[7]

In this romantic, seafaring adventure from director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), Errol Flynn swashbuckles as a pirate hired by Queen Elizabeth I to thwart the Spanish armada. The Sea Hawk rises above Saturday matinee standards by integrating a healthy dose of political intrigue and cinematic panache. Flynn is terrific as usual, but there are also memorable performances by Flora Robson as Queen Elizabeth and Henry Daniell as the traitorous Lord Wolfingham. I didn’t care for the stock romance with Brenda Marshall, but it’s not any more trite than the tacked-on love stories in other matinee flicks. The music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold is among the finest from film’s Golden Age. My favorite moment is watching Flynn fend off not one, not two, not three, but four conquistadores in a frenzy of swooshing sword play while Korngold goes into his most triumphant redition of the main theme. It’s movies like this that created the standards for years to come. With Claude Rains.

Oscar Nominations: Art Direction, Special Effects, Score, Sound