The Sea Hawk

Director: Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz

Overview

"Kudos must go to Warner Home Video for the transfer they've given to Michael Curtiz's The Sea Hawk (1940); it was one of the handsomest laserdiscs ever issued by MGM/UA back in the late '80s, but this DVD literally runs circles around that set, in terms of clarity, crispness, and brightness, so much so that the laserdisc transfer resembles a worn 16 mm when stacked up against the 2005 digital disc release -- various shots in the opening sea battle are so crisp that they look almost 3-D. The producers have used the slightly extended British edition of the movie, which actually runs 127 and a half minutes and contains the short extension of Flora Robson's final speech, which was only originally seen in the U.K. prints of the film. The transfer, in full-frame (1.33:1), captures the luster of the original release and, also, all of the richness of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score -- the 34 chapters are well selected and downright generous in breaking down the plot. The disc comes with an uneven array of supplements. Leonard Maltin hosts ""Warner Night at The Movies 1940,"" explaining, in notably unsubtle fashion, how The Sea Hawk would have been presented in theaters in the 1940s. That's a lead in to the Errol Flynn Western Virginia City, a newsreel about World War II and the Battle of Britain, the short Alice in Movieland and the punning cartoon Porky's Poor Fish. Much more impressive among the extras is the featurette ""The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action."" Historians Lincoln D. Hurst, Rudy Behlmer, and Robert Osborne discuss the making of the movie and the personalities behind it, most notably Flynn's. Evidently, Flynn was so impressed with Flora Robson and the idea of working with her that he was better prepared for their scenes together than he had been in almost anything he ever did onscreen; Henry Daniell, by contrast, was a superb actor and a great villain, but was totally unable to handle a sword for the climactic fight, which had to be put together using doubles and lots of shadow images. The Sea Hawk trailer is actually derived from the reissue of the film -- in tandem with The Sea Wolf -- for which the original movie was edited down by over 20 minutes. The disc opens automatically to a multi-layered menu that's well-labeled and easy to maneuver around. Overall, it isn't as impressive as the special edition done on The Adventures of Robin Hood, but given the quality of the movie itself, this title is just as essential for one's collection."

Product Details

Release Date:	04/19/2005
UPC:	0012569522923
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:07:00

Special Features

Leonard Maltin hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1940 with: Newsreel, short "Alice in Movieland," cartoon "Porky's Poor Fish," and theatrical trailers; New featurette "The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Errol Flynn	Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe
Flora Robson	Queen Elizabeth
Claude Rains	Don Jose Alvarez de Cordoba
Alan Hale	Carl Pitt
Brenda Marshall	Dona Maria Alvarez de Cordoba
Gilbert Roland	Capt. Lopez
Una O'Connor	Miss Latham
Henry Daniell	Lord Wolfingham
Clyde Cook	Walter Boggs
William Lundigan	Logan
James Stephenson	Abbott
Montagu Love	Phillip
J.M. Kerrigan	Matson
Julien Mitchell	Scott
Donald Crisp	Sir John Burleson
David Bruce	Martin Burke
Frank Wilcox	Martin Barrett, a Galley Slave
Herbert Anderson	Eph Winters,Maids of Honor
Clifford Brooke	William Tuttle
Charles Irwin	Arnold Cross
Edgar Buchanan	Ben Rollins
Ellis Irving	Monty Preston
Francis McDonald	Samuel Kroner
Pedro de Cordoba	Capt. Mendoza
Ian Keith	Peralta
Fritz Leiber	Inquisitor
Halliwell Hobbes	Astronomer
Alec Craig	Chartmaker
Frank Lackteen	Capt. Ortiz
Victor Varconi	Gen. Aguirre
Lester Matthews	Lieutenant
Leonard Mudie	Officer
Robert Warwick	Capt. Frobisher
Harry Cording	Slavemaster
Nestor Paiva	Slavemaster
Frederic Worlock	Darnell
David Thursby	Driver
Michael Harvey	Sea Hawk
Gerald Mohr	Spanish Officer
Leyland Hodgson	Officer
Colin Kenny	Officer
Crauford Kent	Lieutenant
Elizabeth Sifton	Maids of Honor
Jack La Rue	Lieutenant Ortega
Whit Bissell	Gate Guard at Palace Entrance
J.W. Cody	Whipper
Maurice Costello	Man Carrying Spear
Dave Kashner	Whipper
Alan Hale Jr.	Carl Pitt
Guy Anderson [Herbert]	Eph Winters
Guy Bellis	John Hawkins
Michael Martin-Harvey	Sea Hawk
Erich Wolfgang Korngold	Composer

Technical Credits

Howard Koch

Seton I. Miller

Michael Curtiz	Director
Henry Blanke	Producer
Howard Koch	Screenwriter
Seton I. Miller	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Byron Haskin	Special Effects
H.F. Koenekamp	Special Effects
Hal B. Wallis	Producer,Executive Producer
Ned Davenport	Stunts
Francis J. Scheid	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Jack Warner	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Michael Curtiz and Errol Flynn, who had previously teamed up in Captain Blood (1935) and the The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), join forces once again in this full-rigged adventure, one of the best of the swashbuckler genre. Based on a novel by Rafael Sabatini, the film follows the exploits of privateer Sir Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn), aka the Sea Hawk, as he raids Spanish ships to swell the coffers of England, under orders from Queen Elizabeth I (Flora Robson). At 1.7 million dollars, one of the most expensive films to date, this lavish production has just about everything one could ask of a seafaring adventure: swordplay, romance, a dashing hero, a dastardly villain (Claude Rains), beautifully choreographed sea battles, and two nations on the brink of war. Flynn, who could not have been more perfectly cast, is at the peak of his powers as the resourceful, insouciant pirate. He's aided by a huge supporting cast with many of the best character actors of the time, including Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, Gilbert Roland, Henry Daniell, and J.M. Kerrigan. But aside from Flynn, the film's key component is the lustrous score of Erich Korngold, who (along with Bernard Herrmann) was perhaps the finest film composer of the period.