Fortunes of Captain Blood

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Fortunes of Captain Blood
Fortunes of Captain Blood FilmPoster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Screenplay by
Based on Captain Blood, His Odyssey
1922 novel
by Rafael Sabatini
Produced by Harry Joe Brown
Starring Louis Hayward
Cinematography George E. Diskant
Edited by Gene Havlick
Music by Paul Sawtell
Production
company
Columbia Pictures
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • May 14, 1950 (1950-05-14)(Los Angeles) [1]
  • June 9, 1950 (1950-06-09)(New York) [2]
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Fortunes of Captain Blood is a 1950 Columbia Pictures pirate film directed by Gordon Douglas. [3] It is based on the character of Captain Blood as depicted in the original 1922 novel and subsequent collections of stories written by Rafael Sabatini. The film spawned a sequel with the same cast and crew two years later entitled Captain Pirate .

Contents

Plot

Dr. Peter Blood is arrested and sentenced to slavery for his treatment of a wounded rebel during the Monmouth Rebellion. With a group of fellow prisoners, he escapes and becomes a feared buccaneer on the high seas. King Charles II of Spain summons the Marquis de Riconete, the governor of Rio de La Hacha, to capture Captain Blood and end his attacks upon Spanish ships.

Blood is safe until he tries to resupply his ship. When a party of his men go ashore, they are betrayed by their supplier and captured by the human trafficker George Fairfax, who sells them to the marquis. After restocking and rearming at Tortuga, Blood secretly returns to La Hacha disguised as a fruit seller to find and rescue his loyal crew, who even while being tortured by the marquis, have refused to reveal the location of their captain. During his search, he befriends Pepita Rosados, a beautiful flirt who reveals to Blood that many of Fairfax's prisoners are dying. Blood then confronts Fairfax about the deplorable situation and finds that Fairfax is having troubles with Isabelita Sotomayor, the niece of the marquis. The marquis then decides to arrest Fairfax for his supposed involvement with Blood, so his troops secretly follow Isabelita to his house. She pleads with Fairfax to alleviate her boredom with the island, offering him money to carry her to Spain. After their discussion, the troops enter and a fight ensues.

Still disguised as a fruit seller, Blood treats the wounded Fairfax in a nearby tavern and offers Isabelita passage to Spain if she will convince her uncle to pardon Fairfax. She agrees, and using his newfound insider information, Blood discovers the seal of the marquis. He mistakes the forgery and, after revealing his mistaken note to the prison guard, a battle ensues. Blood and his men escape, but the marquis is unwilling to abandon his search.

Isabelita is shocked to discover that her uncle plans to torture the local tavern owner to find the captain, so she reveals Blood's location, thinking that he has already set sail. The incoming tide has prevented Blood's escape, and the marquis confronts him at sea. A fiery battle ensues, with the flaming ship of the marquis trying to ram Captain Blood. Blood and his crew manage to destroy the vessel before the flames reach them. After the pirates' victory, Blood sails away and Isabelita vows to stay on the island and create a new government without slave labor.

Cast

Production

The film is based on the book The Fortunes of Captain Blood, a collection of six stories by Rafael Sabatini published in 1936, the year after the release of the 1935 film Captain Blood , starring Errol Flynn. [4]

In July 1949, Columbia Pictures announced the film project, to be produced by Harry Joe Brown. [5] Louis Hayward was linked to the project that same month. [6]

Filming was intended to start on October 1, 1949, with H. Bruce Humberstone as director, [7] but production was delayed. [8] On October 21, Gordon Douglas replaced Humberstone, [9] and filming began in November. [10]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Thomas M. Pryor wrote: "The Columbia Pictures people should hang their heads in shame for having made such a listless picture out of the Rafael Sabatini yarn, 'Fortunes of daptain Blood.' Even with Louis Hayward. that eminent swordsman, flashing a keen blade as he runs through a whole troop of his Spanish Majesty's guard, the new film ... just barely manages to stagger along. Such inertia is unpardonable in a script compounded of piracy, intrigue, romance, torture and a crusade for social justice." [2]

The Los Angeles Times wrote: "To the delight of small boys, some big ones, and maybe a lot of gals, too, there's not a moment when Capt. Blood is really safe in 'Fortunes of Captain Blood' ... Indeed, so fast is the action that if one so much as reaches down lo loosen one's shoe, a thread of the plot goes snap." [1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Hayward in Pirate Tale". Los Angeles Times . 1950-05-15. p. 6, Part III.
  2. 1 2 Pryor, Thomas M. (1950-06-10). "The Screen: Quartet of Newcomers Arrives". The New York Times . p. 11.
  3. ↑ "Fortunes of Captain Blood". Monthly Film Bulletin . Vol. 17, no. 193. 1950-01-01. p. 104.
  4. ↑ Sherman, Beatrice (1936-11-15). "Captain Blood Returns". The New York Times . p. 35, Book Review.
  5. ↑ "Movieland Briefs". Los Angeles Times . 1949-07-26. p. 14.
  6. ↑ Brady, Thomas F. (1949-07-26). "Bette Davis Seeks to Leave Warners". The New York Times . p. 31.
  7. ↑ Brady, Thomas F. (1949-10-06). "Dolores Del Rio Sought by Metro". The New York Times . p. 40.
  8. ↑ Brady, Thomas F. (1949-08-04). "Montalban in Lead of Metro Mystery". The New York Times . p. 19.
  9. ↑ "Stevenson Novel Coming to Screen". The New York Times . 1949-10-22. p. 11.
  10. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (1949-11-01). "Jane Greer Gets Wish for Comedy; Patricia Medina Signs for 'Blood'". Los Angeles Times . p. 21.
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