I saw this on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel.
This 1951 melodrama, with its Gothic overtones stars a dashing, if rather old looking Errol Flynn and a caddish Vincent Price. Lead actress is the French Micheline Presle and she's a dark haired gypsy looking type of seductress, falling for mariner Flynn, of the title.
It seems set in the early 19th century, has stilted and corny dialogue that only the movies could endure and is, frankly, fairly slow and boring. One wonders why a movie with such a cast is not available on DVD, at least not on Amazon, not even as a region 1 and maybe that one has discovered a long lost gem. I've not heard of director William Marshall before and I won't be rushing to track down his other work.
Those craving to own everything that the three leads have ever appeared in are the likeliest to get some enjoyment out of it, but it's difficult to find anything here for an everyday, modern audience. It's not actually terrible but when one often wonders what else one should be doing instead, that's not a good sign.
Adventures of Captain Fabian
1951
Action / Adventure
Adventures of Captain Fabian
1951
Action / Adventure
Keywords: psychotronicsailingsea captain
Plot summary
In 1860, a New Orleans French Creole maid, Léa Marriotte, is tired of her lowly social status and dreams of being wealthy. She gets romantically involved with wealthy playboy George Brissac whose influential clan controls much of the region. However, George Brissac is engaged to marry rich and spoiled New Orleans socialite Cynthia Winthrop. Wanting to cast Léa aside, George Brissac has her arrested on charges of murder, after a violent confrontation between Léa and house servant Phillipe ends-up with Phillipe being accidentally killed. Léa's fate seems to be sealed after a short trial biased by false testimonies and fabricated evidence. However, she is saved by sea captain Michael Fabian who intercedes in her behalf with the local magistrate. He even buys a tavern for Léa in order to provide her with a source of income and better social status. Nevertheless, Léa is not romantically interested in Michael Fabian. Instead, she continues to pursue the wealthy George Brissac. Her opportunity arises when George Brissac gets drunk at his bachelor's party and cajoles with her at the Brissac Manor. When, in a drunken rage, George strangles his uncle and benefactor Henri Brissac, Léa blackmails him into marrying her in order to buy her silence. They bury uncle Henri Brissac's body inside the stables. Now a rich woman and mistress of the Brissac mansion, Léa savors her newly found life of plenty. But her continued rejection by New Orleans society, amplified by George's hatred and a longing for Captain Fabian bring her nothing but unhappiness. A hate-filled George devises a plan to eliminate Fabian and hurt Léa at the same time. The plan involves uncle Henri Brissac's dead body buried inside the stables, the local constable, Fabian's gold pocket watch, an angry mob and Fabian's cargo ship filled with contraband gun-powder.
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Hoary old Nonsense with Price & Flynn..
Not an adventure film
This is not an adventure film as the title might suggest, but a slow moving melodrama, with some good scenes. The film was made independentley in France, and from the beginning there was to have been two versions, one english and one frenchspeaking. Director Robert Florey, was hired to helm the frenchspeaking version, but it was never made. Instead Florey stayed on as uncredited assistant director to William Marshall, some scenes show his influence, and he directed most of the final dockside fight. It was also Florey who brought in actors Victor Francen and Jim Gerald, as well as art director Eugene Lourie to the project. The film is good to look at, photography(by Marcel Grignon) and settings are intriguing, but the direction is to slow to really keep intrest, but a few scenes near the end are well made. The acting is ok, Agnes Moorehead gives a fine performence, and Errol Flynn is interesting as a rough seacaptain, a toned down role in comparision with Micheline Presles flambouyant creole girl. Vincent Price is properly slimy as a spineless dandy and Victor Francen is seen to briefley as his grim uncle. The story is very old fashioned, a little "Monte Cristoish" in style, and have some curiosity value. This film must unfortenatly go down as a missed opportunity, although an interesting one, like Vincent Price later said: this should have been a very good film". Altough the film has flaws, its visually interesting also the music by Rene Cloerc has its moments. if you like oldfashioned, romantic melodramas, this could be worth watching and the final scene is inspired.
Surprisingly...a good film with Screenplay by Errol Flynn....
As one reviewer has already pointed out...not an adventure film. But it is a film filled with intrigue and treachery that stands up fairly well even in today's treacherous world. I found it on an old VHS tape...the leader had broken, and I had to break into the cassette housing to repair it and make it playable. It turned out to be well worth the effort. I had never seen it before, but I will be watching it again. There are definite flaws in the storyline, but the well written script by Errol Flynn helps compensate for some of those shortcomings. It's a story about lust, and greed and arrogance, and I think anyone who hasn't seen the film will find it very watchable and quite entertaining. Flynn, Aggie Moorhead and Vincent Price are, alone, worth the price of admission. Ms Moorhead was somewhat cast against type in this one, but she has the full character range that helps her to pull this off in somewhat believable fashion. In old New Orleans, just before the outbreak of the Civil War, the passions were already high, and it gets steamier--in the dramatic sense--as this film goes on. A good film that had greatness in its potential, an above average script, and some very compelling performances all combine to make this a film that I can recommend without hesitation.