Silver Screen Icons: Bette Davis (4FE/DVD)

This set of four classic Flynn films finds him battling the French, battling Spaniards, and even battling usurpers of the British throne, all the while romancing women and fighting duels with rakish charm. Whew! That’s a lot for one man to handle when he’s not a caped superhero. But these are roles Flynn seemed born to play (as was Douglas Fairbanks before him).In order of release, the films are “Captain Blood” (1935), “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938), “The Sea Hawk” (1940), and “Adventures of Don Juan” (1948). But, if one would rather watch these films in historical order, then the sequence should be: “Robin Hood” (approximately set in the years 1192-94), “The Sea Hawk” (1585), “Don Juan” (early 1600s), and “Captain Blood” (1685-87), and that’s the order in which I’ll examine them.Arguably the best of the four has Flynn as Robin Hood, fearless fencer, superb archer, a nobleman who is a friend to the downtrodden and foe to Prince John (Claude Rains), the Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper), and Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone). They view him as saucy, bold, and impudent; they’re right. When Lady Marian Fitzwalter says to him, “Why, you speak treason!” Robin replies, “Fluently.” He later teaches Marian (Olivia de Havilland) a lesson in compassion and so, climbing a trellis to her balcony like a would-be Romeo, uses his Saxon charm to win her Norman heart. Flynn singlehandedly fights off a castle full of soldiers, swings on a vine as easily as Tarzan, wins an archery contest by splitting his opponent’s arrow, escapes the gallows in a thrilling chase, and skewers Basil Rathbone in a classic climactic duel, restoring the ransomed Richard the Lion-Heart to the throne. What a guy! Truly, the perfect adventure film.Directed with flair in Technicolor by Michael Curtiz & William Keighley, with stirring music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Oscar wins for Art Direction, Film Editing, and Original Score. Nominated for Best Picture but lost to the comedy “You Can’t Take It With You.” (Curtiz received two nominations as Best Director that year but not for “Robin Hood”: he was cited for “Angels With Dirty Faces” and “Four Daughters.” He lost to Frank Capra.)(Rule #1 about historical movies: Don’t use them as a basis for a history term paper. While Robin is mythical, Richard the Lion-Heart was quite real: the king was captured during the Third Crusade and held for ransom by Austria, which was paid, but no Merry Men of Sherwood were involved in his release. The script does not touch on the morality of that or any other Crusade, being about excitement and romance rather than politics or religion. An opening credit merely notes that Richard had “set forth to drive the infidels from the Holy Land.” Robin later tells him he should have stayed home.)Skip ahead some 390 years, to 1585, and England is now ruled by Queen Elizabeth I (Flora Robson). Flynn is Geoffrey Thorpe, a Sea Hawk who preys on Spanish ships and towns, using piracy to keep England safe from the over-reaching aspirations of Spain’s King Phillip II. (The king, as interested in global dominance as any James Bond villain, is played by an actor with the cool name of Montagu Love; he is also seen in “Robin Hood” as the Bishop of the Black Canons.) Phillip sends duplicitous ambassador Don Jose Alvarez de Cordoba (Claude Rains) to England to falsely reassure Elizabeth of Spain’s friendship, all the while building a huge armada with which to conquer England. (The script gives expansionism as his only motive, but, in reality, this was a kind of reverse crusade, Phillip wishing to bring Catholicism back to Protestant Britain, with himself on the throne: he once offered to marry Elizabeth and so achieve the throne peacefully, but got rejected.)The passage across the English Channel is fraught with danger from pirates. Captain Lopez (Gilbert Roland) tells Don Alvarez, “Like hawks, they’re on you before you see them.” No sooner said than done, for fast approaching is The Albatross, commanded by Captain Geoffrey Thorpe. The two ships exchange cannon fire, then out come the grappling hooks and men are soon pulling the vessels closer and swinging onto the Spanish deck with cutlasses drawn for a wild melee. (There being scant trees in the English Channel, Flynn has to do his swinging from masts and yardarms, and manages it in grand style.) Mr. Pitt (Alan Hale) convinces a Spanish bugler to sound surrender and the battle is won, but the ship is sinking. Thorpe removes treasure and crew from the ship and also the niece of Don Alvarez, Dona Maria (Brenda Marshall). Like Maid Marian, Maria is scornful of Flynn’s men until she too has a compassion moment when she sees that what has been powering her ship was not just the wind in her sails but wretched English prisoners chained to massive oars below decks. For his part, Thorpe is so taken with her that he returns her jewel chest, surely a sign of true love.Queen Elizabeth is reluctant to spend money on a fleet, and her devious Lord Chancellor, Wolfingham (Henry Daniell), hopes to keep her that way as he is secretly in league with Phillip. Thorpe and others like him are doing their buccaneering on behalf of the queen, though unofficially: like later members of the Mission: Impossible team, if caught they will be disavowed. And caught he is. Oops. Thorpe’s plan to “divert” Spain’s Panamanian plunder to England’s coffers is foiled when Don Alvarez learns of the scheme and sends soldiers ahead to capture him. (The bulk of the film is in glorious black-and-white, but the Panama sequence is sepia-tinted, perhaps to suggest the equatorial heat of the jungle.) Hauled in chains before the Inquisition, Thorpe and his men are condemned to slavery aboard a Spanish galleon for life, just like those he rescued earlier. They escape, of course, take over a Spanish ship, and learn the truth about the impending armada. But to get that knowledge to the queen Flynn must first fight his way into the palace and have a duel-to-the-death with Wolfingham. For his gallantry, the queen knights Thorpe and authorizes the building of a fleet with a stirring speech.Directed by Michael Curtiz. For its ferocious sea battles and splendid sets “The Sea Hawk” was nominated for a Special Effects Oscar (losing to “The Thief of Bagdad”), and for Art Direction (losing to “Pride and Prejudice). The Korngold music score was also nominated, but lost to Alfred Newman’s score for “Tin Pan Alley.”Historically, we must skip over the defeat of the Spanish armada by Francis Drake and others and next join Errol Flynn some 15 or 20 years later in the guise of legendary Spanish reprobate Don Juan de Marana in “Adventures of Don Juan.” (Juan the libertine is as much a fictional legend as Robin Hood, immortalized over the years in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Byron’s “Don Juan,” and G. B. Shaw’s “Man and Superman.” So whatever happens in the film is pure fiction, as are the characters.)A narrator informs us at the start: “In Europe, as the 17th century dawned, mankind was lifting itself from ignorance and superstition. The old frontiers of the mind were rolling back. New books, new methods, were aiding man in his climb toward knowledge and wisdom.” We first see Don Juan climbing all right, but up a trellis to a woman’s balcony, little knowing that Catherine (Mary Stuart) is married and that her husband is about to arrive home early from a grouse hunt. So the film begins almost as a parody of Flynn’s cinematic romantic hero, ever charming even in the throes of trouble. “This has become more or less of a habit” says Flynn as he leaps off the lady’s balcony; faithful sidekick Leporello (Alan Hale) is waiting with horses.During the ensuing chase Don Juan is mistaken for a Spanish duke on his way to an arranged marriage to an English woman named Diana (Helen Westcott), who turns out to be an old flame of Juan’s. Uh-oh. Juan is soon confronted with the real duke and is thrown into a dank cell with Leporello. Politics intervene and they are paroled to the custody of the Spanish ambassador, Count Don De Polan (Robert Warwick), an old family friend. (It always pays to have friends in high places.) The film thus starts off promising to be an amusing romance but it turns serious after about 35 minutes.Juan is ordered to Spain to face royal rebuke for his carnal shenanigans. Juan finds Madrid a dour place, its people taxed beyond endurance while press gangs drag men involuntarily into the navy. King Philip III (Romney Brent) is an ineffectual monarch who leaves everything to his conniving minister, the Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas). (In real life, the king’s favorite was the Duke de Lerma.) The duke wants another war with England and is secretly building a second armada to try, try again. He tells the king, “The New World is our colony.” Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors), “a generous and just ruler,” sees Juan as a poor example of Spanish manhood but gives him a chance at redemption: she makes him a fencing instructor at the Royal Academy: this will come in handy later. (The Duke is said to be Spain’s finest fencer, and thus a fitting villain for our hero to duel with when the time is ripe.)The Count de Polan, being the keeper of the country’s treasury, is imprisoned by de Lorca and tortured until he releases millions that can be used for the new armada. Among de Lorca’s henchmen is Captain Alvarez (Raymond Burr), who takes de Polan’s ring, given to him by Queen Margaret. Juan knows the ring and the plot unravels when he sees Alvarez drunkenly trying to sell it. Meanwhile, de Lorca usurps power from the king and imprisons Juan. Leporello, disguised as a monk, busts him out and they rescue de Polan, skewering Perry Mason—I mean, Alvarez—in the process. Juan rallies his fencing students to help him free the queen and king. A duel with de Lorca is a must, of course, and they cross swords on a massive staircase in the palace before Juan dispatches him. And so war with England is averted and the Spanish throne secured. (After a long kiss from the queen, who is perfectly willing to give it all up and run off with Juan, he insists the people need her and so she remains on the throne).Directed by Vincent Sherman with a score by Max Steiner. “Adventures of Don Juan” won an Oscar for Costume Design (color), and was nominated for Art/Set Decoration (color), but lost that one to “Little Women.”Stock footage: When Juan is escaping from Catherine’s husband seven minutes into the film, he and Leporello gallop across a stream in the moonlight. This is the exact same scene seen in “The Adventures of Robin Hood” ten years earlier. In that film, 18 minutes into it, Robin is riding double with one of his men known as Much, with Will Scarlett riding just behind them. In “Don Juan” it is obvious (if one uses freeze-frame) that the lead horse has two riders and that the rider behind them is wearing red, for that is actually Will Scarlett. Well, why spend money filming a chase scene when one was already in the can from a decade before? Who’d remember it?Another curious thing about “Don Juan” is the score: the main theme was an exciting one (though used much too often), and it showed up again 33 years later as the main theme in “Zorro, the Gay Blade,” where the credits note that the music was “conducted and adapted by Ian Fraser” with no mention of composer Max Steiner.Though “Captain Blood” was Flynn’s first film (and he does not yet sport his trademark thin mustache, though the shoulder-length flowing locks are in place), its historical position is the year 1685, which places it fourth in this set of histories. The story is from a novel by Rafael Sabatini. This time around England is ruled by King James II (as Duke of York he gave his name to a little place in the colonies called New York). James, however, is an unpopular monarch and a rebellion is in the works at the start of the film. (A Catholic rebellion, though the script does not specify that, again avoiding antagonizing any particular set of moviegoers on religious grounds.) As the film opens, a rebel rides up to the offices of Dr. Peter Blood (an apt name for a doctor) and urges him to come attend to a wounded friend. Blood (Errol Flynn) has a swashbuckling past: “I’ve fought for the French against the Spanish, and the Spanish against the French, and I learned my seamanship in the Dutch navy.” So, a mercenary who can’t hold a job. Having had enough of that sort of thing, Blood has hung up his sword and has become “a healer, not a soldier.” But, as we all know by now, the plot’s hero has to be drawn back into the fray against his will. Blood, attending to his friend, is swept up as a traitor. The resulting miscarriage of justice finds Blood condemned to hang. His sentence—and that of others—is deemed politically incorrect and so they are sent to the West Indies instead to be sold into slavery (at a nice profit to the crown).On the Port Royal auction block Blood is bought by Arabella Bishop (Olivia de Havilland) after he shows contempt for her merciless uncle (Lionel Atwell). She pays ten pounds for him, which rankles him no end. Blood’s medical skills save him from slavery when he tends to the governor’s gout. He uses his limited freedom to plot escape and take his friends with him. There’s a lot of plot and little action for the first 47 minutes, until a bombardment of Port Royal by Spanish pirates interrupts Colonel Bishop’s flogging of Blood. (Forty-seven minutes into the film an on-screen text notes that the pirate ship is under “the gold and crimson flag of King Philip of Spain.” This seems unlikely as the film begins in 1685 and King Philip died in 1598. Spain’s king at the time in which the film is set would have been the hapless Charles II.) It’s all the distraction Blood and his men need to break loose, commandeer a pirate ship, and turn the tables on the marauders. Despite saving Port Royal, Colonel Bishop is less than suitably grateful and Blood has him tossed overboard, thus beginning a new career as a stateless buccaneer.This rascally crew finds safe harbor in Tortuga, “where easy money consorted with easy virtue,” and where they are joined by French pirate, Captain Levasseur (Basil Rathbone, whose attempt at a French accent is, shall we say, a bit slipshod). A ship from England bearing Arabella and an emissary of the king offering Blood a pardon is captured by Rathbone. His clear intention to, uh, meddle with Arabella brings on a duel with the ever-gallant Blood, who runs him through on a beach. Blood wants to take Arabella to Jamaica but his men resist (“This is what comes from sailing the seas with a lovesick madman”). He talks them into it (Flynn can charm men as well as women). When they arrive, two French galleons are attacking the town. The king’s emissary tells Blood that James II is no longer on the throne, having fled to France. The new king, William III, is now at war with France. This is all Blood and his crew need to again declare themselves loyal Englishmen and they sail between the two French ships and an epic battle erupts. Blood, of course, is victorious, wins Arabella’s heart, and is named the new governor.A curious note about the sea battle: During the hand-to-hand chaos aboard the French ship, there’s a scene of two men sitting on a yardarm overlooking the action on the deck. One of Blood’s men suddenly swings in on a rope from behind and pushes them off the yardarm. This occurs an hour-and-fifty-three minutes into the film. Five years later, that exact scene is cut into a battle in “The Sea Hawk”! In that film, it occurs just 15 minutes in. Perhaps Warner Brothers put a tighter budget on the later film, not anticipating anyone in the future would be able to play both movies back-to-back and notice the use of stock footage. Regardless, the battles are thrilling.Directed by Michael Curtiz with a Korngold score. Oscar nominations for Best Picture (lost to “Mutiny on the Bounty”) and Sound Recording (lost to “Naughty Marietta”).The only drawback to this excellent collection is the lack of extras. There are just the four films and nothing more, not even original trailers, an old newsreel, or even a vintage cartoon (didn’t Daffy Duck do a Robin Hood spoof?). The films have English subtitles for the hard of hearing.

Always loved Spence Tracy growing up. Sad when he passed away. It's great to have these 4 movies of his in my collection.

You might want to know that the 4 movies are two to a disc which doesn't hurt anything, just a surprise. And all 4 movies worked with no problem to being paused and the captions for English also worked.

Video has some of Bette Davis' best films.

I’ve watched the first disk so far and I’m happy with the quality of the movies. The only problem I had with this product is when I tried to open the case it flexed in my hand and I noticed how incredibly flimsy and thin the case was, I’m used to some dvd cases being thin but this one offers barely any protection to the disks, I’m really surprised none of the disks got messed up in shipping with how thin the case is.

Great addition to my already extensive classic movies

I read the reviews in this page and they all talk about Gary Cooper. I am not sure why. I am going to write about Spencer Tracy, he is the actor featured here. Spencer Tracy, in my book, is one of the best actors in Hollywood history period. He has a wide range of performances in this dvd set. He does it all flawlessly. Amazing performances, hats off to him. Usually in a 4 dvd set, you get one lousy movie. Every movie in this set is GREAT. I highly recommend you get this for your old classic movies collection. A MUST HAVE.

ALL VERY GOOD MOVIES. WILL CERTAINLY ENJOY THESE.