The Sea Hawk is a well-filmed, well-acted adventure yarn of pseudo-pirates and romance on the high seas, based, in name only, on a Rafael Sabatini novel. Errol Flynn plays privateer Geoffrey Thorpe with the charisma and bravado that was his trademark in the 30s and 40s. For two hours, we are taken into the Swashbuckling world where Thorpe and his loyal crew of misfits sink Spanish ships, free English galley slaves, attack a gold caravan, and foil a traitor’s plans, all for Queen and country. It’s all great fun, and very familiar.
There’s not much new in The Sea Hawk, but then there’s not much wrong either. This is Captain Blood, all grown up, or Robin Hood at sea. There is nothing wrong with repeating something that worked, as originality isn’t the only factor that makes a movie worthwhile.
With that in mind, I can’t critique The Sea Hawk without referencing its two older brothers. Almost everyone who worked on it had worked in the genre before and knew exactly what to do. The cast nearly matches that of The Adventures of Robin Hood. Brenda Marshall takes over for Olivia de Havilland as the proud maiden and love interest and does a more believable job. The only other major switch is Henry Daniell as arch-villain Lord Wolfingham instead of Robin Hood‘s Basil Rathbone and the film suffers for it. Daniell does a passable job as a run-of-the-mill villain, but he lacks the spark that made Guy of Gisbourne memorable. It is hard to take seriously Wolfingham as a suitable foe for Thorpe in the final swordfight, and it doesn’t help that Curtiz makes that fight a look-a-like to the great Robin/Gisbourne fight, even down to repeating the fencing shadows.
Other comparisons turn out better for The Sea Hawk. The early sea battle is spectacular, far surpassing what Captain Bloodhad to offer. And there is the music. This is Korngold at his finest. It is stirring. After listening for a few minutes, I wanted to go sink some Spanish ships myself, and I’m pretty much a pacifist.
Warner’s decision to film in b&w was unfortunate. With its fantasy world of detailed ships and elaborate costumes, The Sea Hawk would have benefited from color, the kind of Technicolor used in Robin Hood. But Curtiz knew how to use b&w; the scene where Dona Maria stands by the harbor watching the ship leave is haunting.
Historically, there was more to do with 1940s England and its fight against the Nazis than with 1585 and the Spanish. This was a wartime film, and that set it apart from its brothers. It is darker. The heroes have to sacrifice more in their fight—the galley scenes are played quite seriously—just as the English people are being told they will have to in order to defeat the Germans. Queen Elisabeth’s final patriotic speech was a call to arms to a country at war 400 years out of time.