Le trésor des Caraïbes

Pirate captain Cedric Hardwicke is burying treasure and shooting the crew member who wants to kill him when he discovers John Payne. He offer Payne a hundred thousand pieces of eight and his life if he'll do a little favor for him. Many years earlier, Hardwicke had been partners with Francis L. Sullivan. Then Sullivan seized Hardwicke's wife and child, and sold Hardwicke into slavery. Payne is to impersonate Sullivan's nephew and spy out how to invade his personal island, where slaves carry around elephant tusks. There's al Sullivan's daughter, Arlene Dahl, whose haughtiness is indicated by the fact she shouts everything.

This sizable film from the Dollar Bills is a visually attractive thing. Of course, you can say that about any movie with Miss Dahl in Technicolor. In addition, cinematographer Lionel Lindon shoots it like a series of Howard Pyle paintings, just right for the Boy's Adventure this movie is. With revolting slaves, overseers who whip slaves and yearn for Miss Dahl, Williams Pine and Thomas fill out the movie's cast with reliable, inexpensive players like Willard Parker, Dennis Hoey, Woody Strode, and Rosalind Hayes for an entertaining time.

"Caribbean" is a pirate story set in 1728, with an unusual plot and no real swashbuckling. Most of the short scenes with the pirate ship, Niobe, are of a distant three-master on the open water. The sails seem to be full but the ship isn't moving through the water and is listing heavily to the port side. Very weird and amateurish production. It's a Technicolor movie made by Pine-Thomas Productions at the Paramount Studios.

The plot is just interesting enough to keep one watching it, with a cast of some well-known actors of the day. But the story and screenplay drag on and on. It has a stagy feeling of scenes on the ship and on the island. The main cast are fairly good, but the rest - including those playing the Caribbean island natives seem wooden and hesitant.

John Payne has the lead as Dick Lindsay, with Arlene Dahl as a somewhat object of his affections late into the film. The best names, and acting, are by Francis L. Sullivan as Andrew MacAllister, Willard Park as Shively, Cedric Hardwicke as Captain Francis Barclay and Dennis Hoey as Burford. Hardwick's Barclay seems a bit overly dramatic and cultured for a pirate role, even with his background in the film. No one could play the nasty, mean, heartless characters that Sullivan could, and his MacAllister here is as unlikeable as one can get.

Anyone expecting a swashbuckler will be disappointed. And, there isn't that much action or adventure at all. It's mostly a fictional picture of a small island kingdom of sorts, where a tyrannical master (Sullivan's MacAllister) has enslaved the islanders. And a tale of revenge by a former colleague whose life and family were ruined by MacAllister. The ending has a very interesting twist - sort of bittersweet.

Here are some lines from this film.

Robert MacAllister, "I was beginning to wonder if I'd be forced to dine with the crew tonight." Captain Francis Barclay, "My crew doesn't dine - it gorges, Mr. MacAllister."

Captain Francis Barclay, "Suppose I offer you your freedom and a hundred thousand pieces of eight?" Dick Lindsay, "That's a lot of supposing. What would I have to do?" Captain Barclay, "As you're told." Lindsay, "For how long?" Barclay, "That depends on you - unless, of course, you got killed in the line of duty." Lindsay, "And if I refuse?" Barclay, "You'll probably get killed out of the line of duty." Lindsay, "When do I begin?" Barclay, "It may surprise you to know, Mr. Lindsay, that you began when we first met."

Elizabeth, head maid, "When two stones meet, they make fire. When right man and woman meet, same thing."

This movie also leaves a lot of loose ends. It's hard to believe that Arlene Dahl would fall so quickly for John Payne. Also, Payne's former life is quickly forgotten. This movie must have been made for kids because it was preposterous to this adult. Payne is a serviceable actor but he doesn't have the charisma for this kind of role. He is rather solemn-faced and this role demands a little more levity. Forget this and look for an Errol Flynn movie instead.

However grim the subject (in this case, the slave trade), a little sense of humor can take off the edge. Unfortunately, "Caribbean" doesn't offer that much needed sense of humor. John Payne makes a surprisingly bland hero, much in contrast to his wonderful turn in Tripoli. Arlene Dahl, gorgeously decorative, really hokes this one up. One can only imagine what Maureen O'Hara or Rhonda could have done with the part. Even the key supporting players fail to impress, with the exception of the extraordinary Cedric Hardwicke, and actor who probably never gave a bad role. One could only imagine how could "Caribbean" could have been with everyone else performing to Hardwicke's fine standards.

The script is episodic and badly paced. The duologue is so forgettable, it might as well have been a silent movie with "matinee cards". Nonetheless, one cannot help but marvel at the gorgeous production values of this superb use of Technicolor, miniatures and costumes. In fact, the beast way to see "Caribbean" is silent, with some really good orchestral music off YouTube. The plot is so predictable and obvious, you wouldn't miss the duologue and you would be spared a musical score more appropriate for a 20s silent film. You'd also miss repeated use of the "N" word, which has become so derogatory, schools have tried to censor it from Mark Twain.

Nonetheless, on the strength of Hardwicke's performance and aforementioned production values, I give "Caribbean" a "6".

Rival pirate captains battle for control of a treasure-filled island stronghold that rules the Spanish Main in this swashbuckling adventure set in the 1870's.

Pirate Francis Barclay, a former member of the British Admiralty, who was captured and sold into slavery by Andrew McAllister, and forced into piracy captures adventurer Dick Lindsay in the Caribbean but pledges to free him if he'll infiltrate the island stronghold of Andrew MacAllister, who betrayed Barclay long ago and stole his baby daughter, Christine.

John Payne is excellent as Dick Lindsay who is used as a pawn by Cedric Hardwick's character who is very effective - he's very cold and bitter. Revenge is on his mind. Francis L. Sullivan as MacAllister is his nemesis and he's far from being a nice chap. He owns slaves, treats them like crap and is generally an ogre. Arlene Dahl plays MacAllister's "daughter" and she's effective in her role, coming across as a vulnerable person groomed into being heartless by her environment. I. E. Her tyrannical father. Of course, we got Payne to change her ways. Predictably, a romance ensues.

Caribbean is a very good pirate film, just don't expect it to be a swashbuckler like Errol Flynn's work - it has more characterisation, mood and drama with a modicum of action. There's an exciting knife fight and marauding attack at the end.