Not as flashy or big budget at The Adventures of Robin Hood, but a great little Errol Flynn adventure flick nonetheless. Because seriously -- it's tough to go wrong with pirates.
The low budget (this is mostly sound-stage scenes with a couple of models thrown in) allows the focus to be on the story and actors rather than big action sequences.
Flynn plays Peter Blood, a doctor sentenced to indentured servititude after treating rebel wounded. He's sent to Jamaica, where he makes a lot of speeches about freedom and pisses people off, but is saved from death in the mines by Olivia De Havilland, who plays Arabella, the niece of the cruel Colonel Bishop.
Blood of course falls hard for Arabella, but he'd rather be free than a slave with a sweetie. So he wins freedom of movement and some money by being the only doctor who can treat the ailing governor, and uses those victories to round up a motley crew of escaped slaves and debtors, get a ship and escape to the high sea for a life of piracy.
Of course, he's gonna confront the Spanish threatening the port, reunite with Arabella, save the day and live happily ever after -- it's a 1930s movie, after all.
While I liked that this movie wasn't all swordfighting and chandelier swinging, we could have done with a little more swash being buckled. One longish scene of model ships shooting at one another and one swordfight? That's it??
Still, it's fun, fiesty and good for fans of classic cinema.
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