Swashbucklers, Pirates and Sword & Vengence Epics - Which titles are you Needing in your collection? (1 Viewer)

[Capt D McMars]

Ever since I was a kid, watching the Errol Flynns Adventures of Robin Hood, I have enjoyed the period Adventue movies. Going as far back as the Douglas Fairbanks classics of Zorro, the Black Pirate and the Theif of Bagdad silents. I would love to know of any plans in the future to show these films some attention for future BR or 4K remastered releases. Many of these are the golden age of technicolor or thier counterparts, creating some eye poping visuals on screen!!!

There are many of the WB archives that were released in thier "Archives" series, pressed on to DVD-Rs, yet were never given the opportinity for a decent 2K or 4K upgrade. Just some of those titles for me are:
Warner Bros Pictures - Archive Collection
1. Scaramouche - Steward Grainger, Janet Lee - 1952
2. At Swords Point - Cornel Wilde, Maureen O'Hara - 1952
3. The Prince and the Pauper - Errol Flynn - 1937
4. Captain Blood - Errol Flynn - 1935
5. Kidnapped - Roddy McDowall - 1948
6. The Flame and the Arrow - Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo - 1950
7. the Crimson Pirate - Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat - 1952
Paramount Pictures
8. The Buccaneer - Fredric March, Walter Brennan, Anothy Quinn - 1938 (olive remaster)
9. Blackbeard the Pirate - Robert Newton, Linda Darnell - 1952
10. The Count of Monte Cristo - Robert Donat, Elissa Landi - 1934
11. The Corican Brothers - Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ruth Warrick - 1941

 

[Ed Lachmann]

As you note, I also would love to see Raoul Walsh's wonderful Blackbeard the Pirate in HD. I have a German DVD of it and wonder why it's never even seen a DVD release stateside. Two of my all time favorites are Scaramouche and the '38 Buccaneer. On the international side, my Sword of the Conqueror with Jack Palance is on its way from Amazon.de in a gorgeous BD from the good folks at Explosive Media. Expect good things from Explosive as they are also doing a restored Sodom and Gomorrah for early December.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Scaramouche
The Flame and the Arrow
La Tulipe Noire

 

[Capt D McMars]

As you note, I also would love to see Raoul Walsh's wonderful Blackbeard the Pirate in HD. I have a German DVD of it and wonder why it's never even seen a DVD release stateside. Two of my all time favorites are Scaramouche and the '38 Buccaneer. On the international side, my Sword of the Conqueror with Jack Palance is on its way from Amazon.de in a gorgeous BD from the good folks at Explosive Media. Expect good things from Explosive as they are also doing a restored Sodom and Gomorrah for early December.

Thanks Ed, is explosive a German label? I had to go to a Chinese DVD for the blackbeard the pirate. It’s reasonable, but it really needs a decent remaster 2K would be great just depends on the film elements are able to get a hold of but Linda Darnell was always so beautiful, I remember seeing a younger version of Linda Darnell in the Mark of Zorro with Tyrone Power!! Jack Palance is great insured of the conqueror!!! I will be thrilled to see the Warner Bros. archives step up and start showing a little love to their own films!!

 

[RBailey]

I'd love to see some of those lower-budgeted Paul Henreid swashbucklers produced by Columbia Pictures get even a standard DVD release if nothing else. Titles like SIREN OF BAGDAD (which features a hilarious performance from Hans Conried) and THIEF OF DAMASCUS (with Lon Chaney as Sinbad & Robert Clary as Aladdin), LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS and others.
Plus a blu-ray of Henreid's RKO "A" picture, THE SPANISH MAIN with Maureen O'Hara would be most welcome as well

 

[Capt D McMars]

I'd love to see some of those lower-budgeted Paul Henreid swashbucklers produced by Columbia Pictures get even a standard DVD release if nothing else. Titles like SIREN OF BAGDAD (which features a hilarious performance from Hans Conried) and THIEF OF DAMASCUS (with Lon Chaney as Sinbad & Robert Clary as Aladdin), LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS and others.
Plus a blu-ray of Henreid's RKO "A" picture, THE SPANISH MAIN with Maureen O'Hara would be most welcome as well

Agreed Spanish Main with Maureen O’Hara, is a great one the other tiles are you are great too seems like there’s more in need of some love and titles that we want to see be given some love

 

[RolandL]

Scaramouche
The Flame and the Arrow
La Tulipe Noire

 

[Alan Tully]

My wants are mostly the usual suspects, all those MGM swashbucklers that Warner now owns. Like many others, top of my list would be Scaramouche, & then there's the Robert Taylor trilogy: Ivanhoe, Knights Of The Round Table & Quentin Durward (you'd think that Robert Taylor would be miscast in these films, but he makes it work). The two Warner Flynn's I'd like are, The Adventures Of Don Juan & The Master Of Ballantrae, & a great looking Spanish Main wouldn't come amiss. Oh, & the comedy, Start The Revolution Without Me. I'm sure there's other 30s & 40s swashbucklers that I'd buy. I'd also love a great looking remastered Blu-ray of Richard Lester's two 70s Musketeer films, I had them on Blu-ray, but they looked dire, so the Blu's went off to the charity shop.

If you're looking for a good book about movie swashbucklers, I can thoroughly recommend, Swordsmen Of The Screen: From Douglas Fairbank to Michael York, by Jeffrey Richards. Long deleted, but I checked on eBay & prices aren't very high.

 

[Capt D McMars]

My wants are mostly the usual suspects, all those MGM swashbucklers that Warner now owns. Like many others, top of my list would be Scaramouche, & then there's the Robert Taylor trilogy: Ivanhoe, Knights Of The Round Table & Quentin Durward (you'd think that Robert Taylor would be miscast in these films, but he makes it work). The two Warner Flynn's I'd like are, The Adventures Of Don Juan & The Master Of Ballantrae, & a great looking Spanish Main wouldn't come amiss. Oh, & the comedy, Start The Revolution Without Me. I'm sure there's other 30s & 40s swashbucklers that I'd buy. I'd also love a great looking remastered Blu-ray of Richard Lester's two 70s Musketeer films, I had them on Blu-ray, but they looked dire, so the Blu's went off to the charity shop.

If you're looking for a good book about movie swashbucklers, I can thoroughly recommend, Swordsmen Of The Screen: From Douglas Fairbank to Michael York, by Jeffrey Richards, long deleted, but I checked on eBay & prices aren't very high.

Agreed, I would love to see ya brilliant 2K or 4K rendition of the adventures of Don Juan with Errol Flynn Alan Hale in a cast of thousands.

 

[Alan Tully]

Yup, Alan Hale, the unsung hero of swashbuckling films. He played Little John three times, first in the silent Robin Hood (1922), then in The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938) & finally in Rogues Of Sherwood Forest (1950). Amazing!

 

[Capt D McMars]

The beautiful thing is that Errol Flynn always had a group of individuals that he performed with where is Olivia De Havelin or Alan Hale senior that helps support and drive his characters in the movie that he did. I appreciated that over the years, Errol Had that family of actors around him and meet him look so good and perform so much better.

 

[stevenHa]

The Swashbuckler (1976)

 

[Capt D McMars]

Scaramouche
The Flame and the Arrow
La Tulipe Noire

Thanks Keith, I hadn't seen the Black Tulip, nice call!!! I loved Delon in Red Sun as the weasley bad guy with Charles Bronson, Ursala Andress and Tishiro Mifune. Really the first Samurai/Cowboy combo that I can remember!!

 

[Keith Cobby]

I haven't seen The Black Tulip either but the trailer on YouTube looks great and looks like the film has been restored. Given how many French titles have been released by KL, it would be a nice addition, many of us here are fans of Alain Delon.

 

[Capt D McMars]

The Swashbuckler (1976)

Nice call Steven, this was a reprise Shaw did in the TV series Buccaneer 1955-56 - watch
but with a greater cast!!

 

[Ed Lachmann]

Thanks Ed, is explosive a German label? I had to go to a Chinese DVD for the blackbeard the pirate. It’s reasonable, but it really needs a decent remaster 2K would be great just depends on the film elements are able to get a hold of but Linda Darnell was always so beautiful, I remember seeing a younger version of Linda Darnell in the Mark of Zorro with Tyrone Power!! Jack Palance is great insured of the conqueror!!! I will be thrilled to see the Warner Bros. archives step up and start showing a little love to their own films!!

Explosive is an interesting German label. Check them out at:

BluRay Archive - Explosive-Media GmbH

www.explosive-media.com

 

[Beckford]

Here's the chronological list of swashbucklers I'd love to see on Blu

LE CAPITAINE FRACASSE(1929) terrific French silent - with young Charles Boyer as the villain
CAPTAIN BLOOD(1935) Errol Flynn
THE CRUSADES(1935) Cecil B. DeMille production with Loretta Young, Henry Wilcoxon
THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK(1939) Louis Hayward
LA CORONA DI FERRO(1941) Italian swashbuckling spectacle with fantasy elements -Massimo Girotti
THE EXILE(1947) a Max Ophuls masterpiece - Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Maria Montez
preferably the original sepia-toned version
PIRATES OF MONTEREY(1947) Maria Montez, Rod Cameron
ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN(1948) Errol Flynn
THE GALLANT BLADE(1948) Larry Parks, Marguerite Chapman- a Holy Grail item for me - have never seen it
THE SWORDSMAN(1948) Larry Parks -Scottish swashbuckler directed by Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy)
THE FIGHTING O'FLYNN(1949) -Irish swashbuckler - Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Richard Greene
FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD(1950) Louis Hayward, Patricia Medina
IL LADRO DI VENEZIA/THE THIEF OF VENICE(1950) Maria Montez, Paul Christian
marvelous b&w swashbuckler shot on location in and around Venice
looks as good as PRINCE OF FOXES or Welles" OTHELLO
English version has actual voices of Montez and Faye Marlowe but Italian version's longer
Both climax with one of the greatest swordfights ever filmed
THE BRIGAND(1952) Anthony Dexter, Anthony Quinn - colorful underrated fun
CAPTAIN PIRATE(1952) Louis Hayward, Patricia Medina
THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD(1952) Richard Todd - filmed in Britain by Disney
my favorite version of the Robin Hood legend
THE BLACK KNIGHT(1954) Alan Ladd, Patricia Medina
THE SARACEN BLADE(1954) Ricardo Montalban
QUENTIN DURWARD(1955) Robert Taylor
CARTOUCHE(1956) Richard Basehart, Patricia Roc
THE LONG SHIPS(1964) Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier
OUTLAW KING(2018) Chris Pine - from Netflix so Bluray unlikely
THE KING(2019) Timothee Chalamet, Robert Pattinson
- another Netflix item, so don't hold your breath for a Bluray

 

[Ed Lachmann]

Without my all region Oppo BD player, I'd be lost. The GORGEOUS blu-rays of The Crusades (Les Croisades) from France and The Long Ships (Raubzug der Wikinger) from Germany are among the favorites in my collection.

 

[Alan Tully]

Without my all region Oppo BD player, I'd be lost. The GORGEOUS blu-rays of The Crusades (Les Croisades) from France and The Long Ships (Raubzug der Wikinger) from Germany are among the favorites in my collection.

Yes, a really great looking Crusades. I haven't looked at the whole thing yet, just checked out a few scenes. It's funny that it's only released in France (great Blu-ray cover!), I'd have expected a US & German release by now.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Captain Blood.
And then
Captain Blood.
And again
Captain Blood.

And I'd love to have the French 'Le Bossu' (the latest remake of course, with Daniel Auteil in 4k. In the States the movie was called 'On Guard'.