Capitaine Scarlett

Captain Scarlett is a very entertaining and enjoyable swashbuckler, I was shocked to see the low ratings (4.7/10!) as I thought it great fun.

Richard Greene is perfect as the fast talking Captain Scarlett, with an equally quick blade along with the lesser known Leonora Amar as Princess Maria (the love interest) and Nedrick Young as Pierre DuCloux (the sidekick), they both do good jobs in their roles and have good chemistry with Greene.

The plot's the usual swashbuckler standard, although there are a few interesting points such as subverting the damsel in distress trope with Princess Maria initially rejecting Captain Scarlett's less than subtle advances, and he even teaches her to swordfight remarking that "I've always wondered why Princesses weren't taught something useful like duelling". Excitingly a lot of the film is action based with many swordfights and it's only 75 minutes long so little time to get bored, whilst the swordfighting isn't as good as Errol Flynn or the like it's still well choregraphed with good sound effects, and more to the point is entertaining.

7/10: A good swashbuckler, I suggest finding the colourised version. A joy for Richard Greene fans

"Following the defeat of Napoleon, France was in a state of unrest. Many of the Royalists who had fled to England returned to exact vengeance for their real and fancied wrongs. Some turned the situation to their personal advantage...becoming Tyrants and Petty Dictators...."

Set in France but filmed in Mexico, Captain Scarlett is a hum-drum swashbuckler short on thrills, spills and originality of story. Richard Greene stars as the titular Scarlett, who sets about righting wrongs as he gathers supporters and catches the eyes of the babes. It's a sort of low rent Robin Hood, the Gallic version, Greene is dandy as usual, the costuming pleasing and with it running at just 75 minutes it moves along fast enough and doesn't outstay its welcome. But it's all pretty stale and way down on the list of swashbucklers to see before you die. 4/10

This has very little to do with history, or real life at any period, but it is fast-moving and colourful and I enjoyed the snappy script:

"You are insolent."

"Only to people I don't like."

Richard Greene, who played Robin Hood in the British TV series in the '50s, is playing almost the same role, in a costume from somewhere around 1800, with a sword instead of a longbow. Assurance counts for a lot, especially for a hero, and he is surrounded by presumably Mexican actors(They all have Spanish-sounding names, but the film was made in the US.) as monks, dancers, feisty heroines and lovable rogues, who know what is expected of them as well as he does. If being a travesty of history stopped a work from being enjoyed and appreciated, a lot of Shakespeare would have to be thrown out. This one is far from being Shakespeare, but it certainly is fun.

This is a film best viewed on Saturday mornings, right after the cartoons. It works best as a comedy for children. Follows similar themes in other movies. The acting is not convincing, it appears the actors are just doing it for laughs.

Set in France in the years following the fall of Napoleon, Captain Scarlett seems to have been very much inspired by the legends of Robin Hood and Zorro. Captain Scarlett (Greene) returns to France to discover that his lands have been seized by an unscrupulous nobleman. After saving Princess Maria (Amar) and being joined by a man named Pierre (Young) who has also lost his lands, the group proceeds on a series of adventures in the fight for justice.

Sadly, "Captain Scarlett" is a highly flawed film. Its villains are incompetent bumblers, the music score is often out of place, the fight scenes often poorly done, and acting generally weak. Some scenes shot on soundstages are particularly poorly done. Overall, the film is mediocre at best. Nevertheless, die hard fans of classic adventure films and swashbucklers might want to give this one a chance. Be warned, however, that "Captain Scarlett" has the feel of a comic book and that plausibility is largely lacking.