The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action (2005 Video) User Reviews

High praise for most of the ingredients that went into "The Sea Hawk"...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 5 May 2008]

This documentary starts with Korngold's rousing score beneath scenes of ERROL FLYNN as THE SEA HAWK, and then begins with narration by Lincoln Hurst, Rudy Behlmer and Robert Osborne, all of them full of praise for the classic swashbuckler that Warners was so capable of making.

Noted are the sets which were leftovers from THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX and ROBIN HOOD; that the Howard Koch script was really a reflection of the times: Hitler vs. Churchill in the 20th Century; the bigger budget for this than for CAPTAIN BLOOD, with two life-size ships built on a huge sound stage on hydraulic lifts so the ships could sway; and the fact that Errol Flynn, although the biggest box-office draw at the studio, never felt fully appreciated by Jack Warner, who never took him seriously as an actor.

ALAN HALE and FLORA ROBSON are praised highly for their contributions, but BRENDA MARSHALL is cited as a "cool Norwegian beauty at her best when being morally indignant" but no substitute for Olivia de Havilland, according to Lincoln Hurst.

Musician John Mauceri further states: "Seeing Errol Flynn without Olivia was really hard for everybody. It's really difficult to accept the fact it should be Olivia de Havilland and how could he dare look at a woman when it's not Olivia like that." And he goes on to praise the Korngold music which is probably one of the finest scores he ever wrote, whereas another composer might have been content to merely recycle his score from other films.

Another detriment aside from the casting of Brenda Marshall, is the fact that HENRY DANIELL, while a wonderful villain, could not fence and is seen only in the close-ups of the dueling scene. A double had to be used for 90% of the fight, which nevertheless manages to be one of the best staged duels of its kind, thanks to imaginative camera work and Michael Curtiz's direction.

Summing up: A fascinating glimpse of the Flynn classic.

This retrospective of THE SEA HAWK is about twice as good . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 9 July 2015]

. . . as most of the other Errol Flynn feature film DVD extras Turner Home Video churned out in their 2005 mass release. It's not hard to understand why that is. For one thing, it's almost twice as long as the majority of the others. This provides more time for the usual suspects ("film historians" Hurst, Behlmer, and Osborne) to detail on-set behind-the-scenes (especially concerning THE SEA HAWK's intricate water tank for ocean warfare episodes) and casting notes (Flora Robson was a more fun Queen Elizabeth I for Flynn than Bette Davis had been in the earlier PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX). Better yet, the aging trio of Film Pontificators is beefed up by the presence of two comparative youngsters, conductor John Mauceri and sword-master Tim Weske. The former notes that Erich Wolfgang Korngold's SEA HAWK score is "the greatest swashbuckling symphony ever written," while the latter observes that Flynn's fencing skills are greatly improved here from his ROBIN HOOD days.

The making of a great movie and standards of swashbucklers

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 18 July 2021]

"The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action" is a Warner Home Video made in 2005 as a featurette to go with the DVD release of "The Sea Hawk." A host of well-known movie critics, historians, and contributors comment on the making of the movie, on the sets, the cast and especially Errol Flynn's rise to become master of the swashbuckler films.

Among this group are Robert Osborne, film historian and long-time host of TV's Turner Classic Movies, Lincoln Hurst, professor of film history, and Rudy Behlmer, author and film historian. Tim Weske is a sword master and choreographer who discusses Flynn's mastery of sword fighting since his first film, "Captain Blood," five years earlier. The interviewees discuss the building of the large model ships used for the battle scenes. And, conductor John Mauceri discusses the score and music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and how its style became the standard for such adventure films.

No one can ever forget the type of rousing, exciting music that just speaks of action and adventure in this and similar films. Of Korngold's score and music, Mauceri says, "Once again, new fanfares, new themes for Captain Thorpe. New themes for Queen Elizabeth." He says, "You could say that a lesser composer could have just repeated himself (from "Captain Blood") and instead he wrote the greatest swashbuckling symphony ever written."

Hurst notes the film's intended allegory with the current world situation in which Great Britain and France were already at war with Germany. The portrayals of Queen Elizabeth of England and King Phillip of Spain were allegories of Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler. While most people watching the film decades later, and in the 21st century wouldn't even think of that, it was a very real aspect of this film by Warner Brothers to influence the American public's support for Great Britain in WW II.

Osborne says that "The Sea Hawk" "is a great example of company moviemaking." When you've got experts in all these fields and you've got many creative people on hand, a studio could produce exceptional films like this, he says. Behlmer adds, "And it was done in the grand style, and Warner Brothers did that sort of film, at this stage of the genre, better than anybody else."

Osborne says, "It's the kind of movie they don't really make anymore. It's the kind of movie that can only be made if you have a star with a kind of swagger and the matinee idol look of an Errol Flynn."

Those who enjoy swashbucklers and movie buffs overall should enjoy this documentary featurette.

Very Informative Addition To 'The Sea Hawk' DVD

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 3 January 2008]

I could have listened to these guys for a lot longer!

By "these guys," I mean the regular guys on these Warner Brothers DVD documentaries, such as Lincoln Hurst, professor of film at UC Davis, and Rudy Behlmer, author-historian, who both provide a lot of good stuff in this bonus feature on the Warner Brothers DVD, "The Sea Hawk."

The two guys discuss Errol Flynn and some of the other cast members, the behind-the-scenes production and special-effects of the film, the soundtrack and more.

Behlmer reminds us that "The Sea Hawk" had been done before, being a big silent-film hit in 1924. He also informs us that they were thinking of having The Sea Hawk as a followup to Captain Blood" (1945) but it was put aside for awhile because they wanted to put Flynn in "The Charge of The Light Brigade" and then "Adventure of Robin Hood." By the time they got around to doing this movie, they had changed it and Belmer and Hurst go on to give the history of how the movie was done by the studio. Both of these guys give a lot of history of this film and how it was produced and promoted. The part about the ships, alone, was very interesting. I'm glad I saw this feature AFTER the movie so I wouldn't know how the battle scenes were faked!

Robert Osborne adds information about Flynn, who brought it a lot of paying customers. "Bette Davis was the queen of Warner Brothers but Errol Flynn was the king," he said, "and never got credit for that. And, he felt, he was never quite appreciated for that by Jack Warner."

There were some nice tributes, too, to Flora Robson and Henry Danielle, although the latter was so pathetic at sword-fighting, Belmer laughed, they had to put in a double at the end! Daniell and Flynn have the final sword-fight and it is a dandy but 99 percent of it is so other guy than uncoordinated Henry. The soundtrack is given great praise, too. All-in-all, a very frank and interesting look back at this film and its actors. Don't pass this up on "The Sea Hawk" DVD.

Fun Featurette on The Sea Hawk

[Michael_Elliott · 22 March 2012]

The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action (2005)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lincoln Hurst, Rudy Behlmer, Robert Osborne and John Mauceri are interviewed about the production of THE SEA HAWK in this 20-minute featurette. The historians start off by talking about the 1924 silent version and how Warner planned on remaking it after CAPTAIN BLOOD but then Errol Flynn got busy with other projects. We hear about the movie going into production but there was an issue with Flynn not wanting to take the role. We also hear about the casting of Alan Hale and Brenda Marshall and how Olivia de Havilland turned down the female lead. We also get talk about Henry Daniell and how he was able to get the part without even being able to hold a sword. There's some detailed talk about what the director and studio had to do to work around this because of the big sword fight with Flynn. Fans of the film should enjoy this movie as should those who didn't care for the movie. I'm one a few people who didn't care for this classic but this featurette does a very good job at telling what went on with the production and it certainly clear that most really love the final product and consider it one of the best of its kind.