Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1950
Fortunes of Captain Blood
Buy Fortunes of Captain Blood now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Fortunes of Captain Blood' is a 1950 pirate film directed by Gordon Douglas.FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD
Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 17, Iss. 193, (Jan 1, 1950): 104. Based on the famous Captain Blood depicted in the original 1922 novel and subsequent collections of stories written by Rafael Sabatini, 'Fortunes' was produced by Columbia Pictures as yet another remake about the notorious swashbuckler.
The film is complete with daring sword fights, sensational sea battles, intrigue, and a vivacious love interest. It later spawned a sequel from the same cast and crew only two years later entitled 'Captain Pirate'.
Plot
The film follows the standard story about Captain Blood: arrested and sentenced to slavery for his treatment of a wounded rebel during the Monmouth Rebellion, Dr. Peter Blood, with a group of fellow slaves, has escaped and become a feared buccaneer on the high seas. King Charles II of Spain calls upon the Marquis de Riconete, the governor of Rio de La Hacha, to capture the elusive Captain Blood and end his attacks upon Spanish ships.
Blood is safe until he tries to resupply his ship; when a party of his men go ashore, they are betrayed by their supplier and captured by the slave trader George Fairfax, who sells them to the Marquis. After revictualling and rearming at Tortuga, Blood then secretly returns to La Hacha disguised as a fruit seller to find and rescue his loyal crew, who even while being tortured by the Marquis have refused to reveal the location of their captain. During his search, he befriends Pepita Rosados, a beautiful flirt who reveals to Blood that many of Fairfax's slaves are dying. Blood then confronts Fairfax about the deplorable situation, and finds that Fairfax is having troubles with Isabelita Sotomayor, the niece of the Marquis. The Marquis then decides to arrest Fairfax for his supposed involvement with Blood, so his troops secretly follow Isabelita to his house. She pleads with Fairfax to alleviate her boredom with the island, offering him money to carry her to Spain. After their discussion, the troops enter and a fight ensues.
Still disguised as a fruit seller, Blood treats the wounded Fairfax in a nearby tavern and offers Isabelita passage to Spain if she convinces her uncle to pardon Fairfax. She agrees, and using his newfound insider information Blood discovers the seal of the Marquis. Unfortunately, he mistakes the forgery and after revealing his mistaken note to the prison guard a battle ensues. Blood and his men escape, however the Marquis is not willing to abandon his search.
Isabelita is shocked to discover that her uncle plans to torture the local tavern owner to find the captain, so she reveals Blood's location, thinking he has already set sail. Unfortunately, the incoming tide has prevented his escape, and the Marquis confronts Blood at sea. A fiery battle ensues, with the flaming ship of the Marquis ultimately trying to ram Captain Blood. Luckily, Blood and his crew manage to destroy the vessel before the deadly flames could reach them. After the pirates' victory, Blood sails away and Isabelita vows to stay on the island and create a new government without slavery.
Cast
* Louis Hayward as Capt. Peter Blood
* Patricia Medina as Isabelita Sotomayor
* George Macready as Marquis de Riconete
* Alfonso Bedoya as Carmillo
* Dona Drake as Pepita Maria Rosados
* Lowell Gilmore as George Fairfax
* Wilton Graff as Capt. Alvarado
* Curt Bois as King Charles
* Lumsden Hare as Tom Mannering
* Billy Bevan as Billy Bragg (as William Bevan)
* Harry Cording as Will Ward
* Duke York as Andrew Hardy
* Sven Hugo Borg as Swede
* Martin Garralaga as Antonio Viamonte
* James Fairfax as Nat Russell
* Charles Irwin as Smitty
* Terry Kilburn as Kenny Jensen
* Alberto Morin as Miguel Gonzales (as Albert Morin)
* Nick Volpe as Papa Rosados
Production
'The Fortunes of Captain Blood' was a collection of six stories by Rafael Sabatini published in 1936, the year after the release of the 1935 film 'Captain Blood' starring Errol Flynn.Captain Blood Returns: THE FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD. By Rafael Sabatini. 240 pp. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. $2.
B.S. New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]15 Nov 1936: BR35.
In July 1949 Columbia announced they would make 'The Fortunes of Captain Blood' produced by Harry Joe Brown.MOVIELAND BRIEFS
Los Angeles Times (1923-1995); Los Angeles, Calif. [Los Angeles, Calif]26 July 1949: 14. Louis Hayward was linked to the project that month.BETTE DAVIS SEEKS TO LEAVE WARNERS. New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]26 July 1949: 31.
Filming was meant to start 1 October 1949 but was pushed back.MONTALBAN IN LEAD OF METRO MYSTERY: Will Star in Spiegelgass' Story About Murder Solved by Harvard Crime Clinic
By THOMAS F. BRADY Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES. New York Times 4 Aug 1949: 19. , H. B Humberstone was the original director announced.DOLORES DEL RIO SOUGHT BY METRO:. New York Times 6 Oct 1949: 40. However on 21 October Gordon Douglas took over.STEVENSON NOVEL COMING TO SCREEN: . New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]22 Oct 1949: 11. FIlming eventually began in November.Jane Greer Gets Wish for Comedy; Patricia Medina Signs for 'Blood'
Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 1 Nov 1949: 21.
References
Buy Fortunes of Captain Blood now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1950