Sangue Rebelde

Very unusual for a 1950's Universal costume adventure, Captain Lightfoot sports expensive, elaborate production values. It benefits greatly from extensive location shooting, beautifully photographed, and fancifully but tastefully colorful sets and costumes.

Hudson and Rush are excellent as dashing hero and his spitfire lady.

There's an effective mix of action, romantic comedy, and melodrama--all well staged.

Too bad the script is weak; often the character relationships and decisions characters make stretch credibility to the point of distraction.

Contrary to what a couple of other reviewers here said, I thought most of the supporting cast so-so, Abby Players or not. None of the fun, charisma, and panache that British-Hollywood baddies like Basil Rathbone, Claude Raines, and Henry Daniel brought to similar material.

Universal in the early Fifties was a decidedly second rate studio in desperate need of a star of their own. Director Douglas Sirk spotted Rock Hudson in a bit role and sensed star potential. Sirk almost single handedly coached and groomed Hudson towards stardom, which was achieved with the wildly successful "Magnificent Obsession" (1954). They would make eight movies together, "Captain Lightfoot" being the fourth, and the first in which Hudson would appear as an established star.

Hudson's newfound stardom is palpable throughout the movie. He exudes a boyish confidence as yet unseen in his work making this the joyful romp that Sirk intended. He is matched by a feisty Barbara Rush who played opposite him in the inferior "Taza, Son of Cochise" and supported by an cast of Irish players vastly superior to the bit players Universal would have supplied had the movie not been shot in Ireland.

Sirk's Hollywood career can be divided into three phases. First, the early years in a new country, finding his feet with some solid, if unexciting movies. The middle period was characterized by light weight comedies and trying his hand at different genres such as the western, the costume and historical dramas. Finally, would be his golden period of the melodramas for which he became famous. "Captain Lightfoot" signals the end of the middle period.

While extremely enjoyable, it lacks sufficient substance to make it memorable. Sirk fans would naturally not want to miss this, but Rock Hudson fans in particular should seek this out. He seldom seemed to be truly having such a good time as here when flexing his new grown wings of stardom.

A colorful, light adventure that plays like a classic swashbuckler, the Ross Hunter production "Captain Lightfoot," is entertaining Hollywood hokum from a screenplay by W.R. Burnett and Oscar Brodney, which was loosely based on Irish history. The casting of Rock Hudson as Mike Martin, aka Captain Lightfood, undercuts any pretense to historical accuracy, despite a supporting cast of Irish players. Although hired more for his looks and marquee value, than his aptness for the role, Hudson nevertheless is amiable, and he attempts a slight brogue that gets slighter as the film progresses. While his good-natured performance is an asset to the movie, Hudson lacks the confidence and bravado that a Burt Lancaster would have brought to the part.

Martin was a bold highwayman in early 19th century Ireland, who worked for a revolutionary society in support of Irish independence. An Irish Robin Hood, Martin stole from the English oppressors to aid the cause and to feed the poor. An Irish rebel patriot, Captain John Doherty, hears of Martin's exploits and enlists him to be his second in command; brought to Dublin by Doherty, Martin is dubbed Captain Lightfoot by Doherty's saucy headstrong daughter, Aga, after a fumbled dance with him. Known as Captain Thunderbolt, Doherty runs a gambling establishment that fleeces the English to fund the independence struggle. Like a boys' adventure movie, "Captain Lightfoot" is often exciting fun. During duels and escapes, fights and chases, robberies and romance, director Douglas Sirk maintains a steady pace.

Barbara Rush provides the requisite love interest as Aga, although the predictable romance between her and Hudson is of the clichéd "hate at first sight" variety, and viewers know the outcome from the first scene. Jeff Morrow, who plays Aga's father, Doherty, arguably gives the film's best performance; he is strong, authoritative, and convincing as a rebel leader. "Captain Lightfoot's" technical credits are also good. Shot on location in Ireland, the scenery is lush and beautiful, and the music, supervised by Joseph Gershenson, is rousing. While undemanding fun, the movie does not rise to memorable, despite the presence of a young Rock Hudson at the cusp of stardom. For Hudson fans, the film is essential viewing, for others, light escapist fun.

When I started watching "Captain Lightfoot", I was taken aback when I saw that Rock Hudson was playing an Irish highway man! But, after getting over the shock, I realized that Hudson wasn't 100% terrible...at least when he remembered to use his Irish accent! But, as I just noted...he often sounded like Rock Hudson and only sometimes remembered the accent. I really don't blame him so much....it was the director's job to notice these sorts of things. Amazingly, it was directed by the very well respected Douglas Sirk....who made some of Douglas' best films. It also was a big budget production...filmed on location in Ireland and in color.

When the story begins, Michael Martin (Hudson) is a cheap and rather dim highwayman along with his friend. But they aren't very good at it and soon end up in really serious trouble with the law when one of their victims pulls Michael's mask off. So, he needed to go into hiding and is rescued by a traveling priest....or at least someone PRETENDING to be a priest. The man turns out to be the infamous Captain Thunderbolt (Jeff Morrow)...a combination Irish patriot, gambler and highwayman. But unlike Michael, he has class and common sense and soon Thunderbolt dubs Michael 'Captain Lightfoot' and makes him his second in command.

A bit later, Thunderbolt is shot and injured during one of his incursions. While in hiding and recovering, he asks Lightfoot to take command of his gambling house AND his household...including his headstrong daughter, Aga (Barbara Rush). You just KNOW that this means sooner or later, the pair will become lovers (I am referring to Aga and Lightfoot, not Thunderbolt and Lightfoot). What's next for these folks? See the film.

Despite being about highwaymen and crime, this film turned out to be a costume drama. Much of the time, folks are wearing colorful fancy outfits, dancing and living in luxury...not the sort of thing you might expect in a film about Irish patriots/bandits. Again, you could see that Universal really pulled out the stops with this one...with a large budget and lots of gloss.

So is it any good? Yes...very good...but not great. The acting is generally good (apart from a few missing accents...not just from Hudson), the locations lovely and the story engaging.

This is not really a drama;this is not a story of sound and fury either. Sirk's swashbuckler is a bit tongue-in -cheek .He often makes a fool of his hero (Rock Hudson ,his favourite actor ,he will be featured in many other Sirk works including the stunning "magnificent obsession" and "written on the wind" ): he tries to help captain Thunderbolt to escape and ends up himself in prison;on the roof he unintentionally rings the bell.Barbara Rush (another Sirk's favourite:she will team up with Hudson again in " Taza" and "obsession")gets a good whacking.The political side remains vague and neither the Irish nor the English seem to take it seriously although it's not really a comedy.But the main interest is the splendid cinematography ,the marvelous landscapes :the scene when Lightfoot and Regis try to escape and end up in the river is masterfully filmed.There's something nonchalant ,which makes "captain Lightfoot" a distant cousin of "a scandal in Paris" (1946) in Sirk's filmography.

That said,it's entertaining but I do not think that it ranks with the director's best films.