Captain Blood (1935)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Rafael Sabatini (novel)
Casey Robinson (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 December 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

THE MOST MAGNIFICENT & THRILLING SEA ADVENTURE EVER FILMED (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

An enslaved English doctor and his comrades in chains escape and become pirates of the Robin Hood variety.

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Pirate | Swashbuckler | Slavery | Caribbean

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars.

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	Peter Blood
Olivia de Havilland	...	Arabella Bishop
Lionel Atwill	...	Col. Bishop
Basil Rathbone	...	Levasseur
Ross Alexander	...	Jeremy Pitt
Guy Kibbee	...	Hagthorpe
Henry Stephenson	...	Lord Willoughby
Robert Barrat	...	Wolverstone
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Dr. Bronson
Donald Meek	...	Dr. Whacker
Jessie Ralph	...	Mrs. Barlow
Forrester Harvey	...	Honesty Nuttall
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	Rev. Ogle
Holmes Herbert	...	Capt. Gardner
David Torrence	...	Andrew Baynes
J. Carrol Naish	...	Cahusac (as J. Carroll Naish)
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Don Diego
George Hassell	...	Governor Steed
Harry Cording	...	Kent
Leonard Mudie	...	Baron Jeffreys
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Prosecutor (as Ivan Simpson)
Stuart Casey	...	Capt. Hobart
David Cavendish	...	Lord Gildoy (as Dennis D. Auburn)
Mary Forbes	...	Mrs. Steed
E.E. Clive	...	Clerk of the Court
Colin Kenny	...	Lord Chester Dyke
Maude Leslie	...	Mrs. Baynes
Gardner James	...	Slave
Vernon Steele	...	King James
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gene Alsace	...	Oliver Clark - Pirate (uncredited)
Sam Appel	...	Gunner (uncredited)
Reginald Barlow	...	Dixon (uncredited)
Matthew 'Stymie' Beard	...	Governor's Attendant (uncredited)
Wayne Castle	...	One-Legged Pirate (uncredited)
Yola d'Avril	...	Girl in Tavern (uncredited)
Florence Fair	...	Woman with Baby (uncredited)
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Lord Sunderland (uncredited)
Murray Kinnell	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	French Officer (uncredited)
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Sentry (uncredited)
Jim Mason	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Tina Menard	...	Girl in Tavern (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Kansas Moehring	...	Pirate (uncredited)
John Northpole	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Artie Ortego	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Henry Otho	...	David Sampson - Pirate (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	French Officer (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	French Captain (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Cliff Saum	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Tom Steele	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Jim Thorpe	...	Pirate (uncredited)
David Thursby	...	Lookout on English Ship (uncredited)
Renee Torres	...	Girl in Tavern (uncredited)
Blackie Whiteford	...	Pirate (uncredited)
Tom Wilson	...	Pirate (uncredited)
William Yetter Sr.	...	Pirate (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits
Rafael Sabatini		(novel "Captain Blood")
Casey Robinson		(screenplay)

Produced by
Harry Joe Brown	....	producer (uncredited)
Gordon Hollingshead	....	producer (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Erich Wolfgang Korngold		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ernest Haller		(photographed by)
Hal Mohr		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
Anton Grot

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Lueker	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Sherry Shourds	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Robey Cooper	....	props (uncredited)
Harper Goff	....	set designer (uncredited)
John More	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Nathan Levinson	....	sound director (uncredited)
C.A. Riggs	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Fred Jackman	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Iron Eyes Cody	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Steele	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buster Wiles	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William Classen	....	grip (uncredited)
Bob Davis	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
L. De Angelis	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Alan Ladd	....	grip (uncredited)
Mickey Marigold	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Robert Surtees	....	second camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Erich Wolfgang Korngold	....	music arranger
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Ray Heindorf	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Milan Roder	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Milan Roder	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Stanley Logan	....	dialogue director
Fred Applegate	....	continuity (uncredited)
Len Boyd	....	publicist (uncredited)
Fred Cavens	....	fencing master (uncredited)
Hertzel Effensachs	....	marine director (uncredited)
Hertzel Effensachs	....	water safety (uncredited)
Charles Farmer	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Ralph Faulkner	....	fight choreographer (uncredited)
Robert Lord	....	supervisor (uncredited)
Ann Robinson	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Jean Sepulveda	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Bob Splane	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Clarence Wertz	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (A Cosmopolitan Production)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vitaphone Corporation, The (1935) (USA) (theatrical) (as The Vitaphone Corp.)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• ClassicLine (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Television (????) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Western Costume Company  costumes supplied by (uncredited)

Runtime:

119 min | USA:99 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Germany:12 | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Sweden:Btl | New Zealand:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #1552) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:G | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Corona, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

His first major starring role, Errol Flynn was so nervous during the initial shooting that director Michael Curtiz had to re-shoot his early scenes much later into the production, by which time Flynn had gained a level of confidence.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Levasseur's eyes blink after the second wave has passed over his dead body.

Quotes:

Dr. Peter Blood: For those of you who aren't English it means a chance to fight for Captain Blood *and* the loot you find on the French ships!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Captain Blood: A Swashbuckler Is Born (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Fugal Episode from Prometheus

Swashbuckling Triumph for Errol Flynn!

CAPTAIN BLOOD, Warners' 1935 remake of a popular 1924 silent film, is best remembered today as Errol Flynn's springboard to stardom, and the first of a series of classic swashbucklers from the studio. Yet the film was nearly shelved, and it's story is as entertaining as the film.

Intended to attract the same audience that had made MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and TREASURE ISLAND box office hits, the film boasted great production values, a talented director (Michael Curtiz), a musical score from Hollywood's greatest composer (Erich Wolfgang Korngold, although time limitations forced him to borrow heavily from Franz Liszt), the captivating beauty of young Olivia de Havilland (in only her fourth film), and, originally, the respected British actor (and future Oscar winner) Robert Donat as physician-turned-pirate Peter Blood. Donat, however, had chronic health problems (which would, sadly, eventually curtail his film career), and Warners faced a major production starting date with no leading man.

Legend has it that Jack Warner's wife recommended young Errol Flynn (just 26 at the time) for the role; she had described him as the most "gorgeous" man she'd ever seen, and helped convince the studio to bring him from England, where he was doing repertory theater, after several years of hell-raising around the world. His largest American role, to date, had been as a corpse in a Perry Mason B-movie, but his sexual conquests and social life were already becoming legendary, and he and new wife, actress Lili Damita, were constantly promoting the young actor around town. The studio finally decided to take a chance on the untested actor in the lead (budget-wise, picking a low-paid contract player was a smart financial move)...but it initially appeared to be a MAJOR blunder, as Flynn looked tense and amateurish in the dailies. Director Curtiz was unfazed, however, and worked with him, and gradually the actor developed confidence. Word spread around the studio that a charismatic new star was emerging, and the first few days' scenes were scrapped and re-shot. By the end of the hugely favorable test screenings, Warners knew it had finally had a bona-fide sex symbol of their own, who could compete for female audiences against Gable, Cooper, and Cary Grant. Errol Flynn had inherited Douglas Fairbanks' title of premier swashbuckler, and had done it with only one film!

CAPTAIN BLOOD may lack the opulence of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, and the pure adventure value of THE SEA HAWK, but without this pirate saga, and the dynamic star it introduced, the 'Golden Age' of Hollywood may never have seen these subsequent classics reach the screen. CAPTAIN BLOOD has earned a place in film history that cannot be underrated.