Edward Teach was one of the most colourful pirates of them all – even after present day history revisionism (“he wasn’t that bad”) he still stands out. It’s not surprising RKO plumped for Robert Newton to play the legendary buccaneer after his success as Long John Silver in Treasure Island. He doesn’t bother to vary his performance, throwing in plenty of eye rolling, “aye”s and “arrrr”s as he wrecks havoc.
The hero is some bland Ken Doll called Ken Andes, playing Maynard – the name of the guy who in real life actually did kill Blackbeard in a duel. The film deals with a rivalry between Blackbeard and Henry Morgan (Torin Thatcher), with Andes going undercover with Blackbeard to bust Morgan. There’s a lot of running around looking for treasure and people being suspicious of each other.
Raoul Walsh directed but he seems to be having an off day because it’s very slack and dull. Other people who are normally good too like Linda Darnell (feisty woman who escapes on Blackbeard’s boat) and William Bendix (dopey first mate) come across as flat. Andes is dull, easily outshone by Richard Egan, then at the beginning of his career, playing a fellow agent – and Egan isn't that great. Best performance is from the old female pirate.
There’s the odd good moment – Andes operating on Newton’s throat and getting a note “kill him”, the finale with Blackbeard buried up to his neck in the sand as the tide came in (the real Blackbeard has a genuinely spectacular demise. But not enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment