Errol Flynn buckled his last swash in this low-budget period adventure. The usual nonsense, but not bad, a tale from the French/English Hundred Years War (1400s) with Flynn (fleshier in face & figure at 45) as son & heir to Britain’s King Edward, going incognito to infiltrate the French Court as the unknown Black Prince. He’s really on the hunt for battle plans from archenemy Comte De Ville (Peter Finch) and hoping to rescue kidnapped Lady Joan (Joanne Dru). Director Henry Levin and producer Walter Mirisch, working in the U.K. on their way up the Hollywood ladder*, take advantage of two built-in obstacles. ONE: By necessity, battles are small and ad-hoc, believably messy; and TWO: heavy period armor meant the aging Flynn wouldn’t be needed on camera during the tough physical action, but only after the main fighting and dangerous bits when he’d put his metal vizor up. (Thousands of £s saved by using stunt doubles not only for stunts, but whenever possible.) Diminished as a force on screen thru age, bankruptcy (the main reason he signed on), drugs, booze and hangers-on, Flynn at half staff still better at this sort of thing than anyone other than 1920s' Douglas Fairbanks. A natural in the genre’s unnatural poses. How he’d fare in today’s gory iterations is anyone’s guess. But since CAPTAIN BLOOD twenty years ago, he was only challenged by his former self.*
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID/LINK: *Henry Levin a journeyman director of B+ programmers made this shortly before his temporary career bump (late ‘50s - mid’‘60s) to A-list fare. While already prolific producer Water Mirisch followed this with classic Bs (THE PHENIX CITY STORY/’55; INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS/’56) on his way to permanent Oscar’d A-lister. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2013/01/invasion-of-body-snatchers-1956.html
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Young Flynn certainly was a hard act to follow. See CAPTAIN BLOOD/’35. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/captain-blood-1935.html
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