Rudy Behlmer, Lincoln Hurst, John Mauceri and Robert Osborne discuss the making of The Sea Hawk (1940).Rudy Behlmer, Lincoln Hurst, John Mauceri and Robert Osborne discuss the making of The Sea Hawk (1940).Rudy Behlmer, Lincoln Hurst, John Mauceri and Robert Osborne discuss the making of The Sea Hawk (1940).
Photos
Lincoln Hurst
- Self - Professor of Film, UC Davis
- (as Lincoln D. Hurst)
Errol Flynn
- Geoffrey Thorpe
- (archive footage)
Brenda Marshall
- Doña Maria
- (archive footage)
Flora Robson
- Queen Elizabeth
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis documentary is featured on the DVD for The Sea Hawk (1940), released in 2005.
- ConnectionsFeatures The Sea Hawk (1940)
Featured review
The making of a great movie and standards of swashbucklers
"The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action" is a Warner Home Video made in 2005 as a featurette to go with the DVD release of "The Sea Hawk." A host of well-known movie critics, historians, and contributors comment on the making of the movie, on the sets, the cast and especially Errol Flynn's rise to become master of the swashbuckler films.
Among this group are Robert Osborne, film historian and long-time host of TV's Turner Classic Movies, Lincoln Hurst, professor of film history, and Rudy Behlmer, author and film historian. Tim Weske is a sword master and choreographer who discusses Flynn's mastery of sword fighting since his first film, "Captain Blood," five years earlier. The interviewees discuss the building of the large model ships used for the battle scenes. And, conductor John Mauceri discusses the score and music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and how its style became the standard for such adventure films.
No one can ever forget the type of rousing, exciting music that just speaks of action and adventure in this and similar films. Of Korngold's score and music, Mauceri says, "Once again, new fanfares, new themes for Captain Thorpe. New themes for Queen Elizabeth." He says, "You could say that a lesser composer could have just repeated himself (from "Captain Blood") and instead he wrote the greatest swashbuckling symphony ever written."
Hurst notes the film's intended allegory with the current world situation in which Great Britain and France were already at war with Germany. The portrayals of Queen Elizabeth of England and King Phillip of Spain were allegories of Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler. While most people watching the film decades later, and in the 21st century wouldn't even think of that, it was a very real aspect of this film by Warner Brothers to influence the American public's support for Great Britain in WW II.
Osborne says that "The Sea Hawk" "is a great example of company moviemaking." When you've got experts in all these fields and you've got many creative people on hand, a studio could produce exceptional films like this, he says. Behlmer adds, "And it was done in the grand style, and Warner Brothers did that sort of film, at this stage of the genre, better than anybody else."
Osborne says, "It's the kind of movie they don't really make anymore. It's the kind of movie that can only be made if you have a star with a kind of swagger and the matinee idol look of an Errol Flynn."
Those who enjoy swashbucklers and movie buffs overall should enjoy this documentary featurette.
Among this group are Robert Osborne, film historian and long-time host of TV's Turner Classic Movies, Lincoln Hurst, professor of film history, and Rudy Behlmer, author and film historian. Tim Weske is a sword master and choreographer who discusses Flynn's mastery of sword fighting since his first film, "Captain Blood," five years earlier. The interviewees discuss the building of the large model ships used for the battle scenes. And, conductor John Mauceri discusses the score and music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and how its style became the standard for such adventure films.
No one can ever forget the type of rousing, exciting music that just speaks of action and adventure in this and similar films. Of Korngold's score and music, Mauceri says, "Once again, new fanfares, new themes for Captain Thorpe. New themes for Queen Elizabeth." He says, "You could say that a lesser composer could have just repeated himself (from "Captain Blood") and instead he wrote the greatest swashbuckling symphony ever written."
Hurst notes the film's intended allegory with the current world situation in which Great Britain and France were already at war with Germany. The portrayals of Queen Elizabeth of England and King Phillip of Spain were allegories of Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler. While most people watching the film decades later, and in the 21st century wouldn't even think of that, it was a very real aspect of this film by Warner Brothers to influence the American public's support for Great Britain in WW II.
Osborne says that "The Sea Hawk" "is a great example of company moviemaking." When you've got experts in all these fields and you've got many creative people on hand, a studio could produce exceptional films like this, he says. Behlmer adds, "And it was done in the grand style, and Warner Brothers did that sort of film, at this stage of the genre, better than anybody else."
Osborne says, "It's the kind of movie they don't really make anymore. It's the kind of movie that can only be made if you have a star with a kind of swagger and the matinee idol look of an Errol Flynn."
Those who enjoy swashbucklers and movie buffs overall should enjoy this documentary featurette.
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- SimonJack
- Jul 17, 2021
Details
- Runtime17 minutes
- Color
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