La fille des boucaniers

As Maureen O'Hara, Rhonda Fleming, or Arlene Dahl, Yvonne de Carlo was the replacement solution after Maria Montez's departure from Universal studios by the late forties. Those actresses were hired for adventure films taking place in exotic settings, jungle, deserts, aboard ships in South seas, fighting against evil natives, seeking treasures. The lost perfume of many audiences childhood, full of fantasy, charm, action and romance. Here Frederic De Cordova the director shows his talent in terms of theatrical scenes, because he came from stage business. So, westerns, crime films or even adventures yarns were not his specialtity, and despite that, he was rather efficient if you watch closely the ones he made; he, the comedy, light hearted dramas he also made. For adventure exotic films, he was certainly not Edward Ludwig, Sidney Salkow or Lewis Foster, the greatest adventure films of the fifties, but you also can appreciate his YANKEE BUCANEER, made one year later, with Jeff Chandler; again a pirates film. This one BUCANEER'S GIRL deserves the watch, no problem. It is fast paced, colourful, action oriented. Enjoy.

Robin Hood-like pirate Baptiste takes only the ships of rich but wicked trader Narbonne. Fun loving Debbie, a passenger from his latest prize, stows away on the pirate ship and falls for the pirate; later, having become a New Orleans entertainer, she meets his alter ego, who's engaged to the governor's daughter.

This is a lighthearted Pirate tale with the usual scuttling ships, cutlass clashing and cannons firing, but that is scaled back a bit with the beautiful Yvonne DeCarlo ( as the title suggests) being the main character, getting involved with pirates and singing. It's pleasant time pass, the plot moves along briskly, Philip Friend as the Robin Hood-like character is charming, his chemistry with DeCarlo is great. Jay C flippen, Elsa Lanchester, seasoned villain Robert Douglas and Henry Daniell also add class to the proceedings.

Very much a vehicle for Yvonne de Carlo, this - and though not terrible, it is still a fairly unremarkable seafaring adventure with far too much singing... Philip Friend is a man with a double life - a sort of maritime "Zorro" who leads a respectable enough life by day but is arch pirate "Baptiste" by night. De Carlo is "Deborah" a Louisiana crooner who falls for him and, despite his existing liaison with "Arlene Villon" (Andrea King) sets out to get her man. There are a couple of fun interventions from Elsa Lanchester and Henry Daniell, but the film really belongs to the ever evil Robert Douglas as ruthless rival "Narbonne" who learns of our secret and sets out to ruin "Baptiste". It's got plenty of cannon-fire, pirate attacks and duels - but is still a poor relation of many of these feisty gal meets sea rogue stories. If you like the genre - and I do - then it passes 80 minutes in colourful, if unoriginal, style.

Handsomely mounted Yvonne De Carlo potboiler from Universal-International, which perfectly showcases a bygone era of bloodthirsty pirates and snooty aristocrats. Phillip Friend secures and flourishes in the dual roles of Captain Kingston and the cutthroat Baptiste. He has just the right amount of swagger and glint in his eye to pull it off. I like how Kingston supports the "Seaman's Fund" with his stolen booty. He is very much like a 19th century version of Robin Hood. But it's all quite unbelievable, really. Can he keep his identity a secret from the elites? Well, Miss De Carlo knows his true identity, and it's "Baptiste/Kingston's job to convince her of his own sincerity and goodwill. As for De Carlo's "Debbie McCoy," she sings three songs (and dances), gets into five scrapes, and exhibits a high degree of skill for escaping dire predicaments. She radiates a keen comedic flair for the broad material. While watching this movie, I developed a feeling that she reminded me of someone else. But I couldn't place the thought until she is caught napping in a shopkeeper's vegetable closet. She chews on a carrot, roles her eyes, and strolls confidently away from the prickly situation involving the storekeeper, his jealous wife, and a constable. And the actress she reminded me of: Lucille Ball. She's that talented here.

Buccaneer's Girl stars Yvonne DeCarlo as a stowaway entertainer and Philip Friend as the pirate who nabs her in a 76 lighthearted minute romp. It's a bit too lighthearted however and after Buccaneer's Girl is over you're scratching your head, wondering what you saw.

Friend it seems is having one long practical joke on Robert Douglas. As a pirate he only robs ships that are sailing with merchant Douglas's cargoes. Friend in is other Clark Kent guise as a privateer commissioned by Douglas to clean out those pirates robbing him takes his profits and puts them to a Seaman's Fund which goes to build merchant ships for all of Douglas's rivals. We're never given a reason why all this started, but the two of them are in heat over French Cajun princess Andrea King. That is until DeCarlo comes into Friend's life and discovers his dual identity.

During the course of the film, Yvonne sings a few songs and gets into a nice chick fight with Andrea King. Not as good as what Marlene Dietrich and Una Merkel had in Destry Rides Again, but it has its moments.

Still it's a below par film all around except when Elsa Lanchester playing the part of a combination finishing school mistress and madam is on screen. Those moments are too few in Buccaneer's Girl.