Best Swashbucklers Ever

If the AFI Film Institute can do it so can I. Here is a completely arbitrary countdown of:

Best Pirate Movies Ever. But then I decided that was not an apt title. So I decided to call it Best Swashbucklers Ever. Then I was tasked with coming up with what a swashbuckler was. Now generally looking at this list you would think it has to be a movie with Errol Flynn, Maureen O’Hara, or Douglas Fairbanks. They happen to be actors typecast into this genre and so they appear in the lion share of the best films, but that is not a requirement.

A Swashbuckler is more of an action movie, but not just any action movie; it generally has pirates, though one on this list does not. But there is something more than just pirates, it has to have a certain levity and sense of humor about its characters. The hero is a little too flamboyant, the villain a little too over the top in his evil airs. Suspension of disbelief and a desire to be amused and entertained is a must to watch a swashbuckler. So here are some of the best.

1. Captain Blood (1935)
The first of four movies of Errol Flynn’s on this list, this one was Errol Flynn’s debut and made his career in Hollywood. As with many of the pirate movies Flynn plays a gentleman, in this case a doctor named blood, ironic huh, who treats an injured person on the wrong side of a battle and is sold into slavery for his noble deed. He responds by escaping, becoming a pirate, and plundering the ships of the government that took away his life. He meets a lovely lady, of course, here in the guise of Olivia de Havilland who though she appeared in eight films with Flynn avoided being typecast by playing a wide variety of roles.

2. The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
The most modern of the films here and an instant classic if ever there was one. This movie had it all, 21st century special effects, and the attention to detail that makes an action film poignant and interesting. The ship battles are amazing, but when you add in the element of a crew of the dammed who appear as skeletons in the moonlight, wow. And the acting; the villain Captain Barbossa, crazy, driven, and completely obsessed, a performance truly worthy of recognition if it had not been overrun by the amazing performance of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in the most over the top performance this side of the moon. His character’s hand movements, speech, and gestures, and facial expressions make you wonder what planet he just came from or what he was smoking.

3. The Spanish Main (1945)
This is one of my personal favorites and of course it stars the Queen of Technicolor herself Maureen O’Hara. Paul Henreid is the swashbuckler here and he does an admirable job. In the Spanish Main he was a Dutch colonist whose ship is waylaid by the governor of Jamaica and he and his crew are sold into slavery. As usual he takes his revenge by targeting the Governor’s profitable shipping interests. After he has gained notoriety he waylays a ship carrying a Contessa meant for marriage to the governor. Captain Laurent Van Horn takes her for his own bride to draw the villain out and the romantic sparring begins. There is a nice little addition of Anne Bonny, the pirate woman the captain schlepped around with before his lady bride and of course as the two fall in love the lady is called upon to spring her pirate from prison.

4. The Mark of Zorro (1920)
This is the granddaddy of them all. Douglas Fairbanks taught Hollywood the way it was done and introduced the world to unforgettable characters like Zorro, the Three Musketeers, and The Black Pirate. A lean athletic man, Fairbanks taught Hollywood not only what swashbucklers were about, but how Hollywood royalty should act as he and Mary Pickford held court at their estate of Pickfair.

5. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
This movie seems odd in this category at first; there are no pirates and no water to be seen except for one small stream. But the spirit of this film stays true to for of the swashbuckler genre. It stars Errol Flynn as an over the top, tights wearing bandit. He once was a nobleman but robbed of his lands he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. You know the story. Along the way he picks up a band of merry men, his crew, and a lady, Olivia de Havilland. He even battles an over the top villain named the Sheriff of Nottingham whom he kills in an extended battle with swords. What more could you want from a swashbuckler.

6. The Goonies (1985)
Another movie that does not seem to fit in the category, The Goonies is not just a kids film. True it follows the adventure of kids, but it is a swashbuckler at heart. Heck, they even watch an Errol Flynn movie. These kids go on a memorable adventure in search of pirate treasure. They encounter a number of traps, and get chased by the too strange to be real Fratelli’s, a family of ruthless criminals with a little interfamilial relationship issues. There is even a romance. There is treasure, people walk the plank, and the ship even sails, eventually. This is just a fun movie, kind of Indiana Jones fun, so it has all of the critical ingredients of a swashbuckler. There is even a little swordplay.

7. The Three Musketeers (1995)
The classic Alexander Dumas story of the three Musketeers has been made a number of times, including that one with Raquel Welch. You would think that the comedy would be built right in with Athos, Porthos, and Aramis but some of the remakes have been real clunkers. Not here. It is a little darker than might have been thought, but overall the film remains lighthearted and packed with action and romance.

8. The Black Swan (1942)
This pirate movie takes a slightly different slant as it begins with the pirate Henry Morgan receiving the governorship of Jamaica. With the pirates, at least the more law abiding ones running things, they set up to clean up the pirates around the island. It seems there is a mole feeding the local pirates information about ships and their cargoes so they have someone in the government to deal with. Tyrone Power plays Jamie Waring, Morgan’s right hand man and an honorable scoundrel. Maureen O’Hara is a noble lady of the town and after some sparring he kidnaps her and takes her with him as he pursues the pirates. Then there are pirates with pirates, pirates against pirates, pirates against towns, you name it. Lots of fun and it even won an Oscar for best color cinematography.

9. Against All Flags (1952)
One of Flynn’s later movies but still one with pizzazz. Again a pairing of Flynn and Maureen O’Hara but this time he is working for the Navy and is taken prisoner by the pirates and she is a lady pirate who takes an interest in him. Perhaps it is this turning of traditional roles that I like in this because it follows the traditional formula and though filmed colorfully and beautifully it does not have much more to offer for it.

10. The Sea Hawk (1940)
Another epic Errol Flynn undertaking, he did his own stunts. In this film Flynn plays Captain Thorpe an English buccaneer pirating Spanish ships for the English.

Honorable Mention:

Related posts:

1. The Sea Hawk