Blu-ray Review The Spanish Main Blu-ray Review (2 Viewers)

[Matt Hough]

There is a lot of action-filled fun to be found in Frank Borzage’s swashbuckling The Spanish Main.



The Spanish Main (1945)



Released: 01 Oct 1945
Rated: Approved
Runtime: 100 min




Director: Frank Borzage
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance



Cast: Paul Henreid, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak
Writer(s): George Worthing Yates, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Æneas MacKenzie



Plot: After being wronged by the Caribbean authorities, a Dutch captain turns pirate to wage war.



IMDB rating: 6.3
MetaScore: N/A





Disc Information



Studio: Other
Distributed By: Warner Archive
Video Resolution: 1080P/AVC



Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HDMA



Subtitles: English...

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[Andrew Budgell]

Great review, Matt! I'm a big Maureen O'Hara fan but have somehow never seen this one... I'm looking forward to it, and to adding another stellar WAC release to my collection!

 

[David_B_K]

Sounds like a Technicolor must-have for me.

 

[Dick]

Terrific review as always, Matt. I would only take issue with your assertion that this was the first "full color" release after BECKY SHARP. In fact, that honor goes to the RKO film I still await above all others: the 1939 Technicolor production of SINBAD THE SAILOR. Have a safe and memorable holiday, sir...and to everyone else on the forum.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Terrific review as always, Matt. I would only take issue with your assertion that this was the first "full color" release after BECKY SHARP. In fact, that honor goes to the RKO film I still await above all others: the 1939 Technicolor production of SINBAD THE SAILOR. Have a safe and memorable holiday, sir...and to everyone else on the forum.

Another excellent review Matt. Rick, I believe you may be confusing Sinbad the Sailor (1947) with Gunga Din (1939)? Both productions starred Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. at RKO. Gunga Din was filmed in B & W, of course.

I believe The Spanish Main was the first full-length three-strip Technicolor movie financed 100% by RKO as they had a number of releases prior to this including Becky Sharp (1935), The Dancing Pirate (1936), Sixty Glorious Years (1938), all the Disney films, the Samuel Goldwyn films with Danny Kaye including Up in Arms (1944) and Wonder Man (1945) along with the International Films' productions of Belle of the Yukon (1944) and It's a Pleasure! (1945). This was before International Pictures merged with Universal.

And I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, also.

 

[Bartman]

I wondered why I missed this on DVD, ah ha, it was a WAC release NOT regular Warner & Netflix never carried the WAC releases, oh well. I'm waiting for Captain Horatio Hornblower on Blu-ray, I wonder why it's taking so long? P.S. I highly recommend the Northwest Passage Blu-ray one of the best 3-strip restorations I've seen. Cheers!

 

[Capt D McMars]

I hope that this release gets a big return upon its release. Holding the possibilities of future Swashbuckling Adventures in the Technicolor realm, like Scaramouch, The Iron Mistress, Either of the latter-day Prisoner of Zenda, Sinbad the Sailor, either of the Lancaster films (The Flame and the Arrow, the Crimson Pirate). Or the Ursula Andreas "She" production on 4K would be pretty amazing as well!!

 

[Robert Harris]

A beautifully rendered Technicolor release from Warner Achieve, and a very interesting assignment for Mr. Borzage, almost two decades after his best work.

 

[benbess]

Matt Hough writes in the review above:

"....Herman J. Mankiewicz was brought in to beef up the original script by George Worthing Yates (based on a story by Aeneas MacKenzie), and he’s piled incident-upon-incident into the narrative, all very familiar tropes from other swashbucklers. There are plenty of ship face-offs (with good use of miniatures), pirates boarding an enemy craft with the resultant swordplay, and pistol and foil duels (the former pits Francesca against Anne in a rivalry of woman claiming the film’s male protagonist that has an amusing conclusion). Two-time Oscar-winning director Frank Borzage doesn’t get to engage heavily in the florid romanticism that he was famous for, but with such a ravishing leading lady for his film, he does what he can to make her intimate encounters with her leading man as full of fire and longing as he can. He also does an excellent job keeping things moving as we jump continually between locations with our heroes and villains plotting their various surprises. Location work has been combined nicely with soundstage footage to bring the Caribbean settings closer to believability, and George Barnes’ expert Oscar-nominated color cinematography, RKO’s first full color film since Becky Sharp, brings the derring-do excitingly to life.

Maureen O’Hara gets top billing and once again earns her occasional moniker as “Queen of Technicolor” looking stunning in a series of Edward Stevenson period gowns that bring additional fire to her luster in a role that offers both haughty disdain in the early going, lovesick longing later on, and full, fiery adventurousness when the chips are down...."


That was good enough for me, and I got this blu-ray at full price. Watched it with my spouse tonight, and we both were entertained and felt we got our money's worth. Speaking of that, I looked it up and apparently this movie cost a bit over $2 million back when it was made in 1945, which would be about forty million or so today—and it's all up there on the screen. Quite entertaining! Recommended for those who like this kind of thing.

The picture quality is stunning. An A+ for picture quality and maybe a B+ for the movie itself.

It was fun to see in this movie Walter Slezak (Willi from Lifeboat) and John Emery (Dr. Fleurot from Spellbound).

Binnie Barnes as the woman pirate Anne Boney was also a hoot.

This movie, released just months after the end of World War II, was apparently a big hit.

The disc includes as one of its bonuses one of the most hilarious Bugs Bunny cartoons ever made, Buccaneer Bunny.

• Bugs Bunny: What's up, doc?
• Yosemite Sam: What's up doc? I ain't no doc, I'm a pirate! Sea-Goin' Sam, the bloodthirstiest, shoot-em-firstiest, doggone worstiest buccaneer that's ever sailed the Spanish Main! Now gimme them jewels! Them's my treasure, and I'm a-buryin' 'em where no one'll know where they're at but me.
• Bugs Bunny: Uh huh. And me.
• Yosemite Sam: What? [pulls his pistol on Bugs]. Say your prayers, varmint! Dead rabbits tell no tales.
• Bugs Bunny: Now just a minute, red. Ain't you got that wrong? You mean, "Dead men tell no tales."
• Yosemite Sam: Dead men tell no...? Say, you're right! Well, doggone it, I reckon I ain't got no alternative...[aims his pistol at his own head]

As some of you know, I'm very fond of movie posters created back when these films were first released, and so here are some more...

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[Capt D McMars]

Maureen was great in this film as well. Hoping for a blu ray for this classic as well!!!