is undoubtedly the best thing in this picture. A meandering script, dubious romantic liaisons and average acting come close to sinking "The Buccaneer". Yul is Jean La Fitte, the title role. His performance is all over the map, going from tough to lethargic, to mercurial, to wistfully patriotic. Charles Boyer plays himself portraying the roguish General Dominique You, late of Napoleon's army, is pretty good, Mickey Shaughnessy is good as a comic sidekick to the boss and Clare Bloom and Inger Stevens provide love interest. The battle of New Orleans is the centerpiece of the film and is reasonably well staged, considering it's obviously filmed on a sound stage. History is shown here as the pirates help the American army and militia turn back the British. Chuck is Andrew Jackson, and it's been pointed out several times, Chuck looks like they used his picture for the twenty. Typical Technicolor '50's epic, not bad but not great either.

This interesting feature has a very fine story-line, rather colorful characters and a very steady pace. it also incorporates a plot device from "Reap the Wild Wind", and since Cecil B. Deille directed that and his son-in-law Anbthony Quinn directed this film from his preparations, that can hardly be a coincidence. it works in both cases, I must report. The unusual set-up tells the viewer that Barataria, an island ruled by Jean Lafitte is built upon piracy, but during the war of 1812, and before, he has always refrained from bothering United States' vessels. Now General Andrew Jackson has been charged with defending nearby New Orleans with only 12,000 men against 60,000 British Imperial redcoats and 60 ships. Lafitte's men want him to side with the stronger force; he wants freedom and pardons for his men before ceding such a strategic landing spot to the U.S. forces. There are other factors at work in the story-line; pirate Bonnie Brown and her father want to attack U.S. ships and do so in defiance of Lafitte's orders, leaving a boy alive without knowing they have missed an eyewitness. When his testimony finally comes out, Jackson cannot grant what Lafitte asks; but Lafitte supports him anyway and in the fog, the pirates and Jackson rout the British and he sails away to whatever destiny awaits a man who had genius and statesmanship but not fortune. The cast of this colorful and physically-lovely film are skilled indeed. Yul Brynner has one of his best roles as the pirate king, Inger Stevens is beautiful; as the girl he loves, Charles Boyer has many good lines as his adviser, powerful Lorne Greene is a rival, E.G. Marshall the Governor, and Claire Bloom is charismatic as Bonnie Brown. Others in the cast include Ted de Corsia, Douglass Dumbrille, George Mathews, Henry Hull as Jackson's adviser, Bruce Gordon, Onslow Stevens, Robert F. Simon, Henry Brandon, Fran Jeffries, and Leslie Bradley, among others. The music by Elmer Bernstein is very memorable, and the 1938 script remade here had only to be freshened a bit. The shiny cinematography was the work of veteran Loyal Griggs, the set decoration was supplied by Albert Nozaki, Hal Pereira and Walter Tyler, with set decoration by Sam Comer and Roy Moyer and costumes by Edith Head, John Jensen and Ralph Jester. Nellie Manley did the elaborate hairstyles and Wally Westmore the difficult makeup. The film contains quite a bit of good adventure-level dialogue and a very strong climactic battle scene. Charlton Heston, as as Andrew Jackson, prepared to play the part of an elder general and then discovered the man was young at the time of the battle; but he is often effective, grey-haired or not, especially in his exchanges with Henry Hull as Mr. Peavey. This is an exciting and well-mounted entertainment, which looks exactly as if C.B. DeMille had completed his production; it is a beautiful and nearly a very-fine motion picture.

In 1938, Cecil B. De Mille directed "The Buccaneer", a retelling about Jean Lafitte and his assistance in winning the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. The story was part fact, part fiction. In 1958, De Mille's son-in-law, Anthony Quinn, directed a remake of the 1938 film. And, perhaps as a homage to the original film, De Mille himself does a prologue. Oddly, at no point in the prologue and throughout the story did they mention that the battle actually occurred about a monthAFTER the peace treaty was signed between the USA and Britain! The reason...the British fleet and American forces hadn't yet received word of the end of the war!

A major player in the battle and in this film is Jean Lafitte (Yul Brynner). Lafitte is considered in the movie and in history books to be a pirate, though I don't think he ever captained a vessel. Instead, he was the boss of a fleet of pirate ships operating in the Gulf of Mexico...making a fortune smuggling items into the US and nearby countries.

Much of the film is spent with the British trying to woo Lafitte into working for them...offering him a fortune and the captaincy of his own ship. He strings them along for some time and eventually approaches the Americans...offering to help them AND divulging the British invasion plans to them as well. The film follows these events and Charlton Heston plays General Andrew Jackson, the man most often credited with the victory...though he might have lost had he not had the help of Lafitte and his men who were experts with artillery.

So is this film any good? Well, considering that very, very few movies even mention the War of 1813, then it is a must-see for history buffs. Just don't consider it to be a perfect representation of what occurred...though it's closer to the facts than you'd find in a typical De Mille film! Add to this excellent acting, lovely sets and a decent script and it's an enjoyable flick...even more so than the 1938 version.

By the way, according to IMDB trivia, Quinn had intended to make the film much more historically accurate. This would have eliminated some romances that simply never occurred as well as showing the American forces being much more ready for the British troops. However, his interfering father-in-law did much to undo this.