Against All Flags

Plot synopsis:
Brian Hawke, an officer aboard the British merchant ship The Monsoon, volunteers for a dangerous mission to infiltrate the pirate's base at Diego-Suarez on the coast of Madagascar. He is to pose as a deserter, and to make his disguise more convincing, he is given twenty lashes. When he arrives in Diego-Suarez, he arouses the suspicions of the pirates, especially Captain Roc Brasiliano. Brasiliano orders him to appear before a tribunal of the Coast Captains to decide his fate. If they do not like him, he will be executed. Meanwhile, Hawke has caught the eye of Spitfire Stevens - the only woman among the Coast Captains - who inherited her position from her father.
At the tribunal, Hawke duels one of the pirates with boarding pikes, managing to outfight him. Hawke is therefore allowed to join Brasiliano's crew to prove his worth. While cruising the shipping lanes, they come across a Moghul vessel crammed with luxuries and vast wealth. After a tough battle, it is taken and looted. Captured aboard is Patma, the daughter of the Moghul Emperor, who is disguised by her chaperone as just another ordinary woman. She falls in love with Hawke after he rescues her from the burning ship, admitting he is only the third man she has ever seen.
When they return to Diego-Suarez, Spitfire becomes jealous of Patma. When Patma is put up for auction, she outbids Hawke (who had wanted to protect her from the other pirates) and takes the Indian woman into her service. In a candid moment, Spitfire tells Hawke she is planning to leave for England via Brazil, where she can catch a legal ship. She wants Hawke to accompany her there, after which he can take ownership of her ship. Brasiliano's hatred of Hawke grows, as he has a fancy for Spitfire himself.
Hawke has slowly been gathering information on the base, and has acquired a map of the defences. It is planned that the Royal Navy ships will sail into the harbour, with Hawke disabling the cannons. Hawke gives a signal to the British ships with a flare, and makes sure the Moghul princess is ready to be rescued. Unfortunately, Hawke's plans are uncovered by Brasiliano. Hawke is tied to a stake on the beach, to be drowned and eaten by crabs. Spitfire pretends to cut his throat to end his suffering, but instead cuts the ropes binding him to the stake.
At that moment, a British warship enters the bay. The pirates hurry to repel it, expecting to easily sink it as they had a Portuguese warship that recently attempted to storm the harbour. To their surprise, the cannons have been double-shotted and explode. Faced with imminent defeat and hanging, Brasiliano tries a final gamble to escape. He places the princess at the front of his ship, as he sails past the British warship, knowing they will not dare fire on her. However, Hawke has slipped aboard and manages to reach the hostage, escorting her to safety. Hawke and Brasiliano then square off for an epic final sword duel on the decks of the ship.

Tags: action

Review:
There appears Brian Hawke (Errol Flynn) , an English navy officer slashing his way through the fleet and pretending to be a deserter to infiltrate into pirate island .
Once inside the port, Flynn meets the pirate captains called Stevens (Maureen O'Hara) and Roc Brasiliano (Anthony Quinn).
Brian Hawke and Brasiliano capture and burn a ship carrying Princess Patma (Alice Kelley), daughter of the Great Mogul, and her governess, Molvina MacGregor (Mildred Natwick).
Good acting by Errol Flynn as a deserter in order to penetrate a well-defended pirate stronghold on Madagascar .
There appears the gorgeous Maureen O'Hara as a hot-tempered pirate moll who swoons over Flynn ; furthermore , Alice Kelley is a tarty eyeful as a likable princess in distress who Flynn saves from the burning ship and she falls for him , too .
It has all the good ingredients to keep one's attention -- an absorbing tale of intrigue, a fiery lady pirate named Spitfire Stevens (Maureen O'Hara) who's attracted to the irresistible Mr. Hawke (Errol Flynn) who is out on a secret mission of his own.
I noticed the very familiar face of Mildred Natwick playing a supporting role as Mrs. MacGregor, the protector of young Princess Patma (Alice Kelley).There is beautifully filmed scenery of shorelines, ships, and the bay.
From the flaming redhead herself I once heard in an interview of Maureen O'Hara that she boasted great command of the bullwhip and could also outdo Flynn in sword fighting in those days but there'd be no need to put it to the test here.Very enjoyable movie..
AGAINST ALL FLAGS, Universal's 'take' on the WB swashbucklers of the previous decade, utilized the services of the quintessential Warner buccaneer, himself, Errol Flynn, in the lead.
While he was no longer the devil-may-care young matinee idol he'd once been, the actor, finishing up his WB contract, negotiated a 'percentage of the gross' deal to make the film, and with a potential big payday as incentive, Flynn would show more energy and enthusiasm than in THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE (which would be released a year later, and would be his last WB swashbuckler).As Brian Hawke, a British naval officer 'undercover' to destroy the batteries of a pirate island stronghold, Flynn looks far older and more jaded than in his halcyon days (when his commander refers to him as 'young', you can almost see both actors wince), but his rakish smile is still present, and his dialog is ripe with the sexual innuendo audiences had come to expect from a Flynn film (to female pirate Maureen O'Hara, he says, with tongue in cheek, "I'd looked forward to serving under you, ma'am"...).
Posing as disgraced and discharged, his obvious refinement draws the suspicion of ruthless pirate captain Anthony Quinn, but stirs the long-suppressed sexual yearnings in O'Hara, whose father had built the artillery emplacements.
Discovering that the plans are located in O'Hara's bedchamber, Flynn goes to work on her, combining his mission with his infamous off-screen reputation for seduction, in a funny scene that both actors play to the hilt.Placed under Quinn's command, Flynn participates in the capture of a galleon, then discovers that the 'cargo' is a virginal Indian princess (Alice Kelley), who'd never been close to a man before, other than her father.
Having Errol Flynn as a 'first' provides another point of humor, as, after he gives her a platonic kiss, she nearly swoons, and begins incessantly begging, "AGAIN!" (A chant O'Hara would take up, as the film's final line).There is the 'mandatory' discovery of Flynn's true identity, O'Hara's betrayal to rescue him, and O'Hara and Kelly both held as hostage aboard Quinn's ship, leading up, of course, to a 'by-the-numbers' final swordfight between Flynn and Quinn.
The shooting was, overall, a pleasant experience for Flynn, at a time when the WB had relegated him to 'B' pictures, and he advertised AGAINST ALL FLAGS in theatrical trailers as one of his favorite films.
(Universal would remake AGAINST ALL FLAGS, 15 years later, as THE KING'S PIRATE, with Doug McClure in Flynn's role.)Financial difficulties would soon force Errol Flynn to leave the United States, and the pirate yarn would be his last film shot in America for five years.A new stage of his rollercoaster career was about to begin....
An engaging tale of intrigue, a fiery lady pirate -- aptly named "Spitfire" Stevens, and ably played by the great Maureen O'Hara.
Anthony Quinn rounds out the top three billed actors as the ruthless Captain Roc Brasiliano and proves to be a wily and capable nemesis for Brian Hawke (Flynn).
While it may not be in quite the same league as some of Errol Flynn's earlier work (Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk, for instance), it is still a greatly entertaining romp..
Battles at sea, the hero, the villain, the hero's romantic interest, the final sword duel, good settings and color and special effects are very good too (don't forget we are in the early 50's).I think the cast helps a lot if not for outstanding performances (there are not very demanding roles) but for actors that were symbols in this kind of movie.
And Anthony Quinn -not a major star back then, but a classical villain- was on his way.Pure pirate adventure; no more, but no less..
Quinn makes a good villain also, although his role is completely overshadowed.But don't be fooled by Maureen O'Hara's tough broad role, this is as sexist as any Hollywood movie of this era.
However, Hollywood did beckon him one last time to his old seafaring ways – albeit for a modestly-budgeted Universal picture rather than a Warner Brothers ‘A’ production to which he had been accustomed when at his peak… Still, the glorious Technicolor cinematography leaps off the screen here and, while an older and flabbier Flynn may look like the pale shadow of his former self, his red-headed leading lady Maureen O’Hara has a field day as a tomboyish buccaneer leader who deep down craves romance and wants to be treated like a lady.
Anthony Quinn was still a few years away from his larger-than-life starring vehicles, so here he is typically seen as the baddie – the pirate captain Roc Brasiliano, a role he attacks with gusto.
Nowadays, the amorous persistence of the child-like Indian princess (Alice Kelley) towards her pirate captor Flynn may strike one as being awfully silly but the rest of it – despite clearly not scaling the heights of THE SEA HAWK (1940) and THE BLACK SWAN (1942), to mention the finest seafaring ventures of its respective stars – is briskly paced and reasonably engaging.
For what it’s worth, the unprecedented box office success of that unappetizing modern franchise is most probably what induced reluctant movie studios to dust off their catalogue swashbuckling titles and release them on DVD and, as a matter of fact, AGAINST ALL FLAGS itself was the one gem in a poorly-thought out “Pirates Of The Golden Age Movie Collection” set from Universal which also consisted of obscure dross like BUCCANEER’S GIRL (1950; with Yvonne De Carlo), DOULE CROSSBONES (1951; with Donald O’Connor) and YANKEE BUCCANEER (1952; with Jeff Chandler)!
Value for money, perhaps but, so far, I have only acquired the Errol Flynn flick from other sources; even so, if the mood strikes me in future, I might wish to lay my hands on similar marine adventures like Edward Dmytyk’s MUTINY (1952), the afore-mentioned YANKEE BUCCANEER and PIRATES OF TORTUGA (1961)..
Being the prototype of the classical Errol Flynn adventure movie and having a good story as well as two more brilliant co-stars in Maureen O'Hara (what an exquisite beauty!) and Anthony Quinn, I can only recommend this movie to all those having even the slightest liking for romance and adventure.Hollywood at its best!.
Errol Flynn and Maureen O'Hara pirates movie.
Errol Flynn was well past his prime when this film was made in the early 1950s, but the charm is still there, and you could not ask for better in the rest of the cast, Anthony Quinn, Maureen O'Hara and Mildred Natwick, among others.A delightful, well written and frequently witty pirates movie..
Errol Flynn plays a British naval officer who goes undercover with pirates and romances pirate captain Maureen O'Hara.
It stars Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, Alice Kelley and Mildred Natwick.
Flynn oozes laid back charisma, his unassuming kisses stealing the ladies hearts, Quinn enjoys being the dandy dastardo, O'Hara wields a good blade and broods a sexuality to knock the boys off their feet, and Mildred Natwick is as always worthy of observation, her visual acting most enjoyable.The flaws are evident from the off, it's an easy film to kick and dismiss if in a particularly demanding mood.
Universal's Region 1 Pirates of the Golden Age release of Against All Flags comes in full frame and is a rather good transfer to disc.
There's nothing like an Errol Flynn pirate movie, is there?
There are a million to choose from, but if you happen across Against All Flags, give it a whirl because it's pretty good.Errol is a secret spy, and he smuggles himself aboard Captain Anthony Quinn's pirate ship to gain information, but he doesn't count on Tony and his right-hand lady Maureen O'Hara catching onto his act.
Against All Flags is a daft high seas adventure but is rather fun although the plot does not stand up to much scrutiny and some of the pirates characters are lacking any kind of consistency.Errol Flynn, looking a little old and portly plays Hawke, a British naval sailor going undercover to infiltrate the pirates.
Anthony Quinn is suspicious of him making you wonder why Quinn did not just kill Hawke and the lovely and fiery Maureen O Hara is Spitfire Stevens, a lady pirate in the High Seas who somehow up to know has managed to get Quinn's grimy hands off her or all the other male sailors.O Hara immediately gets the hots for Hawke and both actors seem to have good chemistry.
In the mix comes a ship sailing from India carrying a princess who also also falls for Hawke and brings some comic relief but also happens to be daft as a brush.The film is beautifully made in technicolour and both O Hara and the Princess look lovely.
Quinn is snarling and Flynn is a gentleman on screen at least.Plenty of fights, battles and although some of the ship based scenes look like they were filmed in a studio its entertaining enough but in a daft way as the script and characterisation is nonsense..
Sounds like something you can't miss: a pirate movie starring Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara and Anthony Quinn...
Flynn plays a British Navy officer who could be living on the edge since he is spying a pirate community in Madagascar.
But he looks like someone who is having a good time, his heart divided between pirate O'Hara and a foolish Indian princess.
In his one and only film done for Universal Studios Errol Flynn plays a king's spy, an officer in the British navy sent to infiltrate the pirate lair on Madagascar and put their harbor guns out of commission.
But he does interest lady pirate Maureen O'Hara who is letting her hormones get control of her judgment.This was probably a script that was meant for Jeff Chandler and possibly Rock Hudson or Tony Curtis, but they were all probably occupied so Flynn got the nod, loaned out from Warner Brothers by Jack Warner.The story of Against All Flags has Flynn and two other crewman pretending to be deserters from a merchant ship and eager to join Quinn and fight as he put it Against All Flags, save the Jolly Roger.
Kelley is a bit of a dim bulb and her failure to forget she's a princess puts the whole enterprise in danger.No one will ever mistake this pirate film for Flynn's screen triumphs in Captain Blood or my favorite Errol Flynn film, The Sea Hawk.
Flynn gets by on his usual charm and O'Hara looks like a dominatrix in those skin tight thigh high boots she had to wear.Still Against All Flags is entertaining and the fans of the principal players will enjoy it..
Against all Flags is a standard 50's pirate film featuring an aging Errol Flynn.
Flynn Sinks It. Latter day Errol Flynn pirate adventure, filmed in sumptuous colour and with Anthony Quinn and Maureen O'Hara providing fine support as the villainy and love interest respectively (of course!).
This film is a swashbuckling "Captain Blood" style, in which the immortal heartthrob Errol Flynn plays a British officer who infiltrates a pirate den to undermine his coastal defenses and allow an English attack.
Next to him are Maureen O'Hara and Anthony Quinn, the latter in the role of the villain.
For the record, there's none of the humour, dash or intensity we've identified with Flynn in the past, and even O'Hara fails to light up this most dullest of pirate flicks.Forget the plot, and most of the lines, and treat it like the satellite channels schedulers - a useful way of filling 80 odd minutes..
I just finished a mini-marathon of Errol Flynn pirate movies: Captain Blood (1935), The Sea Hawk (1940), and Against All Flags (1952).
I've never heard anyone mention this before, but I find that in his 40s, Errol Flynn looked a great deal like John Wayne.
The villain is once again the olive-skinned Hispanic (Anthony Quinn), and the "Indian" princess in her harem outfit (played by a white actress, naturally) is so stupid she shouldn't be allowed to cross a street by herself!I wasn't that thrilled by the sword-fighting, but that might be due to an overdose after watching three movies' worth!
Flamboyant leading lady Maureen O'Hara, having just completed her favorite film role, in "The Quiet Man", with John Wayne, now got her one chance to costar with another legendary film man of action, albeit during his declining years.
I was unaware of this Technicolor Flynn-starring pirate yarn, filmed when he was looking and sounding rather middle-aged, being consumed by his rampant alcoholism.
In contrast to her previous roles in "The Black Swan" and "The Spanish Main" as an aristocratic lady desired, in this film, she is cast as one of the pirate captains, having inherited this position from her deceased father.
Charismatic Anthony Quinn was the third lead, as another pirate captain.
Furthermore, Quinn's character is apparently Italian, or perhaps French.Instead of the single damsel in distress Flynn previously fought and romanced with in his pirate films,here he has two beautiful women characterized as extreme opposites in the spectrum of female personalities, competing for his romantic attentions.
My favorite film role for Maureen, with great chemistry with Flynn.
Maureen O'Hara's character made me cringe, but it's a decent old swashbuckling picture.
I have no idea if Maureen O'Hara liked roles such as the one she played in AGAINST ALL FLAGS or not.
There were no boss-lady pirates except in film...and all too often, they were played by Maureen O'Hara.
A silly idea really, as the way she played these petulant roles was rather cartoonish--a tough as nails lady who instantly is taken by the studliness of the male lead!Despite this, the film is a very watchable piece of fluff that features Errol Flynn as an English naval officer who pretends to go pirate so that he can infiltrate their base.
It's one of his last good roles.In the role of the rival and hot-headed pirate is Anthony Quinn--playing a very typical role for him as well.
But, on the plus side, the color cinematography is nice, the film is lite and easy on the brain and is basically harmless escapist fluff.By the way, my favorite line in the film was a great double-entendre:Errol Flynn (to Maureen O'Hara): "I shall regret not having the honor of serving...under you".
(The three swashbuckling pictures he made after this were filmed in Europe, whereas Against All Flags was lensed mostly on the Universal sound stages and back lot, with some location work at Palos Verdes on the Californian sea-coast).
It was five months before he could resume, during which time the ship (a standing set on Universal's back lot) had been converted for use in Yankee Buccaneer ("setting sail" with Captain Jeff Chandler and much the same crew under Joseph Pevney's direction) and had to be re-converted back again!; (2) a highly entertaining script, with plenty of scope for action, colorful characterisations, and some ingenious and original plotting; (3) zestful direction by George Sherman (no relation to Vincent Sherman who handled Flynn in The Adventures of Don Juan); (4) excellent production values, including Russell Metty's Technicolor photography.OTHER VIEWS: Good swashbuckling yarn, with plenty of action and nice color.
Maureen O'Hara is hardly the Spitfire character she portrays in this 1952 film.
Although, in the dueling scenes, she appears just as good if not better than co-star Errol Flynn.Flynn, as a member of the royal navy, goes undercover to infiltrate a pirate's group.
There he meets a cantankerous Anthony Quinn with that deep voice of his.For a film supposedly about pirates, there is very little adventure and at 1:23 minutes, not that much may be told here.Mildred Natwick has the part of a lady in waiting to an Indian princess that would have been much more suited for Una O'Connor..
The plot means very little in this gorgeous Technicolor Adventure where Maureen O'Hara steals the scenery from veteran swashbuckler Errol Flynn.
She's once again opposite Anthony Quinn, the Pirate villain here who stands to come between O'Hara and the man she secretly desires, Flynn.
"London Blackout Murders" director George Sherman's formulaic seafaring voyage "Against All Flags" was actor Errol Flynn's final swashbuckler on the high seas against marauding pirates.
"I don't like the cut of your sail," Captain Roc Brasiliano (Anthony Quinn of "Larceny, Inc.") opines when he lays eyes initially on Hawke.