'The Spanish Main', directed by Frank Borzage, is an immensely satisfying, nicely old fashioned swashbuckler. The film has everything you expect of a proper pirate movie: An upstanding hero who was forced into piracy (Paul Henreid as Captain Barracuda), a beautiful heroine who quickly falls in love with him (Maureen O'Hara as the daughter of the governor of New Spain), a dastardly villain who looks the part (Walter Slezak as governor of Tortuga), plenty of well-choreographed sword fighting, and lovely model ships that have been filmed in a way that makes them look almost (but not quite) like the real thing. And it is all in technicolor! And the acting is great, even in supporting roles (Binnie Barnes as Anne Bonney, for example). And on top of all that the dialogues are good (Slezak's remark about pirates named like fish made me laugh). Perhaps 'The Spanish Main' has not quite the charm of for example 'Captain Blood' or 'The Sea Hawk', filmed 5 to 10 years earlier. Also, Paul Henreid is not quite as convincing as swashbuckling hero as Errol Flynn. But this film is still very good entertainment.
Review of The Spanish Main
