Les boucaniers de la Jamaïque

Yankee Buccaneer is a pretty good action at sea movie. I had just recently seen it on AMC. I thought that Jeff Chandler played a brilliant part in the movie. Has some action and some good acting. I think you will like this movie and should give it a chance. On a scale of 1-10 I give it an 8.

After an extended tour of duty on the high seas the captain of an American warship receives orders to investigate pirate activity and report back to Charleston afterwards. In order to accomplish this mission "Captain David Porter" (Jeff Chandler) is also ordered to masquerade as a pirate ship in the process. Along with that a young navy officer named "Lieutenant David Farragut" (Scott Brady) is sent to assist him. Unfortunately, what the Navy Department doesn't know is that there is a history between the two and things only gets worse when a young woman by the name of "Countess Margarita La Raguna" (Susan Ball) is granted political asylum aboard the ship. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that, although a little old, this was a fairly good pirate film which pretty much covers all of the bases one would expect in a movie of this sort. Because of that I have rated this movie accordingly. Slightly above average.

Ridiculous "historical" swashbuckler with zero historical credibility.

A US Navy ship masquerades as a pirate ship to expose a conspiracy on the high seas. And somehow, they wedge in a silly girl.

The sailors are dressed in bright colors or bright whites--one wonders if they have an electric washer and color-safe bleach available to them. Don't get me started on the shipwrecked-on-an-island chick's hair and makeup. The men's hair is the wrong length for the era. The speech is wrong. There's no Flynn or other charismatic actor making you forgive the stupidity. There are nationalistic lines of dialog that aren't just anachronistic, they gave me the McCarthyism shudders.

They didn't even try on any of this to make it credible. I could not suspend my disbelief for one second, therefore the film failed miserably.

"Yankee Buccaneer" is a variation on the demented Arabian Nights fetish that Universal Pictures seemed to have in the late '40s and early '50s, the difference being that this one doesn't take place in the days of Ali Baba. It's the 1840s, and a U.S. Navy ship is ordered to disguise itself as a merchant vessel and sail to the waters off North Africa to put a stop to pirates preying on American ships. The action scenes are handled well, Jeff Chandler fits the part of the dashing American naval officer, the women are fetching, the cast is full of familiar faces (including Jay Silverheels, who played Tonto in the "Lone Ranger" series), the story doesn't venture past the realm of possibility and it moves along at a good clip. All in all, a neat little B picture--not the best of the lot, but far from the worst.

An enjoyable swashbuckler about a ship captain who has another identity , disguising as a pirate during the first half of the 19th century. One of those colourful thrilling 90 minute adventure tales which Universal-International Pictures rolled out with such expertise and regularity in the Fifties . Agreeable Pirate movie dealing with Captain David Porter (Jeff Chandler) of the fledgling American Navy on the seas , versus powerful Count Domingo Del Prado (Joseph Callleia) , as well as other nasty pirates and finding romance with a beautiful girl (Suzan Ball) along the way . It deals with an United States Navy ship , under the command of Captain David Porter (Jeff Chandler) , is expecting to put ashore after a year overseas ; but the arrival of one of Porter's ex-students, now as a second-in-command : David Farragut (Scott Brady) , brings a dangerous assignment : to pose the ship and crew as a pirate ship and help the Navy locate the thieves who have been robbing America's merchant fleet. Meanwhile, they stumble upon an international conspiracy formed by various countries : Spain , Portugal , Brazil . Universal-International's Fiery Swashbuckling Adventure! .Stand-by to Board! Terror Cry of the Spanish Main!

Conventional and standard sea adventure movie from Universal International Studios . Amusing pirate movie , plenty of action-packed , land rescues , thrills , sea battles , colorful cinematography , luxurious costumes and paced in lighthearted style . It is a blending of adventures , romance , action , exciting naval battle scenes , and swashbuckler . Although the story has been told before , tight filmmaking and nice acting win out . The flick takes parts of the plot developed in ¨Against all flags¨ by George Sherman and ¨Rifle springfield¨ by André De Toth . The picture moves along in stirring as well as agressive style , it is fast-moving , exciting and thrilling right up to the final climatic confrontation . Average-budgeted film by Universal Pictures , using appropriate ship shots and miniature sets when possible . Universal took advantage of the unused sets in ¨Against all flags¨ by George Sherman with Errorl Flynn , Anthony Quinn by scripting and shooting a hastily assembled B picture . ¨Yankee Buccaneer¨ belongs to Pirate or Swashbuckling sub-genre along with ¨Captain Blood¨, ¨The Sea Hawk¨ , ¨Long John Silver¨, ¨Anne of the Indians¨, ¨Buccaneer's girl¨, ¨Adventures of Captain Fabian¨ , ¨The Crimson pirate¨ and ¨Against all flags¨ . Stars Jeff Chandler who receives orders to masquerade as a privateer in order to corral some Caribbean pirates .It results to be one of Jeff Chandler's swashbuckling best though hasn't achieved the same classic status . Jeff Chandler provides stature to the role , delivering sincerity and bravura . Chandler was known , until his early death , for playing Indian chief Cochise , a dignified portrait well shown in : ¨Broken arrow¨ (50) by Delmer Daves , that was the first time the Red Indian was depicted as a human being rather than a brute savage merely to bite the dust at the hands of the US cavalry , as well as ¨Battle of Apache Pass¨ (1952) and ¨Taza , son of Cochise¨ (1954) by Douglas Sirk , this latter Jeff/Cochise is briefly glimpsed as a dying man at the beginning and handing over the reins of power to Rock Hudson as Taza . Although Chandler also played all kinds of genres , such as : ¨Return to Peyton Place¨(drama) , ¨Flame of Araby¨ (adventure) , ¨Merrill's marauders¨ (wartime , in his last film, he died while its shooting) , until his early death at 42-year-old . And gorgeous Suzan Ball as hot-tempered Countess Margarita La Raguna , she is given the opportunity to show both spirit and a handsome wardrobe . Suzan signed a contract with Universal and in 1952 she was proclaimed "The New Cinderella Girl of 1952". She had a fleeting romance with Scott Brady, who she met on the set of Denbow (1952), and they planned to marry. She then filmed City beneath water (1953) and fell for Anthony Quinn, who was still married , finally she married Richard Long . While rehearsing a scene for an episode of Climax! (1954), she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital , doctors found that the cancer had spread to her lungs. In 1955, Suzan died of cancer, only six months after her 21st birthday .There stands out a great support cast made up with familiar faces such as : Scott Brady , almost starring , as a willful and independent Lieutenant whose disobedience threatens the safety of the crew , Joseph Calleia , George Mathews , Rodolfo Acosta , Jay Silverheels , Michael Ansara , Joseph Vitale ,Rodolfo Acosta and you can spot the famous ¨Fugitive¨, a very young David Janssen.

This is a good-natured Technicolor romp with splendid cinematography from Russell Metty and Richard Metty that make the movie a constant pleasure to look at and being particularly effective in the spectacular naval battle set pieces . And evocative and atmospheric musical score by Joseph E. Gershenson and Milton Rosen , though uncredited . The motion picture was well directed by Frederick De Cordoba , a craftsman and action specialist who had already filmed other adventures .He spent much of his career at Universal Pictures, where he turned out medium-budget westerns, comedies and musicals. In the mid-'50s he turned his main focus to television, directing and producing The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show , The Jack Benny Program and December Bride . He shot decent films as Frankie and Johnny , I'll take Sweden , Here come the Nelsons , Bedtime for Bonzo , For the love of Mary . Rating : 6/10 , acceptable pirate movie , wonderful stuff . It will appeal to Jeff Chandler fans .