L'aigle des mers

This textbook example of Hollywood derring-do from the Warner Bros. vaults features Errol Flynn at his most dashing and heroic, squaring off against the Spanish armada and winning the hand of beautiful noblewoman Brenda Marshall. It might appear stale by today's high-tech action/adventure standards, but with a generous stock of swordplay, sea battles, romance, and heroism it's a formula that never fails to please, and one which movie makers have been trying to duplicate (with only mixed success) ever since.

Familiar faces in the attractive cast include Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, the ubiquitous Alan Hale, Gilbert Roland, and Flora Robson, portraying Queen Elizabeth I only one year after the definitive Bette Davis performance in 'The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex'.

In "The Sea Hawk", hero Errol Flynn, director Michael Curtiz, and composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold provide great entertainment very similar to that in their earlier classic that starred Flynn as Robin Hood. Supporting actors Alan Hale, Claude Rains, and Una O'Connor also are back, joined by Brenda Marshall, Flora Robson, and Henry Daniell. The movie provides rousing action, a good story, and some memorable characters.

Flynn's character is Geoffrey Thorpe, who is a "sea hawk", a privateering ship captain in the late 1500's indulged by Queen Elizabeth (Robson) and allowed to raise havoc with Spanish shipping in a time when Spain's dominance was at its peak. The story in "The Sea Hawk", like the action in "The Adventures of Robin Hood", is loosely based on historical circumstances, although this time the tone is often more serious. This film is in black-and-white instead of Technicolor, giving it a different feel. (There is a very nice touch when the scenes in the New World are tinted in golden-brown, an effective way of emphasizing the different setting.) There are also extensive scenes of the suffering and humiliation experienced by the English galley slaves imprisoned by the Spanish fleet, instead of the very brief scenes of Saxon suffering in "Robin Hood". But the main emphasis is still on the swash-buckling action that made Flynn so popular.

There are ship-to-ship fights, chases, escapes, and of course sword fights. Flynn's charisma and infectious good nature are usually enough to carry even far-fetched action, and here the story itself is more than good enough to be worthwhile in its own right. "The Sea Hawk" is good, classic entertainment.

The Sea Hawk is a very, very enjoyable film. Is it Errol Flynn's best film and role? No, The Adventures of Robin Hood gets that honour for both. Also, The Sea Hawk is slightly overlong, and the print for this film is quite washed out and grainy, a film as good as this needs a restoration. Minor complaints aside, the swashbuckling is energetic and beautifully choreographed, the production values are top notch, Korngold's score is superb, Curtiz's direction is great, the script is witty and the story is brisk and entertaining. The cast are also excellent, Flynn makes for a gallant, charismatic and dashing hero and while slightly underused fine actor Claude Rains is superb as he takes on villain duty. In conclusion, a fine film, flawed but endlessly entertaining with lots to like. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is definitely an Errol Flynn classic, meaning one of his best films and the charismatic star of the mid-'30s to mid-'40s did a number of entertaining ones. He's best known - on screen, that is - as a swordsman from his "Captain Blood" and "Adventures of Robin Hood" days, but he also was terrific as boxer James J. Corbett in "Gentlemen Jim" and as western star "Wade Hatton" in "Dodge City."

He's great here as pirate "Geoffrey Thorpe" and what makes this pirate movie different is that half of the action scenes are on land, not sea. (They on are on island, or back in the castle of Queen Elizabeth). Flynn captains "The Albatross" and is a privateering ship captain for her Majesty the queen in the 1500s. They are battling the Spanish in this story. The real bad guys are some of the turncoats in Elizabeth's court.

The film is interesting even with its length of over two hours. It keeps a good balance of drama, action, romance and suspense, never overdoing any of those.

While it's hard to beat the entertainment duo of Director Michael Curtiz and actor Flynn, Brenda Marshall as "Doria Maria," Thorpe's love interest, doesn't quite cut it. Olivia de Havilland usually played his female interest, and - although that doesn't require she play in every Flynn movie - they could have found someone more attractive and likable than Marshall who, justifiably, had a thin career. Her casting in here is a big mystery to me.

Whatever, Flora Robson was fun to watch as "Queen Elizabeth." Claude Rains and Henry Daniell played their normal bad-guy roles well and Thorpe's crew, led by Flynn's best friend Alan Hale, are all entertaining guys.

I enjoyed the sepia-tone sequence when Flynn and the boys go for the gold on the Panama island. That was a nice, little visual twist to this black-and-white movie..

Not to be left out is the sweeping score, under the direction of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, which is one of the more magnificent ones you'll hear in a classic film.

I'm always up for some good, old-fashioned swashbuckler fun, and The Sea Hawk is one of the most amusing entries in that field. Directed by specialist Michael Curtiz and starring the legendary Errol Flynn. They previously worked together on `Captain Blood', the film that started the trend of popular sea adventures. Even though Captain Blood has a lot more range and features more plot-diversity, The Sea Hawk definitely is more spectacular and the swordfight sequences are far more exciting. The cinematography on this action sequences has seemly improved in the period between the two films. Errol Flynn portrays Geoffrey Thorpe, captain of the Albatross. He's a Sea Hawk and those privateers serve and protect the English Queen in their own particular way. The greedy King Phillip of Spain has set his mind to conquering Britain as well and to cover up his plans, he politely sends an ambassador to meet the Queen. However, Captain Thorpe and his crew boycott the Spanish and they righteously foresee a war between the two nations. Things are getting even more complicated when some prominent members of the British counsel turn out to be betrayers and – of course – Capt. Thorpe falls in love with the beautiful niece of the Spanish ambassador.

Errol Flynn clearly developed more charisma over the years and he already looks a lot more believable in his role of privateer now. He's excellently supported by Alan Hale who plays his first crewmember, Mr. Pitt. Flora Robson seems to make a career out of playing Queen Elizabeth's look-alike, since it already is the third film in which she plays this role. The best actor in the cast (even beating Errol Flynn) obviously is Claude Rains with in his terrific role of the vicious Spanish ambassador. The Galleons (both the Spanish as the British) look great and some historical aspects (like slavery and inquisition) are greatly included. The Sea Hawk is excellent, well-made fun and a must for all the nostalgic movie lovers.