The Sea Hawk Streaming
Samedi, avril 17th, 2010 |
The Sea Hawk Streaming.
Movie Title: The Sea Hawk The Sea Hawk is available for streaming or downloading. |
The Sea Hawk is, perhaps, my favorite Errol Flynn film, with it’s rousing sea battles, incredible swordplay, chaste romance, and political intrigue, as well as a brilliant Korngold score, and Michael Curtis’ sharp direction. As a video, it has had almost as circuitous a journey as Captain Thorpe had, returning to England from Panama!
When CBS/Fox first released the film to VHS, in the 80’s, the only existing prints had been edited, both for theatrical rereleases in the late 40s, and for television. This was the ‘accepted’ version of the film, even though it was widely known that The Sea Hawk was several minutes longer back in 1940.
Then, a copy of the ORIGINAL print was found, in England, and CBS/Fox quickly repackaged it, and released it as UNCUT. This is the version we see today, right down to the ‘British Board of Censors’ Approval, at the start of the film. The best known additions to the film were Queen Elizabeth’s stirring speech (written as a slap at the Nazis); a brief, almost leering scene, as Thorpe prepares to have a lovers’ rendevous; and, most importantly, a sepia-tinted version of the Panama scenes, that captures the sweltering heat of the jungle!
The additions make The Sea Hawk even MORE enjoyable for both film buffs and Flynn fans! If you haven’t seen it, yet, you’re in for a treat!
This is the sort of romantic adventure that Hollywood doesn’t make much anymore–the sort of movie that has been superseded, lamentably, by the speical effects-laden action movies of today. “The Sea Hawk” is one of the finest of the genre.
In one of his finest performances, Errol Flynn is Captain Geoffrey Thorpe, an English privateer modeled after Sir Francis Drake. War looms between Elizabethan England and Spain. We meet Captain Thorpe when he captures a Spanish ship carrying the new Ambassador, Don Alvarez, and his half-English niece, Donna Maria (played by a radiant Brenda Marshall). As Thorpe conveys the ambassador to England, sparks fly between him and Donna Maria, of the sort that let us know that they’re made for each other.
At Queen Elizabeth’s court, Thorpe’s fellow “sea hawks” press the queen to build up a fleet, while her counselor Lord Wolfingham opposes them. Thorpe, with the queen’s completely unofficial sanction, plans a blow against the Spanish, while his romance with Maria blossoms. But wait, why is Lord Wolfingham spending all that time with the Spanish Ambassador…
Besides Flynn and Marshall, the film boasts standout performances from Flora Robson as Queen Elizabeth, Claude Rains as Don Alvarez (surprisingly sympathetic towards his niece and her love for Thorpe), and Henry Daniell as the sinister, well-named Wolfingham. Farther down the cast you have solid performances from the likes of Alan Hale, Una O’Connor and Donald Crisp.
The jewel in “The Sea Hawk’s” crown is Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s score. Korngold was the John Williams of his day, the master of the rich orchestral film score. Why he didn’t win an Oscar for this, his finest score of all, is one of Hollywood’s many mysteries.
But of course, so is the question of why Hollywood doesn’t make movies like this anymore.
homes for sale nc | nc real estate | durham 27703 nc homes for sale
Watch NBA Basketball Games Online | Watch NBA Playoffs Online Live
Watch NBA Basketball Games Online | Watch NBA Playoffs Online Live