The Sea Hawk

The Sea Hawk is a classic Errol Flynn swash buckler recently released in a DVD package of Errol Flynn movies. Often listed as one of Errol Flynn’s greatest films along with Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk tells a more complex story that is also less fun. Made in 1940 at the hight of Flynn’s career and directed by Casablanca director Michael Curtiz The Sea Hawk tells a story of piracy and politics familiar to the swashbuckler genre.

Here the Sea Hawks are a group of English pirates condoned by the queen of England Elizabeth to harry and harass the Spanish Fleet. The world events and the status of the countries at the time is difficult to remember. At the time Spain had the greatest fleet and was bent on controlling most of the world. They were aided in this by the gold that they were extracting from South America which financed the greatest navy in the world. England was still a small island that had not yet built its great fleet and begun its imperial colonization of the less developed parts of the world. So in essence this story tells of the roots of the Spanish naval decline and the rise of the English navy and the English empire. Heady and serious topics for a film that revels in witty banter and swordplay and features Flynn without his shirt on.


As the traditional swashbuckler this film starts with a happy voyage of a Spanish ship carrying a wealthy diplomat and his beautiful neice on a mission to England. They are of course set upon by an English pirate ship and a great sea battle ensues. There are cannons and grappling hooks, and swordplay. Then the Spanish ship is taken along with its cargo and its people. Now The Sea Hawk also throws in that the Spanish ship is powered by slave labor and that many of those slaves are British seamen. So the lines are firmly drawn, Spanish evil slavers, English kindly scallywag pirates who believe in democracy. Errol Flynn plays the captain of the Albatross Geoffrey Thorpe. Captain Thorpe of course is taken with the beauty of Dona Maria Alvarez de Cordoba, the Spanish ladies always have the longest names, played by the lovely Brenda Marshall but she scorns him as a murderous pirate who steals from women. This is perhaps an interesting role for Flynn because it is one of the few times that his character is seriously tongue tied around women so he doesn’t get off all of the brash one liners that one would expect from classic Errol Flynn films. Thorpe may be confident as a captain, though events occur that would shake the confidence of even the most braggadocio of captains, but his conversational skills with women, excepting the queen of England, leave much to be desired.


Once Captain Thorpe and his cargo reach England the film bogs down a bit in world politics and palace intrigue but the film picks up admirably towards the end. Thorne has a close and honest relationship with the queen of England Elizabeth who seems taken with his charms but not fully able to trust him. Flora Robson plays Elizabeth and she is perhaps the most interesting character in the whole film. Elizabeth is a strong monarch and a strong woman whose strength and ability are made fun of by some of the coarser characters in the film. She is also portrayed here as a conscientious monarch who is seeking for ways to avoid war with Spain. Much could be made of this being a film in the run up to the Second World War and its parallels. England capitulates to its adversaries until it is forced into actions by the aggression of its enemies. Here Spain of the 1500s substitutes for Germany of the 1930s. Elizabeth is forced to walk the line of diplomacy with the Spanish ambassador Don Alvarez by arresting the sea hawks. However, on the side she agrees to allow Captain Thorpe to take his ship to intercept a Spanish convoy of gold from the New World. Of course the queen has two loyal advisors, one Burleson is suggesting a more aggressive approach to arm and equip the sea hawks and create a navy for the British. The other, Wolfingham insidiously recommends capitulation to the increasingly restrictive Spanish demands that England remain without a navy and even stop the sea hawks as to avoid the ire of the Spanish empire with the warning that Spain has far to many interest to bother with England unless England provokes Spain. Of course this is not the case as Wolfingham is in the employ of King Philip of Spain and the Spanish Armada is nearly ready to sail on England provocation or not.


Thus Captain Thorpe and his crew are betrayed in Panama and taken as slaves on a Spanish galleon. It is up to Thorne to escape from slavery with his men, discover Wolfingham’s treachery, and learn of the impending sailing of the Armada against England. Then Thorne has to bring the information back to the queen. All of this sets up the last part of the film which moves much faster than the middle portion.


Much was made of the sets and scenery for this film and it shows beautifully. I was especially taken with their attention to what happens to oars during basic ship maneuvers. When a ship runs up against another in a fight, the oars are broken and splintered. When a row boat comes up to the side of a ship all of the oars must be pulled in, details like that. Similar detail is paid to the swordplay especially in a later fight between Thorne and the evil Wolfingham.

The lighting of some of the scenes is laughable but then there was no day for night shooting in the 1930s. So there are a few scenes that are supposed to be at 4 am that look a little too bright. Also, in the final sword fighting scene between Thorne and Wolfingham there are the requisite slicing of candles which puts the characters in the dark in a castle. There is very obviously a very bright light in front of the two characters allowing them to throw long shadows on the back wall. It is a great attempt at increasing the tempo of the fighting, but it seems archaic and obvious to later day film goers.


The Sea Hawk showcases Flynn as his most dashing and debonaire before the scandals and the wild lifestyle took a toll on his charm and his looks. It has all of the necessary makings of a fantastic swashbuckler but it bogs down a bit in the middle with the convoluted world politics between Britain and Spain. Flynn hacks his way through the scenery with bravado befitting his Hollywood aura but his love interest Brenda Marshall seems a little out of her league. Overall as rakish and endearing a performance turned in by Flynn and well worth a watch.

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