The Spanish Main
| The Spanish Main | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Frank Borzage |
| Written by | Aeneas MacKenzie (story) George Worthing Yates Herman J. Mankiewicz |
| Produced by | Frank Borzage |
| Starring | Maureen O'Hara Paul Henreid Walter Slezak Binnie Barnes |
| Cinematography | George Barnes |
| Edited by | Ralph Dawson |
| Music by | Hanns Eisler |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2 million[2] |
| Box office | 2,819,971 admissions (France)[3] |
The Spanish Main (1945) is an adventure film starring Paul Henreid, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak and Binnie Barnes, and directed by Frank Borzage.[4][5] It was RKO's first all-Technicolor film since Becky Sharp ten years before.
Cinematographer George Barnes received an Academy Award nomination for Best Color Cinematography. Though a box office hit upon its first release, the film is chiefly remembered today for its lavish and intricate score by Hanns Eisler.
Plot
Dutch sea captain Laurent van Horn (Paul Henreid) is shipwrecked off the coast of the Spanish settlement of Cartagena. After being held and sentenced to death, Van Horn and his crew manage to escape. Five years later, Van Horn has established himself as the mysterious pirate known only by the name of his ship: The Barracuda. After infiltrating the vessel ferrying her to her wedding, they capture Contessa Francisca Alvarado (Maureen O'Hara) who has been arranged to marry the corrupt governor (Walter Slezak). Wishing to avoid further bloodshed aboard the escort ship, Francisca offers to marry Van Horn if he will spare the escort, to which he agrees. Over time Francisca and Van Horn become attracted to each other and set out to defeat the villainous governor Don Juan Alvarado and treacherous pirates Du Billar (John Emery) and Capt. Black (Barton MacLane).
Cast
- Maureen O'Hara as Francisca Alvarado
- Paul Henreid as Capt. Laurent van Horn
- Walter Slezak as Don Juan Alvarado
- Binnie Barnes as Anne Bonny
- John Emery as Mario Da Bilar
- Barton MacLane as Capt. Black
- J. M. Kerrigan as Pillery Gow
- Fritz Leiber as Bishop
- Nancy Gates as Lupita
- Jack La Rue as Lt. Escobar (as Jack LaRue)
- Mike Mazurki as Erik Swaine
- Ian Keith as Captain Lussan
- Curt Bois as Paree
- Antonio Moreno as Commandante
- Victor Kilian as Santa Madre Captain
- James Dime as a pirate[6]
The film includes the character Anne Bonny (Barnes), in a fictionalized account of the real-life well-known female pirate.
Walter Slezak played a similar (but less dastardly) role in the 1948 film The Pirate.
Release
The film was successful and made a profit of $1,485,000.[7][8]
See also
References
- ^ "The Spanish Main: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ Variety (4 February 2018). "Variety (September 1945)". New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company – via Internet Archive.
- ^ French box office of 1948 at Box Office Story
- ^ Variety film review; October 3, 1945, page 20.
- ^ Harrison's Reports film review; October 6, 1945, page 158.
- ^ Freese, Gene Scott (April 10, 2014). Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s: A Biographical Dictionary (2nd ed.). McFarland & Company. p. 75. ISBN 9780786476435.
- ^ Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p. 206
- ^ Richard B. Jewell, Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures, Uni of California, 2016
External links
- The Spanish Main at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- The Spanish Main at IMDb
- The Spanish Main at the TCM Movie Database
- The Spanish Main at AllMovie
- Review of film at Variety
