Talk about taking one long chance. The original star of Captain Blood was to be Robert Donat. But health reasons as they did often in Donat's career prevented him from doing this film. So Jack Warner gave the lead in this film to a contract player who had done a couple of bit parts in some B films and had done a lead in an Australian production of the Mutiny on the Bounty story.

Jack Warner not only created a star in Errol Flynn, but also created a new screen team in co-starring him with Olivia DeHavilland who hadn't done that much herself at Warner Brothers up to that time. Individually and together they were a vibrant and charismatic screen team and did eight films for the Brothers Warner.

They were so successful that they resented the typecasting. DeHavilland fought against it far more successfully than Flynn did. As legend has come down to us, Errol Flynn had other pursuits.

The story is that Doctor Peter Blood made a house call on a wounded rebel during the Monmouth rebellion in 1685 against James II. That house call got him a one way ticket to slavery on the island of Jamaica along with many other of the rebels. Olivia DeHavilland the niece of Lionel Atwill, the wealthiest man on Jamaica buys Flynn on a whim. An attack by Spanish pirates offers an opportunity for escape and Flynn and the rest of the rebels become pirates themselves.

Jack Warner provided his two unknowns with a good cast of supporting players. Basil Rathbone as Levasseur, Flynn's pirate rival, crew members Ross Alexander, Guy Kibbee, and Frank McGlyn, Sr., Henry Stephenson as the sympathetic Lord Willoughby, but most of all Lionel Atwill.

Atwill played many a screen villain, but I'm not sure he was ever better as the pompous blundering oaf Colonel Bishop. My favorite scene in Captain Blood has always been when after Flynn routs the Spanish pirate attack on Port Royal by seizing the pirate ship. When Atwill comes on board to thank those who turned the tables on the pirates he gets quite a reception. The dialog in this scene and the final result of this oaf being tossed into the harbor is priceless.

Love and romance, pirate battles, and a dueling scene between Flynn and Rathbone that was only topped by Rathbone and Flynn again in Robin Hood. It's all here and all for your entertainment for generations to come.

This film, along with The Adventures of Robinhood, is probably the best Flynn film--and what an auspicious first starring performance! Flynn did star as Fletcher Christian in an Australian film ("In the Wake of the Bounty"),but it was more a documentary and NOT of the quality to allow it to be shown much of anywhere (it's BAD--trust me). It's rather ironic, if you think about it, because the same year Captain Blood debuted, the movie Mutiny on the Bounty (the American version with Clark Gable--not the crappy Australian one) debuted as well. Of the two films from 1935, I think I prefer Captain Blood, though Mutiny was the one that did well at the Oscars.

By the way, try to find an old copy of the Raphael Sabatini novel Captain Blood. The movie was based on it and the general spirit of the two is the same, though of course much was omitted from the movie. There are also two follow-up novels from Sabatini--rare as hen's teeth to find--just like Flynn's Australian debut film.

"Come, feel the wind that fills the sails that carry us all to freedom!"

Above is one of the most memorable quotes of this marvellous, rip-roaring swashbuckling adventure. Captain Blood may be a little overlong, and by today's standards there are times when the story does creak, but it is still very entertaining. The film looks wonderful, with lavish cinematography, settings and costumes, and the score courtesy of the great Erick Korngold is superb, rousing and bombastic. The action sequences are extraordinarily vivid and the ships move with consummate ease. The script is witty, likable and fresh, and the direction is solid.

And I had little problem with the acting. I have read that Errol Flynn isn't considered as much of an actor, maybe so. Personally, I like him a lot, he has here a devil-may-care arrogance that is quite fitting, and he has always struck me as very likable, handsome and athletic. While I felt he gave the better performance in The Adventures of Robin Hood, and I consider it a better film to this too, he still charms in his first leading role. Olivia DeHavilland is the epitome of beauty, while the wonderful Basil Rathbone is a sheer delight as the haughty and charismatic Levasseur. Overall, not perfect but definitely worth watching for any fans of swashbucklers and Flynn. 8/10 Bethany Cox