John Paul Jones

Biopic about a notorious sea commandant , a 18th-century naval hero who became the prestigious leader of the American navy against the British Empire . This is tribute to the Revolutionary War naval hero filmed in big budget , spectacular scenes and great production design , though was pretty wooden and failed at box office . The career of Revolutionary War naval hero , John Paul Jones (Robert Stack) from his youth in Scotland through his service to Catherine the Great of Russia (Bette Davis) . It deals with his beginnings of his naval career as a cabin boy to the captaincy of his own ship . This came to an end, however, when John killed a member of his crew, a mutineer with a sword in a dispute , but because he would not be tried in an Admiral's Court, he felt compelled to flee to Fredericksburg, Province of Virginia, leaving his fortune behind . He went to Fredericksburg to arrange the affairs of his brother, who had died there without leaving any other family ; and about this time, in addition to his original surname, he assumed the surname of Jones . Later on , he greatly aids George Washington (John Crawford) and the American cause . With Benjamin Franklin's (Charles Coburn) help, he secures a ship from Louis XVI (Jean Pierre Aumont) and Marie Antoinette (Susana Canales) which he calls the Bonhomme Richard and ultimately meets the vaunted British battleship of the line, the Searapis, in one of the great naval battles of all time.

It's a passable historical drama story where the protagonist , Robert Stack , is acceptable . Stack striving mightily to be shipshape as Jones . It is an epic and moving tale , as the starring fights enemies , taking on the risks of sea battles to survive in a world surrounded by powerful forces . The picture contains interesting drama , a love history , colorful spectacle , historical events and sea battles have some flare , being filmed in Denia , Alicante , Spain . This historic movie was realized with import help from Spanish government delivering logistics , props , soldiers and many other things . Being a Spanish/American co-production by Suevia Films-Cesareo Gonzalez along with Samuel Bronston Production in his first movie in Spain where he produced monumental flicks such as ¨El Cid¨ , ¨55 days in Pekin¨ , ¨King of Kings¨ , ¨Circus World¨ and ¨The fall of the Roman Empire¨ . Very good support cast such as Macdonald Carey as Patrick Henry , Jean-Pierre Aumont as King Louis XVI , David Farrar as John Wilkes , Bruce Cabot as Gunner , Thomas Gomez as Hopkins , Peter Cushing as Capt. Richard Pearson and final film of Charles Coburn ; including cameo appearances from Bette Davis as Catherina The Great, the Russian empress , Eric Pohlmann as George III replaced George Sanders , and film debut of Mia Farrow , director's daughter and Maureen O'Sullivan . Rousing musical score by master Max Steiner , this would be the last time Max Steiner would compose a film score for a film featuring Bette Davis , he had written several scores for movies starring Davis, and had been her favorite composer . The picture was professionally directed by veteran filmmaker John Farrow , though with no originality , being his final film . However , this sometimes tedious , empty and overlong epic sank without a trace .

The motion picture was correctly based on historic events , these are the following : John Paul Jones (July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish sailor and the United States's first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolution. Although he made enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to this day. As such he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the United States Navy" . He later served in the Imperial Russian Navy. During his engagement with HMS Serapis, Jones uttered, according to the later recollection of his first lieutenant, the legendary reply to a taunt about surrender from the British captain: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

The screenplay was such a poorly written and crafted one that only skimmed the surface of a historical person that served the early beginning of America. This movie about John Paul Jone only superfluously told us how he was fooled and manipulated by the American bureaucrats even the nation just claimed it's independent from the British Empire, no more a colony but a new nation. The movie was full of big words, blah, blah this or that, every man is born free and equal, but what John faced was constant rejections by those politicians. He kept lost his commissions as a captain, without ship to command. Then he was sent away as a mercenary to fight for France, even for the Russia. The fighting scenes on the high sea were often messy and confusing. You couldn't even distinguish who was the enemies. But the most annoying thing about this movie is the loud, almost deafening soundtrack, the horrible music that almost accompanied and synchronized with every scene. There's nothing about the person of John Paul Jones, but a pathetic pawn, a servant, an errand man, often betrayed or cheated by those so-called Founding Fathers, except B. Franklin.

This is a horribly scripted and directed movie. A total waste and an insult not just to John Paul Jones but also the cool dude of Robert Stack.

JOHN PAUL JONES is certainly a colorful film to look at, but the script is rather stately and dull when it should be tense and exciting and a lot of this may be due to the casting of ROBERT STACK in the title role. He cuts a handsome figure in his period costumes and is certainly a man who can speak forcefully on occasion, but he tends to wear the same solemn expression throughout. His outbursts of anger are sometimes hard to comprehend but he does get things done and everyone seems to bend to his will no matter what the circumstances are--that's the kind of hero he's depicted as being.

It's a handsome looking film with a capable cast including CHARLES COBURN as Benjamin Franklin and MARISA PAVAN as Jones' love interest in a rather colorless role. But BETTE DAVIS has fun with her brief scenes and actually brings a lively flavor to the film once she appears as Catherine the Great and falls under the spell of the man with a commanding presence.

It may not be accurate as history, but it's spectacular to watch in some of the lushest Technicolor from the '50s with a nice score by Max Steiner that gives the film a lift when it needs it. Under John Farrow's direction, the film is a bit talky at times but comes to life during the battle scenes. Farrow shares credit for the script with contributions from Ben Hecht and others.

I have always believed that one of the reasons that John Paul Jones continues to be a fascinating figure is that we in America pride ourselves in that Horatio Alger tradition of the young man rising from humble circumstances to obtain wealth and prominence. Riches were not to be for Jones in his lifetime, but you can't fault the historical prominence he obtained as the spiritual if not the historical founder of the American Navy. And as the son of the gardener of a Scottish estate who ran away to see as a boy, his circumstances could hardly have been more humble.

Robert Stack makes a commanding John Paul Jones and he's a full blown hero in the tradition of the Samuel Eliot Morrison biography from which this film is adapted. There is a later book about him that came out a few years back written by Evan Thomas which presents Jones as the hero this film makes him out to be.

One thing that was overlooked is that it presents Jones as a man unlucky in love. Erin O'Brien-Moore and Marisa Pavan are the Virginia planter heiress and the French noblewoman who were the women in his life. I can assure you that there were many others, Jones was quite the ladies man, he never lacked for feminine companionship when on dry land.

Except for a cameo appearance as himself in Pepe, this film was the farewell role for Charles Coburn who played Benjamin Franklin who was Jones's biggest booster in the Continental Congress. He's good as the foxy philosopher Franklin was reputed to be. It is a factual error when you see him at Jones's death bed, Franklin had died a couple of years earlier in the USA. He also did not bring him the news of an offer of a commission in the Russian Navy under Queen Catherine the Great.

Bette Davis played Catherine the Great ever so briefly and I wish we got to see more of her. Jones did take command of her fleet and did defeat the Turks as per the film. It was the only time Jones showed what he could do as a naval strategist and he passed the test. His exploits with the Continental Navy were as a single ship in combat.

In vain Jones fought vigorously for a permanent Navy for the young United States. You see one of his opponents being John Adams. In an ironic twist of history when Adams got to be the second president of the United States and we were in an undeclared naval war with France, he got a Navy going in a hurry then. Our department of the Navy was founded during his administration, but John Paul Jones was a few years dead by then.

Despite some historical errors the film does present John Paul Jones as he would wish to be remembered. And this review is dedicated to the United States Navy, to the many men and women who have served and continue to serve in it, guided by the example of a fine fighting commander in John Paul Jones.

Not entirely accurate but at times rousing nautical adventure purporting to tell the story of the early American naval hero.

Stack is okay in the lead but some of his early career zest would have benefited the character. What we get instead is a rigid and mostly humorless stick figure in the lead. Some reverence for Jones is that man's due but a bit more animation in Stack's performance would have made him more accessible.

What helps deflect from his wooden performance is an incredibly colorful and sumptuous production with several maritime battles thrown in for good measure that's a treat to the eyes. Aside from that there are some very well cast performers in key roles. MacDonald Carey makes a fine Patrick Henry and Bette Davis, dolled up in a sky high wig, ermine and pearls, has a lot of fun in her tiny cameo as Catherine the Great. The real standout though is Charles Coburn as Benjamin Franklin. So right is he for the role, not just in appearance but getting the balance of the pattern of Franklin's personality right, a mix of seriousness and the twinkle in his eye and sense of fun that old Ben was renown for that it makes you regret that he never had a chance to more fully portray Franklin in a biography.

As a true document of John Paul Jones life it may miss the mark but it's still a decent entertainment.