O Cisne Negro

Now this is a swashbuckling adventure! Pirate movies were very popular in the silver screen era, and most of them-as is the case in most genres-weren't very good. The Black Swan is very exciting, so if you're looking for a classic, look no further.

A shirtless, scruffy Tyrone Power pins Maureen O'Hara to the wall, saying he wants to "sample the wine before he decides to buy the bottle," but when he kisses her she bites his lip. Tyrone slaps her face and throws her over his shoulder, but when he runs into his pal Captain Morgan, played by Laird Cregar, he drops her to the floor and forgets all about her. Is he a true pirate or what?

Get ready for intense sword fighting, kidnapping unwilling females, shipwrecks, pirates hijacking a boat that's already been hijaked, and a great pirate-y theme by Alfred Newman. The Black Swan is one of the best swashbuckling pirate movies I've seen, and since it doesn't include Errol Flynn or Robert Newton, that's quite a compliment! Where else can you see Thomas Mitchell as a pirate? And where else can you watch a total violation of the Hays Code-an unmarried couple is shown under the covers in the same bed-but since they're pirates they get away with it? I highly recommend this one.

Well, this one really came as a surprise with Tyrone Power superb in a decent pirate movie - all tongue in cheek but in great fun. With lovely Maureen O'Hara playing the usual hard to get girl wanted by all, but destined for only one, everyone in the movie has a rollicking good time, and why shouldn't they when you consider some of the supporting stars, particularly Laird Cregar as Sir Henry Morgan and George Sanders "hamming" it up in his usual evil way. The Technicolor is magnificent, the settings superb, and as this film was made long before computer-generated effects, it was quite brilliantly done. The story was very predictable but who cares, as it represents great escapist entertainment for nearly a couple of hours!

Tyrone Power was undoubtedly the most stylish and certainly the most handsome and articulate of the great Hollywood swashbuckers from the 30s to the late 50s. In this movie he coyld not have been bettered (Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. included), The starry cast,music,costumes and settings brought vividly to life the Spanish Main,Maracaibo and other Pirate ports of call.With a great family theatrical tradition behind him,Power's presence enriched every movie he made (what a twist of fate that he died exactly as his father Tyrone Power Sr.did,filming a duel scene -"Hamlet" and "Solomon and Sheba). I believe that Power's acting ability even today is not fully recognised,simply because the Studio System restricted his choice of film.Let anyone hear Power recite the poems of Byron (available on disc) and realise his premature death was a tragedy."THE BLACK SWAN" could be said to represent a golden period in the history of Hollywood swashbucklers.

If not for the action, for the actors and the actress, for the story or for the direction, see this movie because it´s only one of the best action movies ever made in the USA. Just that! Many of the recent full-action movies, made with more money and resources, are not even 1% of this one.

This movie is so wonderful. I remember seeing it for the first time when I was around six years of age, and Tyrone Power became my first crush. After seeing the Black Swan I became ridiculously obsessed with pirates. (My mother wondered if there was something wrong with me, considering all the other girls on my block were playing with Barbies and I was watching movies about pirates.) I think the cinematography is just perfectly lovely in this film, and Tyrone Power truly is a great actor. People speak truthfully when they say he did not get the credit he deserved, (much like Johnny Depp) but I deeply respect the late actor, and he captured my heart. If you love films of mutineers, swashbuckling adventure, and roguish characters, then this film is for you. It will sweep you away to an old world where gallantry was sought after and pirates were the scum of the earth.....