Foster on Film

Famed lover Don Juan (Errol Flynn), and his faithful servant, Leporello (Alan Hale), return to Spain to find it under the thumb of the traitorous Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas).  Assigned as a fencing instructor, Don Juan devotes himself to the welfare of Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors).  When de Lorca moves against the crown, it

I can’t decide what hits me hardest when I watch The Adventures of Robin Hood, the beauty of the film or the sheer joy in it.  This is the film where everybody got it right. Let me start with the colors.  Technicolor was new to film in 1938 and for this one film, it was

The elderly Robin Hood finds tyranny once again in England in the form of the Regent (Henry Daniell). He reforms his band of merry men and calls on his son Robert (Cornel Wilde) to lead the fight. When the Regent threatens to kill the young king, Robert devises a rescue with the help of Lady

Edward Maynard (Keith Andes) hopes to prove that Sir Henry Morgan (Torin Thatcher), the governor of Jamaica, is still a pirate. To do that, he joins the crew of the infamous Blackbeard (Robert Newton), who has his own score to settle with Morgan. Blackbeard also kidnaps Edwina Mansfield (Linda Darnell ), an upper class lady whose father

When members of his crew are captured by George Fairfax (Lowell Gilmore) and sold as slaves to Marquis de Riconete (George Macready), pirate captain Peter Blood (Louis Hayward) comes to shore to free them.  Masquerading as a fruit peddler, Blood wins over the local bar girl (Dona Drake) and the Marquis’s niece (Patricia Medina), and

The evil Duke of Brampton (David Niven) executes wealthy nobles in order to steal their possessions. A book containing the names of his victims falls into the hands of Michael Dermott (Edmund Purdom), the leader of a band of outlaws. Michael and his sidekick, Jack (Roger Moore) plan to use the information purely for financial gain, but

Don Alejandro de la Vega’s (Antonio Banderas) unwillingness to retire from being Zorro strains his marriage to Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and his relationship with his son, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso).  After receiving divorce papers, things get even worse, as a group of gunmen pressure locals to sell their land, a huge explosion rocks the woods, and

The three musketeers, Aramis (Jeremy Irons), Athos (John Malkovich), and Porthos (Gérard Depardieu), now well past their prime, plan to replace the cruel king (Leonardo DiCaprio) with his imprisoned, and unknown twin brother (also Leonardo DiCaprio), who is hidden behind an iron mask.  Opposing them is their old friend, D’Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne) who is the

Spanish dueling champion Don Diego Vega (Frank Langella) returns to California to find that his father has been forced out as governor, replaced by the corrupt Luis Quintero (Robert Middleton) who has the peasants whipped, over-taxed, and generally abused.  Realizing that he can help best in secret, he acts bored and effeminate in public, behaving

Dashing aristocratic soldier Capt. Renato Dimorna (John Derek) returns home to find his father accused of treason and murdered by Governor Viovanni Larocca (Anthony Quinn).  Feigning a leg injury and belief that his father was a traitor, Renato takes on the identity of the masked “Ghost of Monte Cristo” to bring justice to the land. 

Lagardère, an upstart duelist (Daniel Auteuil) is befriended by the Duke of Nevers (Vincent Perez), the finest swordsman in France, accompanying him to the faraway home of a lover who has produced a child, thus motivating the Duke to marry her.  However, the Duke’s cousin (Fabrice Luchini) is not willing to have another heir between

Shy and  fashion-challenged Mabel (Kristy McNichol) accompanies her bathing-beauty friends to a beach-side pirate extravaganza where she’s hit on by a sword-swinging performer (Christopher Atkins).  Several mishaps leave her unconscious on a beach, dreaming of being a hot babe in the 1800s and of the performer being Frederic, a member of a pirate crew.  The dream,