History Film / CaptainBlood

* CompressedAdaptation: Parts cut from the book include, amongst others, a long stretch of time when Blood drank heavily due to depression, and a very powerful scene in which he cried at [[spoiler:the loss of his ship]]. This was part of a general re-interpretation of his character for the film (from a nuanced, sensitive man to a straight up action hero).

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: A mild example when Willoughby offers Blood and his men a commission from the King, they spend several minutes refusing and putting the King down. When Blood snaps they don't want to follow James, a stunned Willoughby tells them that the Glorious Revolution has taken place, James deposed and it's King William offering the deal.

Notable Austrian composer Music/ErichWolfgangKorngold had been requested by the respected co-director Max Reinhardt of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' to adapt Music/FelixMendelssohn's incidental music for the play as a [[PublicDomainSoundtrack motion-picture score]]; at the same time the Warner Brothers engaged him to compose an original score for ''Captain Blood''. Korngold's fine Late Romantic score, characterized by [[Creator/RichardWagner Wagnerian]] themes and {{Leitmotif}}s, was a write-in candidate at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, despite the fact that the composer had not the time to complete an entirely original score before the début, but was forced to [[PublicDomainSoundtrack adapt]] some of the music from Franz Liszt's symphonic poem ''Mazeppa''.

Notable Austrian composer Music/ErichWolfgangKorngold had been requested by the respected co-director Max Reinhardt of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' to adapt FelixMendelssohn's incidental music for the play as a [[PublicDomainSoundtrack motion-picture score]]; at the same time the Warner Brothers engaged him to compose an original score for ''Captain Blood''. Korngold's fine Late Romantic score, characterized by [[Creator/RichardWagner Wagnerian]] themes and {{Leitmotif}}s, was a write-in candidate at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, despite the fact that the composer had not the time to complete an entirely original score before the début, but was forced to [[PublicDomainSoundtrack adapt]] some of the music from Franz Liszt's symphonic poem ''Mazeppa''.

In the reign of [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart King James II]] of [[UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} England]] a rebellion to place the Duke of Monmouth on the throne breaks out. Rebel [[TheWoobie Jeremy Pitt]] (Ross Alexander) comes to seek the aid of Irish physician and retired soldier, Dr. Peter Blood (ErrolFlynn), to tend on his friend, Lord Gildoy, wounded in battle against the King's Men. While Blood is tending to his patient, he is arrested; brought before HangingJudge [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Lord Jeffreys]] (a creepily memorable performance by Leonard Mudie). Blood and all the rebels are condemned to death.

King James (Vernon Steele), however, prompted by the [[DeadlyDecadentCourt venal Lord Sunderland]], [[MadeASlave sells them into slavery]] in Jamaica instead, where brutal Colonel Bishop (Lionel Atwill) buys most of the men and his sprightly niece, Arabella (Olivia de Havilland), purchases the humiliated Blood. Arabella suggests Blood as a replacement for the gouty governor's bumbling doctors. Blood takes advantage of this to plot escape for himself and his fellow slaves. Bishop, suspecting, whips Jeremy for information, then prepares to whip Blood for interfering, when the town is attacked by Spanish pirates. In the confusion, Blood and the slaves escape and seize the Spanish ship (with the ransom taken from the colonists), and set forth on a career of {{pira|te}}cy.

Sabatini's wildly popular novel had already been filmed as a silent in 1924. The 1935 film was originally intended as a vehicle for English actor Creator/RobertDonat, who had had a great success as Edmond Dantes in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' the previous year, but had to bow out of ''Blood'' due to health problems. Flynn, whose most important part to date had been in a wordless flashback in the ''Franchise/PerryMason'' mystery, ''The Case of the Curious Bride'', was tapped by Jack Warner himself to replace Donat; the devil-may-care Tasmanian of Irish extraction had exactly the quality he desired for the adventurous [[{{Oireland}} Irishman]], [[TheCaptain Captain]] [[AwesomeMcCoolname Peter Blood]]. Olivia de Havilland, having enjoyed a notable success as the feisty Hermia in the Warners' film of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream,'' was assigned the part of the equally spirited [[TheChick Arabella Bishop]]. The fine dramatic actor Lionel Atwood played TheHeavy part of Arabella's uncle, and Creator/BasilRathbone displayed a fine talent for fencing and sneering villainy (if rather less at imitating a French accent) as the evil {{pirate}} Levasseur. Henry Stephenson played the [[CoolOldGuy kindly Lord Willoughby]], and Ross Alexander made a striking impression as the ship's navigator, Jeremy Pitt.

Sabatini's wildly popular novel had already been filmed as a silent in 1924. The 1935 film was originally intended as a vehicle for English actor Creator/RobertDonat, who had had a great success as Edmond Dantes in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' the previous year, but had to bow out of ''Blood'' due to health problems. Flynn, whose most important part to date had been in a wordless flashback in the ''Franchise/PerryMason'' mystery, ''The Case of the Curious Bride'', was tapped by Jack Warner himself to replace Donat; the devil-may-care Tasmanian of Irish extraction had exactly the quality he desired for the adventurous [[{{Oireland}} Irishman]], [[TheCaptain Captain]] [[AwesomeMcCoolname Peter Blood]]. Olivia de Havilland, having enjoyed a notable success as the feisty Hermia in the Warners' film of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream,'' was assigned the part of the equally spirited [[TheChick Arabella Bishop]]. The fine dramatic actor Lionel Atwood played TheHeavy part of Arabella's uncle, and Basil Rathbone displayed a fine talent for fencing and sneering villainy (if rather less at imitating a French accent) as the evil {{pirate}} Levasseur. Henry Stephenson played the [[CoolOldGuy kindly Lord Willoughby]], and Ross Alexander made a striking impression as the ship's navigator, Jeremy Pitt.

Other notable talents engaged for the film included fencing master Fred Cavens to [[{{Flynning}} choreograph]] the [[SwordFight duels]]. During the famous duel on the rocks, director Michael Curtiz insisted that Creator/ErrolFlynn and Basil Rathbone should not use "buttons" on the end of their foils, for greater realism; the actors were thus in actual danger of injury, or possibly even death. This was possibly the beginning of Flynn's lifelong detestation of Curtiz, despite the fact that many of his most notable films were made with the hard-driving Hungarian.

* JustAStupidAccent: Basil Rathbone as a French pirate.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Basil Rathbone's French pirate has dialogue of the "Zees so vairy 'andsome Engleesh prize say, « ''Bonjour, Monsieur le Capitaine Levasseur'' ! »" variety.

Not to be confused with the TVTropes contributor Tropers/CaptainBlood. Or the [[http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/captain-blood-series video game series]].

* CaliforniaDoubling: Nearly all of the movie was filmed on a soundstage in Hollywood in the summer of 1935, apart from a few scenes shot at Laguna Beach, California (standing in for a Caribbean shore).

The script, by Casey Robinson, was a skillful adaptation of Sabatini's picaresque novel. Much of Sabatini's own prose was included, but several events and characters were omitted or conflated, notably Lord Willoughby and a rival for Arabella's hand, Lord Julian Wade. It is perhaps notable that the script [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory toned down]] [[HollywoodHistory to some extent]] the religious and national rivalries that are emphasized in Sabatini's more historically grounded novel. Moreover, the script somewhat changed Blood's character, in an effort to increase his level of {{Badass}} at the expense of the more complex, touchy-feely aspects of his personality. Thus, fans of the book may see it as inferior, despite the film's undisputed status as a classic.

* InferredHolocaust: The film ends with Captain Blood appointed the new governor of the English colony on Jamaica, based out Port Royal, by the new king, William III. The revolution that brought William to the throne took place in 1688. Port Royal was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Royal#Earthquake_of_1692_and_its_aftermath completely destroyed by an earthquake]] in 1692.

Sabatini's wildly popular novel had already been filmed as a silent in 1924. The 1935 film was originally intended as a vehicle for English actor Robert Donat, who had had a great success as Edmond Dantes in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' the previous year, but had to bow out of ''Blood'' due to health problems. Flynn, whose most important part to date had been in a wordless flashback in the ''Franchise/PerryMason'' mystery, ''The Case of the Curious Bride'', was tapped by Jack Warner himself to replace Donat; the devil-may-care Tasmanian of Irish extraction had exactly the quality he desired for the adventurous [[{{Oireland}} Irishman]], [[TheCaptain Captain]] [[AwesomeMcCoolname Peter Blood]]. Olivia de Havilland, having enjoyed a notable success as the feisty Hermia in the Warners' film of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream,'' was assigned the part of the equally spirited [[TheChick Arabella Bishop]]. The fine dramatic actor Lionel Atwood played TheHeavy part of Arabella's uncle, and Basil Rathbone displayed a fine talent for fencing and sneering villainy (if rather less at imitating a French accent) as the evil {{pirate}} Levasseur. Henry Stephenson played the [[CoolOldGuy kindly Lord Willoughby]], and Ross Alexander made a striking impression as the ship's navigator, Jeremy Pitt.

Sabatini's wildly popular novel had already been filmed as a silent in 1924. The 1935 film was originally intended as a vehicle for English actor Robert Donat, who had had a great success as Edmond Dantes in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' the previous year, but had to bow out of ''Blood'' due to health problems. Flynn, whose most important part to date had been in a wordless flashback in the ''Franchise/PerryMason'' mystery, ''The Case of the Curious Bride'', was tapped by Jack Warner himself to replace Donat; the devil-may-care Tasmanian of Irish extraction had exactly the quality he desired for the adventurous [[{{Oireland}} Irishman]], [[TheCaptain Captain]] [[AwesomeMcCoolname Peter Blood]]. Olivia de Havilland, having enjoyed a notable success as the feisty Hermia in the Warners' film of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''AMidsummerNightsDream,'' was assigned the part of the equally spirited [[TheChick Arabella Bishop]]. The fine dramatic actor Lionel Atwood played TheHeavy part of Arabella's uncle, and Basil Rathbone displayed a fine talent for fencing and sneering villainy (if rather less at imitating a French accent) as the evil {{pirate}} Levasseur. Henry Stephenson played the [[CoolOldGuy kindly Lord Willoughby]], and Ross Alexander made a striking impression as the ship's navigator, Jeremy Pitt.

* {{Ambadassador}}: Lord Willoughby is not the physical type, but any envoy who can recruit a whole pirate crew into loyal privateers for the new King in under five minutes is really good at his job.

* BreakTheHaughty: The very last scenes are this for Bishop. He is stripped of his post and is even threatened of severe punishment after leaving Port Royal unprotected in war times. To make things worse(for ''him''), blood is the new governor.

* DuelToTheDeath: Between Peter and Levasseur over Arabella

* GracefulLoser:Bishop seems to accept the fact Blood is the new governor with surprising humility.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Bronson and Whacker, two physicians that treated the governor's gout beofre Blood came along.

* WhamLine: "James? This commision has been sent by King William."

Notable Austrian composer ErichWolfgangKorngold had been requested by the respected co-director Max Reinhardt of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' to adapt FelixMendelssohn's incidental music for the play as a [[PublicDomainSoundtrack motion-picture score]]; at the same time the Warner Brothers engaged him to compose an original score for ''Captain Blood''. Korngold's fine Late Romantic score, characterized by [[Creator/RichardWagner Wagnerian]] themes and {{Leitmotif}}s, was a write-in candidate at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, despite the fact that the composer had not the time to complete an entirely original score before the début, but was forced to [[PublicDomainSoundtrack adapt]] some of the music from Franz Liszt's symphonic poem ''Mazeppa''.

Notable Austrian composer ErichWolfgangKorngold had been requested by the respected co-director Max Reinhardt of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' to adapt FelixMendelssohn's incidental music for the play as a [[PublicDomainSoundtrack motion-picture score]]; at the same time the Warner Brothers engaged him to compose an original score for ''Captain Blood''. Korngold's fine Late Romantic score, characterized by [[Creator/RichardWagner Wagnerian]] themes and {{Leitmotif}}s, was a write-in candidate at the {{Academy Award}}s, despite the fact that the composer had not the time to complete an entirely original score before the début, but was forced to [[PublicDomainSoundtrack adapt]] some of the music from Franz Liszt's symphonic poem ''Mazeppa''.

''Captain Blood'' is a 1935 Creator/WarnerBrothers {{Swashbuckler}} of [[{{Pirate}} piracy on the Caribbean]], directed by Creator/MichaelCurtiz, and starring Creator/ErrolFlynn and Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, based on the 1922 novel ''Literature/CaptainBloodHisOdyssey'' by Creator/RafaelSabatini. The film was nominated for an AcademyAward as Best Picture; interestingly, though Michael Curtiz was not nominated, he nevertheless received the second highest number of votes for best director as a write-in candidate.

* SlaveBrand: Colonel Bishop has Slaves who attempt to escape branded on the face with an '''FT''' for "Fugitive Traitor."

Notable Austrian composer ErichWolfgangKorngold had been requested by the respected co-director Max Reinhardt of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' to adapt FelixMendelssohn's incidental music for the play as a [[PublicDomainSoundtrack motion-picture score]]; at the same time the Warner Brothers engaged him to compose an original score for ''Captain Blood''. Korngold's fine Late Romantic score, characterized by [[Creator/RichardWagner Wagnerian]] themes and [[{{Leitmotif}} Leitmotifs]], was a write-in candidate at the [[AcademyAward Academy Awards]], despite the fact that the composer had not the time to complete an entirely original score before the début, but was forced to [[PublicDomainSoundtrack adapt]] some of the music from Franz Liszt's symphonic poem ''Mazeppa''.

King James (Vernon Steele), however, prompted by the [[DeadlyDecadentCourt venal Lord Sunderland]], [[MadeASlave sells them into slavery]] in Jamaica instead, where brutal Colonel Bishop (Lionel Atwill) buys most of the men and his sprightly niece, Arabella (Olivia de Havilland), purchases the humiliated Blood. Arabella suggests Blood as a replacement for the gouty governor's bumbling doctors. Blood takes advantage of this to plot escape for himself and his fellow slaves. Bishop, suspecting, whips Jeremy for information, then prepares to whip Blood for interfering, when the town is attacked by Spanish pirates. In the confusion, Blood and the slaves escape and seize the Spanish ship (with the ransom taken from the colonists), and set forth on a career of [[{{pirate}} piracy]].

* {{Fanfare}}: Notably, Korngold uses a repeated [[{{Leitmotif}} horncall]] to symbolize Peter's ship, at least once explicitly performed as [[SorryILeftTheBGMOn source-music]] by a bugler in the crew.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Basil Rathbone's French pirate has dialogue of the "Zees so vairy 'andsome Engleesh prize say, « ''Bonjour, Monsieur le Capitaine Levasseur'' ! » variety.

* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Much of the film takes place on-board ship; some aspects of this are [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when Peter reveals that he has not heard of the Glorious Revolution in England because he has "been at sea, out of touch with the world."

In the reign of [[TheHouseOfStuart King James II]] of [[UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} England]] a rebellion to place the Duke of Monmouth on the throne breaks out. Rebel [[TheWoobie Jeremy Pitt]] (Ross Alexander) comes to seek the aid of Irish physician and retired soldier, Dr. Peter Blood (ErrolFlynn), to tend on his friend, Lord Gildoy, wounded in battle against the King's Men. While Blood is tending to his patient, he is arrested; brought before HangingJudge [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Lord Jeffreys]] (a creepily memorable performance by Leonard Mudie). Blood and all the rebels are condemned to death.

''Captain Blood'' is a 1935 WarnerBrothers {{Swashbuckler}} of [[{{Pirate}} piracy on the Caribbean]], directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Creator/ErrolFlynn and Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, based on the 1922 novel ''Literature/CaptainBloodHisOdyssey'' by Creator/RafaelSabatini. The film was nominated for an AcademyAward as Best Picture; interestingly, though Michael Curtiz was not nominated, he nevertheless received the second highest number of votes for best director as a write-in candidate.

* ChairReveal: "Uncle -- this is the governor!"