SWASHBUCKLERS BECKON

Pennants Flutter! Arrows Fly! Battlements are Scaled! Swords Clash and Clang!

The swashbuckler comes stocked with a level of visual riches few other genres can touch.

And in the best of them, that’s fortified, amplified, buoyed and bolstered by an atmosphere of sheer aspirational zest. Dreams of adventure and gallant deeds seem not just pleasing but plausible. Without yielding a bit of their fervor.  Antique settings and motifs suddenly bristle with an exciting immediacy.

Every frame overflows with tantalizing images:

Knights and their ladies, pirate kings, Viking hordes, highwaymen, musketeers and masked avengers.

Silver goblets, jewelled crowns, brocades, velvets, dueling cavaliers and rearing steeds.

Skulls, crossbones, treasure maps and treasure chests.

Turrets, moats, drawbridges and dungeons.

Round tables and square-rigged galleons.

Daggers, rapiers, crossbows, lances, shields and gleaming armor.

Throne rooms, monarchs, pretenders, rightful heirs and scheming regents.

Chivalry, chicanery, gallantry and guile.

All for one and one for all!

I’ve been watching swashbucklers all my life. So I've explored a great deal of what’s out there.They haven’t all been classics. But I still get excited when I come across one I haven't yet seen.

Here’s my personal Top 40. These are the titles closest to my heart. The ones I never tire of watching.

If you’ve been reading this, chances are you’re a swashbuckler fan too and have watched many of them.  It’s my hope this list might steer you toward one or two you don’t know - possible future favorites of your own.

                                                40 FAVORITE SWASHBUCKLERS

                                                         (arranged chronologically)

ROBIN HOOD
(1922-Allan Dwan) Douglas Fairbanks,Enid Bennett,Wallace Beery,Alan Hale

VIKING,THE
(1928-Roy William Neill) LeRoy Mason,Donald Crisp,Pauline Starke,Harry Woods

LE CAPITAINE FRACASSE
(1929-Alberto Cavalcanti & Henry Wulschleger) Pierre Blanchar,Charles Boyer

CAPTAIN BLOOD
(1935-Michael Curtiz) Errol Flynn,Olivia deHavilland,Lionel Atwill,Basil Rathbone

CRUSADES, THE
(1935-Cecil B. DeMille) Loretta Young,Henry Wilcoxon,Ian Keith,Katherine DeMille

MAN IN THE IRON MASK,THE
(1939-James Whale) Louis Hayward,Joan Bennett,Joseph Schildkraut

MARK OF ZORRO,THE
(1940-Rouben Mamoulian) Tyrone Power,Linda Darnell,Basil Rathbone

SEA HAWK,THE
(1940-Michael Curtiz) Errol Flynn,Brenda Marshall,Flora Robson,Henry Daniell

LA CORONA DI FERRO{THE IRON CROWN}
(1941-Alessandro Blasetti) Elisa Cegani,Massimo Girotti

SPANISH MAIN,THE
(1945-Frank Borzage) Maureen O’Hara,Paul Henreid,Walter Slezak

CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE
(1947-Henry King) Tyrone Power,Jean Peters,Lee J. Cobb,John Sutton

EXILE,THE
(1947-Max Ophuls) Douglas Fairbanks Jr,Maria Montez,Paule Croset

PIRATES OF MONTEREY
(1947-Alfred L. Werker) Maria Montez,Rod Cameron,Mikhail Rasumny

BLACK ARROW,THE
(1948-Gordon Douglas) Louis Hayward,Janet Blair,George Macready

SWORDSMAN,THE
(1948-Joseph H. Lewis) Larry Parks,Ellen Drew,Ray Collins,George Macready

ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN
(1949-Vincent Sherman) Errol Flynn,Viveca Lindfors,Alan Hale,Robert Douglas

BLACK MAGIC
(1949-Gregory Ratoff) Orson Welles,Nancy Guild,Akim Tamiroff,Frank Latimore

PRINCE OF FOXES
(1949-Henry King) Tyrone Power,Orson Welles,Wanda Hendrix,Felix Aylmer

FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD
(1950-Gordon Douglas) Louis Hayward,Patricia Medina,Dona Drake

IL LADRO DI VENEZIA{THE THIEF OF VENICE}
(1950-John Brahm) Maria Montez,Paul  Christian.Faye Marlowe,Massimo Serato

ROGUES OF SHERWOOD FOREST
(1950-Gordon Douglas) John Derek,Diana Lynn,Alan Hale

TREASURE ISLAND(1950-Byron Haskin)
 Bobby Driscoll,Robert Newton,Basil Sidney,Finlay Currie

LA VENDETTA DEL CORSARO{REVENGE OF THE PIRATES}
(1951-Primo Zeglio) Maria Montez,Jean-Pierre Aumont

AT SWORD’S POINT(1952-Lewis Allen)
 Maureen O’Hara,Cornel Wilde,Dan O’Herlihy,Gladys Cooper

BRIGAND,THE(1952-Phil Karlson)
Anthony  Dexter,Jody Lawrance,Anthony Quinn,Gale Robbins

CAPTAIN PIRATE
(1952-Ralph Murphy) Louis Hayward,Patricia Medina,John Sutton,Malu Gatica

SCARAMOUCHE
(1952-George Sidney) Stewart Granger,Eleanor Parker,Janet Leigh,Mel Ferrer

STORY OF ROBIN HOOD,THE
(1952-Ken Annakin) Richard Todd,Joan Rice,Peter Finch,Anthony Forwood

BLACK KNIGHT, THE
(1954-Tay Garnett) Alan Ladd,Patricia Medina,Andre Morell,Peter Cushing

SARACEN BLADE,THE
(1954-William Castle) Ricardo Montalban,Betta St. John,Carolyn Jones

QUENTIN DURWARD
(1955-Richard Thorpe) Robert Taylor,Kay Kendall,Robert Morley,George Cole

MOONRAKER,THE
(1958-David MacDonald) George Baker,Sylvia Syms,Marius Goring

VIKINGS,THE
(1958-Richard Fleischer) Kirk Douglas,Tony Curtis,Janet Leigh,Ernest Borgnine

LONG SHIPS,THE
(1964-Jack Cardiff) Richard Widmark,Sidney Poitier,Rosanna Schiaffino

CHALLENGE FOR ROBIN HOOD,A
(1967-C.M. Pennington-Richards) Barrie Ingham,Gay Hamilton

CONAN THE BARBARIAN
(1982-John Milius) Arnold Schwarzenegger,Sandahl Bergman,James Earl Jones

CUTTHROAT ISLAND
(1995-Renny Harlin) Geena Davis,Matthew Modine,Frank Langella

KNIGHT’S TALE,A
(2001-Brian Helgeland) Heath Ledger,Rufus Sewell,Shannyn Sossaman

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
(2005-Ridley Scott) Orlando Bloom,Eva Green,Liam Neeson,Jeremy Irons

THREE MUSKETEERS,THE
(2011-Paul W.S. Anderson) Logan Lerman,Milla Jovovich,Orlando Bloom

P.S.

My Swashbuckler Holy Grail items – two promising films I’ve yet to track down:
GALLANT BLADE, THE
(1948-Henry Levin) Larry Parks,Marguerite Chapman,George Macready

FIGHTING O’FLYNN, THE
(1949-Arthur Pierson) Douglas Fairbanks Jr,Richard Greene,Patricia Medina

Update: October 2018
Recently got to watch "The Fighting O'Flynn" on the wonderful rarefilmm.com site.
Excellent print - and the movie itself was a real treat. Novel story, lovely execution;
entire cast is good with Fairbanks Jr. in just the right poetically heightened groove.
Can't bring myself to jettison any of the titles on the above Top 40 to accomodate it.
So let's just call it a 41 Favorites list.
Now "The Gallant Blade" stands as the very last item on my swash-bucket list.   

 

Update #2: January 2021

Still haven't caught up with "The Gallant Blade". But I have seen three new swashbucklers I've loved. Guy Ritchie's marvelous "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword"(2017), a scandalously underappreciated mix of sword and sorcery sprawled across a massive canvas. Also two exemplary Netflix titles, "Outlaw King"(2018) and "The King"(2019). Would love to own both on Blu-ray but - with Netflix's reluctance to release things in physical form, I guess that'll remain a pipe-dream.

Update #3: July 31 2023

Finally saw a good print of Douglas Fairbanks' 1926 epic "The Black Pirate". Definitely belongs on any list of top swashbucklers. One of the first Technicolor films (albeit early two strip Technicolor) and a joy from start to finish. This and Fairbanks' earlier "Robin Hood" (already ensconced on my list) are twin adventure masterpieces, Also caught up with the 1944 Maria Montez movie "Gypsy Wildcat". Had no idea it was a swashbuckler. But it definitely is - with castles and swords, elaborate costumes and action galore - all captured in the glory of full 3 strip Technicolor. Part of Kino's Maria Montez-Jon Hall collection, along with the quite okay "White Savage" and the marvelous sword and sand opus "Sudan". 

 

Update #4: October 11 2023

Managed to finally see "The Gallant Blade", the 1948 swashbuckler that's eluded me for half my life.

It popped up recently on YouTube. A black & white print rather than the original Cinecolor - but watchable enough quality-wise. And now at last the key item's been checked off my swash-bucket list. 

One reason I'd been so keen to see it was because the other Larry Parks adventure film Columbia put out that same year, "The Swordsman" is a firm favorite of mine. Was hoping this one might be as good.

It's not - as it turns out - but that would have been a high bar to match. "The Gallant Blade", set in 17th century France, is - however - quite okay on its own merits. The story's fairly absorbing, production values pleasing. And it was surprising to see regular Columbia evildoer George Macready as a thoroughly good guy for once. Victor Jory's in charge of the villainy in this outing. Unfortunately Larry Parks doesn't really come across that effectively here.He's agile enough - and certainly proficient with the swordplay. But the guy just doesn't have a commanding presence. Nor does he have the looks one expects from the hero of an enterprise like this. In "The Swordsman" director Joseph H. Lewis  created a really bracing atmosphere of fun and adventure and Parks was somehow able to ride that wave quite effectively. Would have preferred Louis Hayward but - nevertheless - Parks performed nicely. In "The Gallant Blade" he's just sort of along for the ride but adding little in the way of personal flair or charisma. Still, as I say, the story's fine. And long before the final reel I was happily invested. Maybe one day a color print will emerge giving "The Gallant Blade" that extra little fillip it could use.

 

Update #5: November 11 2023

One of the great swashbuckling tales, Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" has been filmed countless times. But seldom - in my opinion - to great effect. Faye Dunaway was a marvelous Milady in Richard Lester's two part adaptation in the 70's. But otherwise I found that version dreary and coarse.

I love Paul W.S. Anderson's 2011 steampunk take with flying galleons at war in the skies above 17th century Paris. Even the credit sequence was a dazzler. But there's no denying his Three Musketeers was many many miles away from Dumas' initial conception. 

Now - from France comes yet another movie interpretation "Les Trois Mousquetaires: D'Artagnan". And I'm happy to report that it's a winner. Probably the most substantial screen retelling the story's ever had. It looks marvelous - sets, locations and costumes are all to die for. The political intrigues and historical issues come across with a clarity and gravity that previous versions just haven't approached. And the fighting sequences are superbly realized with a you are there intensity that sweeps you right into the action. Even the sounds of musket fire seem somehow more real than any I've encountered in movies up to now. And happily the large cast of players is immensely capable - in several cases downright charismatic. Francois Civil (new to me) is the best D'Artagnan I've ever seen, connecting fully with modern sensibilities yet never seeming out of place in the period setting. And he's a demon in the action set-pieces. Fascinating Eva Green seems born to play the wickedly resourceful Milady. As good as Faye Dunaway was in the 70's - but - unlike Dunaway, Green's surrounded by a movie that operates on a similarly delightful level. Among the supporting cast Louis Garrel works wonders with the role of King Louis, adding layers of complexity and magnetism to every scene he's in. 

In short, this is the version to see. It was a big hit in France earlier this year ( I saw it on Region 2 Blu-ray with English subtitles). And happily a sequel, "Les Trois Mousquetaires: Milady", has already been completed. This is one I'll be sure not to miss.