Captain Blood [DVD][1935]

I don’t know whether to give this 4 stars or five. I’ll start with the negatives. The Warner ‘Night at the Movies’ isn’t Warner, the news real was made by M.G.M. I haven’t seen the cartoon but didn’t find the short staring Candice Bergen’s dad and a ventriloquist dummy very funny. As to the film itself, it hasn’t been digitally restored, and my copy had some vertical lines in the parts where the used stock footage of sailing ships. That said, both the picture and sound quality are pretty good. As to the film itself, it is a rip roaring romp. Curtiz handles the action sequences really well and the battle sequence at the end of the film is exciting to watch. Errol Flynn lights up the screen and Olivia De Havilland is just gorgeous. I can’t make up my mind whether to tell you not to think too hard about the story and just be swept along by the adventure or not. If you don’t want to read about the holes in the story, stop reading now.Still with me? Right, here we go. How come Blood, who is a doctor knows how to captain a ship? There is nothing in the story to suggest he had any naval experience. Secondly, why ship condemned prisoners to the Caribbean? Surely it would have been much cheaper to just hang them. After all, at that time they were shipping thousands of slaves from Africa to work the plantations. Speaking of slaves, when they are being transported, none of them are manacled, they are free to wander around in spacious comfort, unlike the Africans who were packed like sardines and spent the entire journey lying chained to the floor. You can tell however that Flynn’s lot are being mistreated because they asked for water but were nt allowed any. Apart from the poor sods on the crows nests who sway back and forth, there is no sign of ocean swell on the ship and at one point, De Havilland wakes up in a huge cabin in what looks like a king size bed.Don’t let the above put you off. The film is great fun to watch, moves along at a cracking pace and is a film I will return to at a later date. The feature on the birth of the swashbuckler is interesting and informative and I also found it great fun to think about all of the holes in the film’s logic.

I watched this film three times in the space of as many days. There is just something about the old black and white films that the current films just cannot capture. Perhaps its just the acting is much more believable and their was chemistry between these two actors on screen . I can see why film producers wanted them in other films together. This came within the timeframe and was well packaged. Great film.

Good film even though it's black and white

Great copy of a fabulous film from when Hollywood new how to make films

I just can't speak highly enough of Errol Flynn - the film quality is not great; no doubt the original stock was poor and not a lot can be done to make it stand out (unlike Robin Hood, which of course is technicolour). A great adventure yarn, fantastic for a rainy Sunday afternoon, simple bold tale of injustice and eventual triumph over adversity.

What a treat to be able to see this movie again from so long ago. With Errol, Olivia and Basil Rathbone who later came together again in the Robin Hood movie playing the roles we have come to know them by. I'm well pleased with this purchase and would recommend this DVD.

Brilliant film. Not seen it for many years but my buckle was swashed most satisfactorily.

WHAT CAN I SAY, THIS IS ERROL FLYNN AT HIS BEST A TRUE SWASHBUCKLER FIGHTING IN JUSTICE INTHE CARRIBEAN, I ALWAYS LOVED ERROL'S EARLY FILMS SUCH AS THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD AND THE SEA HAWKE SO I LOVED THIS, AND WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND TO ALL WHO ENJOY THE MAGIC OF ERROL FLYNN AT HIS BEST.