Yankee Buccaneer

Universal and Paramount Pictures were two fantastic studios in terms of adventures movies, see for instance CARIBBEAN, WAKE OF THE RED WITCH, SMUGGLER'S ISLANDS, CAPTAIN CHINA, CROSSWINDS, AGAINST ALL FLAGS, and many more films that I can't put down here...This one is enhanced by Jeff Chandler's and Scott Brady's presence, for an excitjng story, directed by Frederic de Cordova, for whom adventure yarns were not the main trademark, but instead comedies and some cheap musicals. I recommend it as a very good little adventure, pirates, bucaneer scheme. Technicolor is wonderfully used and the production design totally adequate.

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.

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.

history and romance. atmosphere of a lot of other adventure films from the period. and something different. maybe the humor or the different manner to use ingredients of original recipes. in fact, a film who has the charm of the heroic stories and something more. maybe the acting or the American implication in a different European problem. maybe the absence of Errol Flynn and the inspired measure in definition of character by Jeff Chandler. or the performance of Joseph Calleia who explores the each side of his character. a film of great images and full of air from childhood books. an oasis for different viewers. and, sure, a certainly delight.