As the Spanish formulate plans to invade England, privateer Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn) and his colleagues try to convince the queen to build a fleet of her own, to no avail.
When Thorpe is captured while on a secret raid in Panama, he realises there must be a spy in the queen’s inner circle.
Hijacking a prison galley, he attempts to make it back to England, to clear his name, and unmask the traitor…
If The Adventures of Robin Hood is a peak of swashbuckling for its quality, The Sea Hawk feels like a peak for sheer scale.
The Sea Hawk was the only Errol Flynn movie I had seen before Robin Hood.
I watched it as a kid, probably as a rental, and remember loving it. I was obsessed with pirates and sailing ships so it was right in my wheelhouse.
While the other films I have covered in this genre felt like a reflection of the Great Depression, The Sea Hawk was made in the shadow of war - and it barely counts as subtext:
We open with King Philip of Spain raging against England as a bulwark of resistance to his dream of world domination. It is a scene meant to cast the Spanish as an analogue for the Nazis.
What follows is an epic treatment of the genre, where every element is super-sized - except one element:
It is shot in black and white, possibly a way to keep the budget down.
The photography is gorgeous, and makes clever use of the format - in one memorable moment, chiaroscuro is used to create massive duelling silhouettes behind the combatants.
At two hours, it is longer than previous Flynn vehicles, and jam-packed with setpieces: we get multiple sword fights, including two in which Thorpe (Flynn) has to fight multiple opponents.
The film really takes off during Thorpe’s failed raid in South America - shot with a yellow filter to represent the temperature.
Thorpe and his surviving crew end up enslaved on a galley, which leads to an eventual escape.
This section of the film, from ambush to galley hijacking is tense - in the latter scene, lots of close ups of hands pulling chains free while guards sleep only metres away.
In contrast to contemporary action films, the final action sequence is a sword fight on land, as Thorpe engages in a running battle with guards through Queen Elisabeth’s castle.
While it lacks the character conflict of the final sword fight from Robin Hood, as an exercise in choreography and cinematography, it is exhilarating.
While the film has a romantic subplot, the key dynamic is between Thorpe (Flynn) and Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson), as he attempts to persuade her of the threat posed by Spain.
They have so much chemistry, you forget he is technically entangled with Dōna Maria (Brenda Marshall).
The film ends with the Queen declaring she will build a fleet that will not only face down the Spanish threat, but future ones - including the future existential one they faced in 1940.
While the action is propulsive, this is the one Flynn vehicle where the emphasis feels a little more concerned with mindgames and interpersonal dynamics. Thorpe’s real victory is in winning the Queen’s favour, not the sword fight.
In this way, it feels more like a Tyrone Power movie.
It is a little too long - and the romance is dull as ditchwater - but overall, The Sea Hawk is a fun romp.
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