A number of swashbucklers feature a weak female co-star eg The Sea Hawk - here it's the male star who is weak, and the filmmakers seem to know it, because they fairly rush through the first part of the movie: within the space of about five minutes Paul Henreid is shipwrecked in the Caribbean, thrown in gaol by Walter Slezak, escapes from gaol and becomes one of the most fearsome bandits along the Spanish Main within five years. Phew. Then we meet Maureen O'Hara, who is a lot more home at this sort of thing than Henreid (who never seems comfortable, whether fencing or flirting with O'Hara) - all flaming red hair and imperiousness, with hate that turns to love.
Walter Slezak makes an excellent villain, fat and unscrupulous and you know he'll kill you if he wants to. Binne Barnes is OK in what is a terrific role, Anne Bonney, the female pirate who loves Henreid and clashes with O'Hara (Barnes is fine - but she doesn't grab it and make it sing). This has a solid story - Henreid kidnaps O'Hara to annoy Slezak, then is betrayed by his own pirates who fear Slezak's wrath.
It's different to have the hero as a Dutchman and this was one of the first movies to acknowledge there were female pirates. There's no denying Henreid is weak, though - the character is written as rough and tough but Henreid's a boudoir chap and you can smell it on him. As a result his section is weak, as if they shied away from him (for instance, we never get to know any of his crew to any great degree - there's no Alan Hales or Guy Kibbees - which means we don't like the pirates as much; also what happens to the other colonists he was shipwrecked with? They would have made natural allies)
There is a very good ship boarding at the beginning (RKO threw a bit of money around for this) and a strong finale fight (Barnes goes down fighting to two men). Frank Borzage seems more at home with romance and chats than fighting - this has sexy undertones with a sequence where O'Hara is worried Henreid will have his way with her (she even grabs a dagger), then get a bit excited at the prospect and kind of disappointed when he decides to be gentlemanly, then keen to go off with him at the end.
The finale involves a deux ex machina as the ship is leaving - but it is a clever one and I think you should be allowed to use him if they are clever.
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