They Died with Their Boots On (1941)

I’m not a fan of historical movies or of biopics and They Died with Their Boots On, a 1941 Warner Brothers release, is both. It’s a movie I was therefore always going to approach with a certain scepticism. I have never understood why anyone would want to make historical movies or biopics that are mostly pure fantasy and I have never understood why anyone would want to watch such movies.

This movie is also a western of sorts and it is very much an epic. That made Raoul Walsh the ideal director. Walsh had directed The Thief of Bagdad for Douglas Fairbanks in 1924 and while Fairbanks was very much the auteur and Walsh’s job was simply to put Fairbanks’ vision on screen it still provided Walsh with invaluable training in handling epic material and huge productions. And Walsh had already directed a western epic, The Big Trail, in 1930. There was no way that Raoul Walsh was going to be intimidated by a project such as They Died with Their Boots On.

And since this is a movie about George Armstrong Custer, one of the most colourful and controversial men in American history, Errol Flynn was a very obvious casting choice indeed. Whatever you think of Custer he was a larger-than-life character and Flynn was most definitely was a larger-than-life figure himself.

It’s a very long movie and it takes us two hours and twenty minutes to get to the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It begins with Custer’s extraordinary career at West Point which is not exaggerated very much. Custer really did have one of the worst disciplinary records in the history of that august institution.

While at West Point he meets Elizabeth Bacon (Olivia de Havilland). They both know they’re destined to get married, which they eventually do.

Custer’s spectacular career in the Civil War (he was a general at the age of 23) gets plenty of attention. Some of this stuff is historical and some is pure fantasy.

Custer fails to adjust to civilian life and starts to fall apart until his wife pulls some strings and gets him put back on the active list. He is to take command of a ragtag bunch of hopeless new recruits. He will build them into the legendary 7th Cavalry. There are battles with the Sioux until Custer and Crazy Horse (Anthony Quinn) decide they both want peace. Custer trusts Crazy Horse and Crazy Horse trusts Custer. They are both right to do so. Custer persuades Crazy Horse that he can trust the US Government as well and should sign a treaty. Trusting the US Government turns out to be a very big mistake.

The US Government is not the only problem. There are also crooked businessmen who want the last remaining lands of the Plains Indians. Every single businessman and politician in this movie is a liar, a cheat and a crook.

This is a movie that is very sympathetic to the Sioux and the other tribes and to Crazy Horse. Custer is the hero and always behave honourably but in the events leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn the movie makes it quite explicit that the US Government were the bad guys.

Custer and Crazy Horse are both brave, honourable decent men but they are helpless in the face of the manipulations of those crooked businessmen and politicians. And so they end up facing each other at the Little Bighorn.

Flynn is magnificent. He plays Custer like a dashing figure from an adventure novel and that is more or less how Custer lived his life. No-one did adventure heroes better than Flynn but here he gets the chance to show that he was quite capable of displaying subtlety and emotional depth as well.

Flynn and Olivia de Havilland always made a great romantic pairing and this film is no exception.

Mention must be made of Sydney Greenstreet’s wonderful turn as the army commander-in-chief Winfield Scott. He’s a joy to watch.

As you’d expect Walsh handles the action scenes with plenty of skill. There is a very real sense of tragedy to this movie. Custer is drawn inexorably to his fate by his thirst for both glory and honour. The movie is of course utter nonsense as history but that’s Hollywood. It’s still wildly entertaining. That sense of tragedy makes this more than just a movie about heroism. Highly recommended.

The DVD release includes a brief TCM featurette on the movie made about twenty years ago so it’s mercifully free of ideological lecturing.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

The 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Eroll Flynn was the second feature film recounting the legendary story of Robin Hood. It was preceded by the 1922 silent Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr (and several earlier short silent films). There have been countless subsequent Robin Hood movies but the 1922 and 1938 versions remain the best. Both are superb movies, with the 1938 version perhaps having a very slight edge (it’s certainly paced better than the 1922 version).

It offers not just Errol Flynn in swashbuckling hero mode but Basil Rathbone in super-villain mode. Plus Claude Rains being sly and sneaky and creepy and underhanded and duplicitous.

There’s not much point in saying too much about the plot. Everyone knows the basics of the story. Good King Richard (Richard Lionheart) has gone off on Crusade, leaving England in the care of a Regent. The king’s untrustworthy brother Prince John (Claude Rains) gets rid of the Regent, declares himself Regent and plans to make himself king. Prince John’s most important ally is the cruel and ruthless Guy of Gisborne (Basil Rathbone).

The people of England are mercilessly exploited by John and his supporters. The Saxons suffer the most under the rule of the Normans. The Saxon nobleman Robin of Locksley (Errol Flynn) is outlawed and assembles a private army in Sherwood Forest. He and Lady Marian (Olivia de Havilland) fall in love. Prince John’s supporters try to capture Robin by tempting him into an archery contest and later Lady Marian is accused of treason for aiding the notorious outlaw.

There are lots of narrow escapes and lots of action. The action sequences are exceptionally well handled.

This movie was shot in Technicolor and it looks lavish and expensive (because it was expensive).

Flynn was at his swashbuckling peak, and while there have been other fine swashbuckling stars no-one has ever quite equalled Flynn in those rôles. He could make a swashbuckling hero come to life. Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains are excellent. I’ve never been a great Olivia de Havilland fan but she’s very good here. The fine supporting cast includes Alan Hale as Little John.

Oddly enough when Warner Brothers first came up with the idea of a Robin Hood movie they had James Cagney in mind for the lead. That fell through and the project was shelved. By the time the idea was revived Captain Blood had made Errol Flynn a huge star and he became the only possible choice.

Shooting the film in Technicolor was a late decision but a very good one. The Adventures of Robin Hood was always going to be a hit but making it in Technicolor ensured that it would be a gigantic hit.

William Keighley was hired to direct. Halfway through shooting he was replaced by Michael Curtiz (who probably should have been chosen in the first place). Curtiz’s arrival meant a change of cinematographers as well, with Sol Polito replacing Tony Gaudio.

The Adventures of Robin Hood is an object lesson in just how good old school effects could look in the late 30s. The matte paintings are superb. The movie is a mix of such effects and plenty of location shooting. The action scenes are inspired.

When you watch it you have to remember that it was until the1922 Fairbanks movie that all the elements that we now think of as comprising the Robin Hood legend were brought together, and in the 1938 version these elements still seemed fresh. Scenes such as the quarter-staff battle between Robin and Little John and the archery contest have been endlessly copied, homaged, referenced and parodied but in 1938 they had not yet become clichés.

The Robin Hood story as we now know it is an amalgam of mediæval ballads, 15th and 16th century embellishments and additions made by 18th and 19th century writers such as Sir Walter Scott (particularly his great novel Ivanhoe). Many of the most familiar elements were not present in the earliest mediæval ballads (Maid Marian was a very late addition and King Richard and Prince John played no part in the early versions of the tale). This 1938 movie assembles all these elements into a very satisfying whole.

Errol Flynn at the top of his game, spectacular visuals and dynamic pacing make The Adventures of Robin Hood one of the great adventure movies, and the definitive Robin Hood movie. Highly recommended.

This movie is very easy to get hold of on both DVD and Blu-Ray.

The Master of Ballantrae (1953)

The Master of Ballantrae is a late Errol Flynn swashbuckler (released in 1953) but it’s worth a look.

Flynn plays Jamie Durie, the Master of Ballantrae. In the 45 Rebellion the Durie family comes up with a clever plan to preserve the title and their estates. Jamie, the elder brother, will join Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender (popularly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie) in his rebellion. His younger brother Henry (Anthony Steel) will remain at home and will remain loyal to King George II. Whether the rebellion succeeds or fails one of the Duries will be on the winning side and the family’s fortune should be secure.

It’s a good deal for Henry. If the rebellion fails he will get to be Master of Ballantrae, which is what he always wanted. He will also get to marry Lady Alison (Beatrice Campbell). He always thought he would be a more suitable husband for her than Jamie.

Jamie Durie is the elder but wilder brother, a man who likes wine, women and gambling. Henry is the dull sensible one. Not surprisingly they’re not overly fond of one another.

The rebellion ends in disaster at Culloden and the English take their revenge on the Scottish rebels. The rebels are now being hunted down. Jamie hopes to escape to France on a smuggling ship along with an equally wild Irishman with whom he has hooked up, Colonel Francis Burke (Roger Livesy). They are betrayed to the English, Jamie blames Henry, there is a fight and somehow Jamie makes it to the ship. But his adventures and his troubles have only just begun.

Jamie has a future as a pirate but Scotland is always in his thoughts. He dreams of returning to reclaim his inheritance, and to reclaim Lady Alison. But first he must make his fortune, and piracy is a competitive business.

Returning to Scotland would be a dangerous thing to do. Which of course is unlikely to stop Jamie.

The years (or rather his debauched lifestyle) were starting to take their toll on Errol Flynn but he still has star quality and he can still play the swashbuckling hero. And he’s obviously well suited to playing an irresponsible but loveable rogue (being an irresponsible but loveable rogue himself). He looks dissipated but Jamie is a character who should look dissipated.

Roger Livesy gives a lively performance. Anthony Steel is suitably dour as the respectable responsible Henry.

There’s no question that the English are the bad guys in this movie. The movie expects the audience to unhesitatingly take the side of the rebels.

This Warner Brothers release was an Anglo-American production, shot in Scotland, England and Italy with a mostly British cast (and some great British character actors like Felix Aylmer). Having Jack Cardiff as the cinematographer certainly helped. Director William Keighley does a fine job as well.

This story of revenge, betrayal and adventure is based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, a man who knew a thing or two about writing tales of adventure. Stevenson is a very underrated writer and The Master of Ballantrae is one of his most celebrated novels. The movie lacks some of the complexity that Stevenson could bring to such a tale and the focus is on the straightforward revenge plot.

The film was shot in Technicolor. The Warner Archive release offers a reasonable transfer.

The Master of Ballantrae isn’t one of the great swashbucklers but like another late Flynn swashbuckler, Adventures of Don Juan, it’s better than you might expect. Flynn isn’t as energetic as he was in his heyday but he has lost none of his charisma and this movie still provides plenty of action and romance. And it looks great with some fine location shooting.

The Master of Ballantrae is an enjoyable ride and it’s recommended.

Adventures of Don Juan (1948)

Adventures of Don Juan (AKA The New Adventures of Don Juan) was not, as is sometimes stated, Errol Flynn’s last swashbuckler. Four years later he would make the pirate swashbuckler Against All Flags. Adventures of Don Juan is however certainly a later Flynn swashbuckler, made at a time when he no longer had quite the same level of energy and zest that he had displayed in the 1930s.

Don Juan de Maraña (Flynn) is a Spanish nobleman living in England. He devotes his life to the pursuit of pleasure and to Don Juan that means the pursuit of women. He enjoys extraordinary success in these endeavours. He also spends a good deal of time avoiding the vengeance of irate husbands. He is aided and abetted by his faithful servant Leporello (Alan Hale). Don Juan has the misfortunate to get himself mixed up in the projected marriage between a very important English lady and an equally important Spanish gentleman. He gets caught in the lady’s bedchamber, which leads to certain misunderstandings. He is sent home to Spain in disgrace.

Queen Margaret of Spain (Viveca Lindfors), is inclined to be merciful. She gives him a job as a fencing instructor. Don Juan, who desires no more than to be allowed to continue his pursuit of pleasure, finds himself unwittingly caught up in intrigues at the Spanish court. The King, Philip III, is a well-meaning mediocrity caught in the middle of a power struggle between his minister the Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas) and the Queen. The Duke wants war with England. Queen Margaret wants peace.

Don Juan takes an immediate dislike to the Duke. On the other hand he takes an immediate liking to the Queen. The attraction is mutual.

Don Juan tries to reform. He tries really hard. It’s just that somehow he keeps ending up in situations that husbands misinterpret. With an enemy at court as powerful as the Duke de Lorca he inevitably finds himself in trouble. In fact he finds himself imprisoned and awaiting execution.

He’s not the only one in trouble. The Duke de Lorca is aiming to make himself the real power in Spain, with the King as a mere figurehead. And Don Juan’s old friend and protector, the Count de Polan, is also in trouble with de Lorca. Don Juan has to get himself and the Count out of trouble but he has an even greater task - he must find a way to save the Queen from the machinations of de Lorca.

It’s a recipe that offers plenty of opportunities for both romance and action. And also for humour. This is a rather witty swashbuckler with a certain tongue-in-cheek flavour.

Perhaps Flynn doesn’t quite have the manic energy he once had but he still has charisma to burn, he still has charm and he was always a much better actor than he was ever given credit for. Here he gives an amused slightly cynical performance with a definite twinkle in his eye. Don Juan is a rogue but in his own perverse way he has a very strong sense of honour. He has the pride of a Spanish nobleman. He dislikes violence which can lead his enemies to underestimate him. He will allow himself to be pushed only so far. He’s also a man who has no illusions about himself. He does not see himself as a hero - it is a rôle forced upon him by fate. Flynn captures the subtleties of the character extremely well. It’s a very fine performance.

Robert Douglas plays de Lorca as a thorough-going villain, cruel and arrogant. He’s a worthy villain for our hero. Viveca Lindfors is fine as the Queen, imperious but human. Alan Hale is of course fun as he was in his many appearances with Flynn. Look out for Raymond Burr in a small part.

Warner Brothers spent plenty of money on this movie (and it did well at the box office). The sets are sumptuous, the costumes are gorgeous. It’s in Technicolor and generally it’s pretty visually impressive. The climactic fight on the staircase is a highlight.

The difficulty with the romance angle is that Don Juan has finally found a woman for whom he would gladly give up his wicked ways but she is a queen. She will have to choose between love and duty, as will Don Juan. It’s a difficulty but it does make this an interesting swashbuckler.

It’s a pity Warner Brothers couldn’t get Michael Curtiz (who helmed Flynn's earlier swashbucklers) as director. Vincent Sherman does a very competent job but he’s not Michael Curtiz.

Adventures of Don Juan has had a number of DVD releases. I caught this film on TCM so I can’t comment on the quality of the DVDs.

Adventures of Don Juan has perhaps more of a bitter-sweet tone (even with just a hint of melancholy at times) but in its own way it’s a fine example of the Errol Flynn swashbuckler, with plenty of action, fun and wit and with a masterly performance by Flynn. Highly recommended.

Kim (1950)

Rousing adventure movies about the British Empire were immensely popular in the 1930s and 40s. Kim was a relatively late entry in this cycle, being released by MGM in 1950. The combination of Kipling and Hollywood must have seemed like a surefire success, as it had been for Gunga Din in 1939. But adapting Kim for the screen was not as simple as it might have sounded as first.

Kim, published in 1901, was KipIing’s masterpiece and it’s a tale of the Great Game, which was the game of espionage played out between Britain and Imperial Russia in the 19th century. This was the first Cold War. That sounds like a great basis for a movie but the novel Kim was a lot more than a spy story. To dismiss Kim as a spy story would be like dismissing War and Peace as a mere war story, or dismissing Crime and Punishment as just a murder mystery. Kipling was a complex and ambitious writer and Kim is a complex and ambitious novel.

The setting is British India. Kim (played by Dean Stockwell) is a young Indian street urchin aged probably around twelve who is also, despite his tender years, a spy working unofficially for the British. Kim is intelligent and cunning and while he’s exasperating he’s also extremely likeable. Kim is actually white and he knows it but he also knows that white orphans get sent to school and that’s a hideous fate that he intends to avoid. Kim is white when it’s worth his while but mostly it’s more advantageous to be Indian. He is infinitely adaptable. These are qualities that allow him to survive on the streets with ease, and they make him an excellent spy. He works for Mahbub Ali (played by Errol Flynn), also known as the Red Beard, who is a British secret agent.

Kim’s friendship with Mahbub Ali is important but he soon develops an even more important friendship, with a holy man (played by Paul Lukas). He becomes the holy man’s disciple. He is a very useful disciple since he is an accomplished beggar, and that happens to be the most important quality required in a holy man’s disciple. Holy men are a dime a dozen in India but Kim comes to believe that his holy man is something special. And the holy man regards Kim as being rather special as well. It is a matter of destiny. It is the destiny of this holy man to search for a holy river and it is destiny that has brought him Kim as a disciple.

Kipling was an unabashed imperialist which automatically makes him anathema to many people today but Kipling was an exceptionally complex and nuanced imperialist. Kipling was a big fan of western civilisation but he was a big fan of eastern civilisation as well. Kim will discover his European heritage but that does not mean he will turn his back on his Indian heritage. And while Kim’s career as a British intelligence agent is important Kipling sees his part in the holy man’s quest as being equally important. Kim is caught between two civilisations but sees no reason why he can’t be part of both. Just as Kipling sees no reason why he should choose one or the other. Kipling’s views are deeply unfashionable but his respect for Indian culture was profound and sincere.

Getting all this into a movie was obviously just about impossible but it makes a very spirited attempt.

It’s helped by some fine acting. Errol Flynn gets top billing but Flynn knows that this time he’s a supporting player. Kim is the central figure and regardless of the billing Dean Stockwell is the star. Whether the movie succeeds or fails depends entirely on Stockwell. He is equal to the task. Kim is a character who is frighteningly precocious and he could easily become irritating but that doesn’t happen. Kim knows more about the world than any child his age should know but rather than making him insufferable it brings him the first glimmerings of wisdom. Stockwell’s performance is extraordinary.

As for Flynn, he gives a rather low-key performance but it works because he’s supposed to be a spy and if spies want to reach old age they learn that there’s something to be said for blending in. And he makes us feel that when it’s necessary Mahbub Ali can be very businesslike and very deadly. This is not the dashing romantic hero Errol Flynn of the 30s but then that’s not not what this rôle requires. What is required is that we should believe he’s an experienced secret agent and he manages that.

Paul Lukas was a Hungarian actor and while he makes a very good holy man he comes across as a Hungarian holy man rather than an Indian one which is very disconcerting!

The problem with this movie is that even if you concentrate on the spy story elements this is a rather involved story and it’s going to end up being a fairly lengthy movie (in fact it runs for 113 minutes) and it’s not going to be a non-stop action movie. It’s just not a non-stop action story. There’s also the added difficulty that there’s no romance angle at all, and there’s no way such an angle could have been introduced.

Yet another difficulty this movie faces is that it assumes you have at least a vague knowledge of the period and of the Great Game, and that you’re familiar with the hysterical Russophobia of the period.

To appreciate this movie I really think you need to have read KipIing’s novel. If you have read the novel you’ll find that this is a more successful adaptation than you might have expected. Recommended, but with the caveats already alluded to.

The Sea Hawk (1940)

The Sea Hawk is deservedly one of Errol Flynn’s most famous swashbucklers. Made by Warner Brothers in 1940 it should be noted that it is not a remake of the 1924 silent film of the same name, although both deal with pirates and the 1924 movie is a classic swashbuckler in its own right. But it’s the much better-known 1940 version we’re concerned with.

Flynn was already a huge star and putting him in another pirate adventure movie was always going to be a smart move. And getting Michael Curtiz on board, Curtiz having directed Flynn in his 1935 smash hit Captain Blood and in several other action adventure films, was another shrewd move. Curtiz certainly knew how to do this kind of movie supremely well.

This movie hits the ground running and the pace never slackens. It opens with a superb extended sea fight in which a Spanish galleass is caught and boarded by the English ship The Albatross. All we know about Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn) at this stage is that he is obviously the captain of The Albatross. And this extended action sequence tells us all we need to know about him without the necessity for any tedious introductory scenes. Thorpe is clearly a brilliant seaman and a born leader, he has the unquestioned respect of his crew, and while he can be ruthless he can be chivalrous as well. And when he encounters the beautiful Spanish lady Doña Maria (Brenda Marshall), who had been travelling to England on the galleass Thorpe has just captured, we learn that while Thorpe is fearless in the face of danger he is somewhat helpless when faced by a pretty woman.

This opening sequence also introduces us to Don José Alvarez de Cordoba (Claude Rains), the newly appointed Spanish ambassador to England, who is also now an unwilling passenger on board The Albatross. But Doña Maria and Don José are certainly not prisoners. Thorpe might be a pirate but he’s a gentleman and he intends to convey his Spanish guests safely to England, which is where they were headed anyway.

Technically Thorpe is not actually a pirate. He is a privateer, a privateer being a private citizen licensed by his government to prey on the shipping of that government’s enemies. Although given that England and Spain are not actually at war, not yet anyway, the legal status of the English privateers who plundered Spanish shipping in the late 16th century was somewhat ambiguous. Queen Elizabeth is aware that this is a dangerous game she is playing but she needs the considerable income she derives from the privateers to augment her rather inadequate treasury.

This dangerous game is about to become more dangerous still when the queen, unofficially, authorises Thorpe to conduct a daring raid on a Spanish treasure shipment crossing the isthmus of Panama. This raid will have fateful consequences for Captain Thorpe and his men but will also indirectly put Thorpe in a position to render his Queen his most valuable service yet.

There is enough action in this movie to satisfy anyone but there is also a good deal of intrigue, with nefarious Spanish plots and treason and intricate power struggles within Elizabeth’s court between pro- and anti-Spanish factions. There is also of course a romantic sub-plot, with a love affair between Thorpe and Doña Maria.

This romance is the movie’s one weak link, with Brenda Marshall as Doña Maria being rather too bland to be a completely convincing object of the affections of a sea hawk like Geoffrey Thorpe.

Having said that, Curtiz manages to integrate the romance and the political machinations into the main action plot with considerable skill, and without the pacing of the movie ever threatening to drag. Curtiz really keeps things moving along.

Flynn was at the height of his powers and he’s a superb action hero. Thorpe is a man who leads men through sheer charisma and if there’s one quality Flynn possessed in abundance it was charisma. Flynn radiates vitality. Even when he isn’t doing anything he always seems like he’s just about to spring into action.

Flora Robson’s performance as Queen Elizabeth is one of the more interesting features of this movie. This is a very different interpretation compared to the way other actresses have approached this role. This is a softer, more feminine Elizabeth, at times playful, often coquettish, often humorous. And at times perhaps a little uncertain. England was in a very dangerous situation in the 1580s and on occasion she seems just a little unsure how far she can push her luck. But Robson still convinces us that this is a monarch capable of ruling when necessary, and capable of demanding, and getting, obedience. She simply prefers to lead by persuasion rather than force. Whether it’s a historically accurate performance or not is a moot question but it’s certainly a refreshingly different performance.

Claude Rains was a fine actor but inclined to overact if not kept on a short leash. And Curtiz seems to have realised this, getting a very effective performance from him by restraining the actor’s tendency to overdo things. I’m inclined to give Curtiz the credit for this since he got a similarly restrained, and equally effective, performance from Rains a couple of years later in Casablanca. The supporting cast is excellent with Alan Hale being particularly good (and also more restrained than usual) as Thorpe’s faithful first mate.

Michael Curtiz is often seen as the antithesis of the auteur film-maker, a director who was exceptionally competent but without having any real personal style. Which is more or less true. Curtiz tended to allow the subject matter to dictate the style of his movies rather than trying to impose a personal style. One thing that is not in doubt though is that he was a remarkably effective director. Watching a movie like The Sea Hawk it’s obvious that Curtiz was no mere hack. The movie has too much energy, too much vitality, too much sparkle, to be the work of a hack. The action scenes in particular are magnificent. There’s also one very ambitious shot looking down onto the deck of Thorpe’s ship, just to prove that Curtiz was quite capable of inspiration when needed. The significant thing about this shot is that it serves a purpose, it’s not just done to show us what a clever chap the director is. The use of tinting in the Panama scenes is an unusual feature for a 1940 movie but it works quite well.

The Sea Hawk is sheer unadulterated fun from start to finish, a dazzling example of how to an action adventure movie the right way. Very highly recommended.