Captain Blood (Warner Bros.) (1935)

— ee ee behind the covers of your geography, and for possession of which you received an oldtime spanking. The thief of literature changes with the times. The gentlemanly considerate ‘Raffles’ has nothing in common with the ruffian ‘Bill Sykes’ of ‘Oliver Twist.’ There is romance in the name ‘Robin Hood,’ but Mexico’s Villa never captured the public imagination and even the most avid thrill seeker felt little fellowship with the gang leaders of Chicago and New York. One adventurer, however, is untouched by time. He does not change because our own imaginations will not let him change. He has lived in literature from the days of Homer, and Ulysses was his first incarnation. Through him, Dad and little son meet on common ground. He is the pirate — not the pirate of fact, but the pirate conjured by our own longings to escape from the commonplace. He is our answer to the call of the sea; the swashbuckler who hides deep in the heart of even the meekest man. Pirates, to you and me, are not the dock rats who today infest our waterfronts and strike only when assured of safety or in the darkness. Our pirates, Brothers of the Bond, wear red bandanas, boldly hoist the skull and cross bones, and, cutlass between teeth and pistols in hand, charge over the side of ships to plunder — and avenge — and to find PIRATES TO THE RESCUE — Olivia de Havilland is rescued from a pirate band led by Basil Rathbone by Captain Blood (Errol Flynn), the slave Teach again proves the truth of this she had purchased and learned to love. a a 7 ee ae ee “S55 abt “to” enee a ee ee ee Oe eee was WEL | mune dure the dirt with which the adventurer was usually encrusted, his bad habits and worse manners, and remained loyal, even when hanging was the penalty. Of course, when he did come home, which was but seldom, he came laden with loot and the kind of tales by which Othello won the heart of Desdemona. Naturally all pirate lore does not have a happy ending. Quite a goodly number of freebooters have been hung. But a study of their histories shows that they were punished as much for holding out on the ‘‘big shots’’ of their day, as for their crimes. And the more successful among them enjoyed the immunity accorded to their prototypes of today. There is a striking similarity between methods in vogue in the 15th and 17th centuries, when piracy reached full bloom, and those of the racketeer of our own pre-repeal era. Boss pirates cached their loot and insured secrecy by murdering their assistants. But the ** grapevine’? — that mysterious source of underworld information — operated even in those days, and the boss pirates themselves usually paid with their lives for their greed. Mob chieftains knew how to put their underlings ‘‘on the spot,’’ even if they had to use the English navy or the United States government as their ‘‘torpedoes.’’ He Was Bad And Prospered Let’s consider Sir Henry Morgan. Henry Morgan was born in Wales, and is supposed to have been kidnaped in Bristol when a boy, and sold as a slave to the Buarbadoes. Remember this incident later on in this story. However, he escaped to Jamaica and years later turned up as ‘‘ Captain Morgan,’’ with the Morris and Jackman expedition which captured Valdemos, Trujillo and the Granada. In 1666 he was commander of a vessel with the expedition of Edward Mansfield, and aided in seizing the island of Santa Catalina. When Mansfield was killed in a battle with the Spaniards, the buccaneers named Morgan ‘‘ Admiral’? and admiral he remained. Morgan gathered ships and men as the tales of his exploits spread. The story of his ravages of Spanish shipping forms the basis of most of the pirate tales of his time. Then came his final exploit — the capture, and looting of Panama in 1671, This truly desperate act — for Morgan’s forees were greatly outnumbered, was accompanied by the most horrible butchery. And then — Morgan, with a few chosen men, in a few vessels, deserted his followers and hied himself to Jamaica, whence he was ordered home to England for punishment. No one knows what happened to Morgan’s men. The Spanish r -d their forces and reclaimed their cities. But Iienry, with all of his loot, reached Eng land, where he not only wasn’t punished, but was knighted and made lieutenant governor of Jamaica. Naturally, he was a_ stormy petrel throughout his official life. He finally was recalled, but before his death was again in high favor with the powers that ruled the British Empire. The Story of Blackbeard It is significant that the kidnaping and the appointment to a place of power form two incidents in the plot of Rafael Sabatini’s ‘Captain Blood,’’ the Cosmopolitan production which will open at the Theatre on : as a First National release. War makes thieves and peaci them. death of Edward > life and i lage. Special Sunday Feature available complete in mat fo esa, _— enna Tre @ . as a First Na tional release. DIVIDING THE LOOT — Pirate practices and customs vividly presented, lend much of thrilling interest to “Captain Blood.” is the Captain, in the person of Errol Flynn, handing a buccaneer his share. Teach — his name was probably Thatch — was born in Bristol and had a commission as a privateer during the war of the Spanish secession. England and Spain declared a peace in 1713— but Teach didn’t. He turned Pirate and operated modestly until 1716, when he zaptured a French merchantman which ‘he renamed **Queen Anne’s Revenge’’ and ravaged the Spanish Main, the West Indies and the coasts of the Carolinas and Virginia. Tradition has it, that Teach had his head quarters in a hidden North Carolina inlet, and inasmuch as he shared hig booty with the gov ernor, enjoyed a full measure of immunity. Finally, the governor of Virginia sent an expedition headed by Lieut. Maynard against him. On Noy. 22, 1718, Maynard boarded ship and shot him dead. Teach was the most notorious of pirates operating in American waters, and while he was ex Teach’s ceedingly bloodthirsty and cruel he was ore of a slaver than a fighter and more robber than pirate, Much of the terror he inspired was due to his fearsome appearance, and he well earned his sobriquet ‘* Blackbeard?’ by his habit of wearing a long black beard, braided over his ears, the ends of which were tied with ribbons. Hunting Kidd’s Treasure Robert Louis Stevenson has said all that need be about Captain Kidd in his ** Treasure Island.’’ You too, hunted for his treasure when you were a boy. Kidd is another who found out that what is noble in war igs wrong in peace. He was quite a fellow in his way. There was piracy in his blood and when Lord Bellamount and his associates put him in command of a fleet to wage war on the freebooters, there were mu terings and rumblings. Those *fin the know laughed up their sleeves, but Kidd got the job. He soon found, however, that it was a lot easier d more profitable to fight defenseless merchantmen than pirates. He found too, that the fewer survivors, the less the amount that must | captured and hung. and + ” be divided. He was even today, boys of all ages, from six to s are still digging for his buried gold 3ut while he lasted, Kidd Was a profital vestment for his sponsors. Here Sponsors for pirates! Sounds funny, but the old Providence Society, an organization of Puritans headed by the Earl of Warwick, made a business of outfitting privateers on shares, and found it very profitable. The only trouble was that when the war ended, these privateers having ships and men, decided to continue looting on their own account, War with Spain at an end, there had to be some outlet for the kind of men who become pirates. There was still the call of the Bahamas, there was the Indian Ocean and, England having a monoply of the slave trade to America, there was Africas The Real “Capt. Singleton” In the 17th Century there lived one Captain Avery who is supposed to have inspired Defoe’s ‘Life and Piracies of Captain Singleton,’’ a work less known than his Ro Avery was mate of a Bristol ship hired by the Spaniards in 1694 to guard her South Americam shipping. Avery seized the vessel and with the crew set out for Madagascar, where n any pirates had their headquarters. His later life is typical of many pirates of his time, Joining with other ships, he preyed inson Crusoe. _on ships from India with such success that the Indian f0vernment began to threaten reprisals on the East Indian company, and England took action, Avery himself escaped capture, but sev eral of his men were caught and executed. Aver 18 Important for one thing — his exploits, typical of hundreds of other freebooters, caused the po licing of the seas, and it also brought about the general amnesty for all pirates who would come in and quit. With admiralty courts established the privateers joined up with free such as the Republie of Baha on working under new flags. , Many f iting nations, and kept right also be used in lobby frame. Order were + SS able Robin Hood of the sea. and A + valiantly and successfully That’s the kind of a grew up. THE DUEL ~— Errol Flynn (left) and Basil Rathbone fight one of the most exciting rapier duels ever filmed, in “Captain Blood.” About this time arose the true pirate of po etic fancy — the very antithesis of Blackbeard and Morgan — the type of adventurer who was probably the inspiration for Sabatini’s ‘‘Captain Blood.’’ He was Bartholomew Roberts, who was killed in action in a battle with HMS ‘*Swallow’’ in 1722 off the Coast of Africa. I have said that England had a monoply on the slave trade. A Robin Hood Of The Sea Roberts had been sold in slavery for debt, and escaped. He had been befriended by the daughter of a colonial official, and he declared war on the slave trade. He robbed rich merchantmen and galleons and gave the proceeds to the poor. He scuttled the slave ships and freed the captives. Women loved him, and according to the balladists of the time— who probably thought more of the story than of fact, he was brave, noble, generous and just. Old prints made him a handsome fellow, his pictures bearing a distinct resemblance to Errol Flynn who has the title role of **Captain Blood.’’ Here’s a pirate for you my hearties! <A verit He established the first business code of pi d down rule regulating the conduct of pirates and put the industry on a workmanlike basis. We have had privateers aplen instance, John Paul Jones, wl within the limits laid down bv auth es until } became the navy, and in fact of the War of 1812, / brothers La Fitte were were merce There was, for operated solely U. S. Naval Mexico, who had org; racket’’ in North for Protection in the Gulf of When Gen. hear your little Dick shr SFSs c“BrmEe to Bis «aba the tide of battle. La Fitte was granted a pardon for all past piracies and thanked by the government. But he kept his racket going, and ran his wholesale house in New Orleans for years despite the fact that numerous Louisiana governors made every effort to stop him, A Pirate Of Dreams 3ut Captain Blood is a different kind of a fellow. He’s the pirate of your dreams — mine. soldier turned tenced to West Indian slavery because he gave medical aid to a wounded rebel who had fought against King James II. As a slave he continued his acts of kindness and become ; a Spanish vesse he lived as a slave. physician, he was sen pirate by capturing 1 that was attacking the town in which “ven as a pirate, he was a gallant, fighting a duel to the death with his partner when the latter kidnaped the niece of the man who had most Under a new King, he abused him. Swore allegiance to England, fought against the French, and was rewarded with a governorship and the love of the girl he had rescued. pirate you intended to be when you That’s why there’s a mist on your eyes when you ill out ‘‘ Avast there, make him walk the plank.’’ Perhaps it’s the little girl next door — the one with the freckles and up-turned nose — he’s avenging. Wonder what became of little Mary — what was her name now? Re member the raft on the creek on which you and ‘*Skinnay’? sailed the Spanish main? Well, you’ll have a chance to relive your dreams once more when you see ‘‘Captain Blood’’ on the screen at the Theatre. The players must have had as much fun filming it, and Michael Curtiz in directing it, as we’ll have in faney in fighting with Peter Blood and his men. Turning Time Back Three masted frigates sail the stormy seas, while intrepid seamen climb into the mizzenmasts. Pirates battle in the crows’ nest, the decks run red with the gore of evil doers. Romance — musie in the forn. of old sea chanteys accompanied by the clash of steel and the howl of the gale — action, thrills, — adventure on the high seas and on land. One of the world’s most popular novels visualized through the camera. Entertainment? Never has a picture contained more of the elements that make it. But Captain Blood is more than a thrilling motion picture. It is the reincarnation of the dreams of boyhood — and of girlhood. It sets back the clock of time — and no matter what the age of the man or the woman who sees it, **Captain Blood’? will carry them back Memory’s Trail to the days when life was young and hopes rere high, when around every corr was romance and behind every lurked adventure. le cast itself is composed of screen celebrities. In addition to Flynn there are Olivia de 1, the girl who became for her work in the Max : it production of ‘A Mid summer Nicht’s over Dream,’’ Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone, Ross Alexander, Guy Kibbee,. Henry Stephenson, Robert Barrat, Hobart Cavanaugh and many others Casey Robinson wrote the screen play. ——w AR Nt enero f