Captain Scarlett (1953)

That was an excellent one.

Really Surprised!

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This entertaining but quickly forgettable historical swashbuckler has the benefit of giving the post Napoleonic era of France a distinct Mexican feeling. 1930's matinée idol Richard Greene is a French nobleman back from the end of wars after Napoleon was banished, finding out that his lands have been taken over by self proclaimed nobility. So when you are the sudden enemy of a newly declared state, what do you do? Go on the road, create a merry band of men, (and one tough woman), and fight against the injustices by ridding the countryside of these wicked rulers with no genuine claim to their titles.It's silly but colorful, historically inaccurate but action packed, and often camp. Having been a rival to Tyrone Power at 20th Century Fox, Greene is still dashing, having aged pretty well over the previous 15 years. But I never was convinced that I was anywhere near the French country side, given obvious Mexican actors and settings, and one brief dance sequence that is totally Spanish. Other than Greene, the other actors really are not worth recommending. They do the best with what they have, and action sequences often make this quite thrilling.

I just could not watch more than first 20 minutes or so. The colours are so oversaturated they make your eyes bleed. The sound as if it is coming from a tin can. This is probably one of the worst film transfers to DVD I have ever seen. Even the opening titles are tilted and misaligned. Its a shame because I like this kind of Sunday afternoon matinée film but it must be watchable and have reasonable sound quality. Richard Green of the very old series of Robin Hood is the star of this technical debaccle and doubt if he would have wished to have been associated with this. I certainly could not recommend this DVD to anyone - the thing is painful to watch and listen to.

I really do not know if the commentator who gave this joint of ham 10/10 had seen the same film as the rest of us or was indulging in a strong piece of "ironic narrative". My views accord mostly with the comments of all the other reviewers. Richard Greene makes a passable central figure/hero, (in fact, given the time the film was made - just three years before Greene began the long-running British TV series, "The Adventures of Robin Hood", starring in the central role himself, of course, - I felt at times that I was almost watching a 'dress rehearsal' for the TV series and wondering if there was any connection between the two, e.g. did Lew Grade's talent scouts see this film and think of Greene for the green tights role as a result?)Unlike another commentator, I also found the sword fight scenes quite well done, (again conjuring up visions of 'Robin Greene' swashbuckling with the Sheriff of Nottingham's 'baddies'), and the Technicolour could not be any 'lusher' at all. That is as far as it goes, though. The 'plot', (if you can find it), is less than you would have got in any weekly comic of the period, the rest of the acting is somewhere between insipid and atrocious and, in particular, the music score must be one of the worst ever composed/inflicted on a cinema audience. A shame, really. Some improvements in any of the latter regards would have made the film reasonably enjoyable and worth a second viewing. On the other hand, if someone worse than Greene had been in the lead, it would have had a very good chance indeed of being rated as a truly toe-curling, cringe-inducing 'Golden Turkey' of all time. As it is, one for viewing while ironing on a windy winter afternoon and then forgetting.

An excellent film all around. Richard Greene gave an extravagant performance as the dashing and masterful Captian Scarlett. It is hard to imagine a more enjoyable film, or a film in which more men are worsted by a single lamp, Or in which more men are tied to trees, for no real reason. It also contains the best fencing sequences ever captured on film, evidently the actors all had a great deal of fencing experience. The script is excellent, the acting is excellent, and the directing is beyond description. If you have any desire to see the best movie ever made, look no further. If you can only see one movie for the next ten years, everyday, make it this one.