Against All Flags (1952)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

George Sherman

Writers:

Æneas MacKenzie (story)
Æneas MacKenzie (writer) ...

Release Date:

6 February 1953 (Belgium)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

He Ravished The Pirate Port Of Madagascar To Steal The Love Of Its Corsair Queen!

Plot:

Brian Hawke of the Royal Navy versus the pirates of Madagascar.

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Captain | 1700s | Prisoner | Navy

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	Brian Hawke
Maureen O'Hara	...	Prudence 'Spitfire' Stevens
Anthony Quinn	...	Capt. Roc Brasiliano
Alice Kelley	...	Princess Patma
Mildred Natwick	...	Molvina MacGregor
Robert Warwick	...	Capt. Kidd
Harry Cording	...	Gow
John Alderson	...	Jonathan Harris
Phil Tully	...	Jones
Lester Matthews	...	Sir Cloudsley
Tudor Owen	...	Williams
Maurice Marsac	...	Capt. Moisson
James Craven	...	Capt. Hornsby
James Fairfax	...	Cruikshank - Barber

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG (re-rating) (2006) | UK:U (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

Though Errol Flynn did most of his own stunts, he balked at the one involving sliding down through a sail on a rapier blade, which was originated by Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate (1926). The stunt was performed by a double.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the last battle aboard the ship Hawke climbs one of the masts. The crow's nest at the top has a modern looking wire mesh guard around it, instead of the rope netting one would expect in an 18th century vessel.

Quotes:

Captain Moisson: I deeply regret the necessity for this flogging.
Brian Hawke: Thank you, sir. I don't think the flogger needed to have carried it out with such gusto.
Captain Moisson: You requested the customary lashing.
Brian Hawke: I know, sir. Of course, you could have done me the favor of denying it. I swear he took a particular pleasure in having an officer under his cat.
Captain Moisson: Should you fail, you'll look back on flogger Flower's lashing as a pleasant afternoon's pastime.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The King's Pirate (1967)

Flynn's Universal Swashbuckler Fun, if Minor...

AGAINST ALL FLAGS, Universal's 'take' on the WB swashbucklers of the previous decade, utilized the services of the quintessential Warner buccaneer, himself, Errol Flynn, in the lead. While he was no longer the devil-may-care young matinee idol he'd once been, the actor, finishing up his WB contract, negotiated a 'percentage of the gross' deal to make the film, and with a potential big payday as incentive, Flynn would show more energy and enthusiasm than in THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE (which would be released a year later, and would be his last WB swashbuckler).

As Brian Hawke, a British naval officer 'undercover' to destroy the batteries of a pirate island stronghold, Flynn looks far older and more jaded than in his halcyon days (when his commander refers to him as 'young', you can almost see both actors wince), but his rakish smile is still present, and his dialog is ripe with the sexual innuendo audiences had come to expect from a Flynn film (to female pirate Maureen O'Hara, he says, with tongue in cheek, "I'd looked forward to serving under you, ma'am"...). Posing as disgraced and discharged, his obvious refinement draws the suspicion of ruthless pirate captain Anthony Quinn, but stirs the long-suppressed sexual yearnings in O'Hara, whose father had built the artillery emplacements. Discovering that the plans are located in O'Hara's bedchamber, Flynn goes to work on her, combining his mission with his infamous off-screen reputation for seduction, in a funny scene that both actors play to the hilt.

Placed under Quinn's command, Flynn participates in the capture of a galleon, then discovers that the 'cargo' is a virginal Indian princess (Alice Kelley), who'd never been close to a man before, other than her father. Having Errol Flynn as a 'first' provides another point of humor, as, after he gives her a platonic kiss, she nearly swoons, and begins incessantly begging, "AGAIN!" (A chant O'Hara would take up, as the film's final line).

There is the 'mandatory' discovery of Flynn's true identity, O'Hara's betrayal to rescue him, and O'Hara and Kelly both held as hostage aboard Quinn's ship, leading up, of course, to a 'by-the-numbers' final swordfight between Flynn and Quinn. Unfortunately, in filming the final duel, Flynn fell, breaking his leg, and the production was halted until the aging actor could heal (Universal, ever conscious of budget, filmed YANKEE BUCCANEER, with Jeff Chandler, on the Flynn sets, as he recuperated).

The shooting was, overall, a pleasant experience for Flynn, at a time when the WB had relegated him to 'B' pictures, and he advertised AGAINST ALL FLAGS in theatrical trailers as one of his favorite films. While it wasn't the hit he had hoped for, it did do well enough that the WB would 'green light' THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE, to be made in England. (Universal would remake AGAINST ALL FLAGS, 15 years later, as THE KING'S PIRATE, with Doug McClure in Flynn's role.)

Financial difficulties would soon force Errol Flynn to leave the United States, and the pirate yarn would be his last film shot in America for five years.

A new stage of his rollercoaster career was about to begin...