Adventures of Don Juan (1948)

Amusing and entertaining swashbuckler has Don Juán (Errol Flynn in his self-mocking best) saving Queen Margarita (Viveca Lindfords) who secretly loves her champion from her evil First Minister , (the British Robert Douglas) . He , then swashbuckles his way across England and Spain in effort to win her heart . At the end Don Juan finds a worthy fencing adversary in the treacherous Duc of Lorca (actually , Duke of Lerma , favorite of King Felipe III) at an exciting final duel .Errol's last spectacular and overwhelming epic features impressive duels , elegant costuming , impressive production design , marvelous gowns , and loads of action . It is so crammed with fights and action , there hardly seems to be a set-piece that doesn't start or end with a duel , fencing or brawl . This was the major ¨Sword and Swagger¨ film mounted by First National Pictures and Warner Brothers for its superstar of swashbucklers , Errol Flynn . Errol is still nearly at his most agile and deft style . Errol Flynn was 38 when he made this movie , but his wild lifestyle had diminished his health and made him less able to perform his own stunts, as he had in earlier films . Previously , Flynn made his best swashbucklers and played successes as ¨Captain Blood¨ , ¨Adventures of Robin Hood¨, ¨The prince and the pauper¨ , ¨Sea Hawk¨, ¨The private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ , ¨Gentleman Jim¨ . Flynn performed splendidly the mass battle royal at the ending and the ultimate romantic gesture for the queen , he certainly gave his enthusiasts something to remember him by . It was all downhill for Errol after this , as he followed his successive flops as ¨The warriors¨, ¨Against all flags¨, ¨The Master of Ballantree¨ and ¨Adventures captain Fabian . Support cast is pretty well , such as Alan Hale Jr as his squire , Rommy Brent playing the silly King Felipe III and Robert Douglas is too good for his baddie role . And other notorious secondaries in brief apparitions as Robert Warwick , Douglas Kennedy , Barbara Bates , Monte Blue , Raymond Burr , Helen Westcott , Fortunio Bonanova and forthright as well as sympathetic Una O'Connor , as usual . Richly costumed , including luxurious gowns and in glamorous Technicolor by cameraman Elwood Bredell . Breathtaking and luxury set design and art design by Edward Carrere and Harry Platt , though mostly interiors . Thrilling and evocative musical score by the great maestro and prolific Max Steiner . The picture is not a masterpiece , but being made with huge confidence and fair play by Vincent Sherman . Vincent directed all kinds of genres : drama , suspense , Western , biography , such as ¨Cervantes¨, ¨Lone Star¨, ¨Affair in Trinidad¨, ¨The Young Philadelphians , ¨Ice palace¨, ¨All through the night¨ , ¨Underground¨. Being his best films : ¨Mr Skeffington¨and this ¨Adventures of Don Juan¨.

Directed by Vincent Sherman, with a screenplay by George Oppenheimer and Harry Kurnitz that was based on the Herbert Dalmas story, this average adventure drama not only marks the last swashbuckler role for Errol Flynn (at 39 years old), appropriately playing the title character, but also the actor's last of more than a dozen pairings with sidekick Alan Hale. The film won an Academy Award for its Color Costume Design; its Color Art Direction-Set Decoration was also Oscar nominated.The film begins by showing the legendary womanizer in a couple of different dicey situations in which Flynn's character, with the help of his sword and his trusty aide Leporello (Hale) must extricate himself. Una O'Connor appears briefly (as Helen Westcott's handmaiden) in one of them. The first incident leads to a second one in London, during which both men are captured and Don Juan must face his native Spain's ambassador, the Count de Polan (Robert Warwick), to whom he's been released. The Count is well aware of Don Juan's reputation, earned over many years across Europe, and chastises him for hurting his own efforts in negotiating peace with England.With the Count's advice and a letter sealed with a ring he'd been given by Queen, Don Juan returns to Spain seeking to serve her. Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors) and King Phillip III (Romney Brent) receive Don Juan and, after more chastisement, she puts him to work training their country's young fencers. The ambitious Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas), the King's trusty right hand man, has secret plans of his own for seizing power, but cutting off the Queen's supply of funds for peace to Ambassador de Polan to use them to fund a new Spanish fleet for their Navy.A reformed Don Juan does an excellent job training his country's young swordsmen, with Don Serafino's (Fortunio Bonanova) help, while befriending dwarf Don Sebastian (Jerry Austin), a friend of the royal couple. Unfortunately, he's then almost entrapped into another dalliance by Donna Elena (Ann Rutherford), she'd tried to seduce him just before her wedding. The scandal causes him to face the Queen, who had trusted him. Earlier under her orders, Don Juan revealed that his true love was the Queen herself. She was shocked at his impudence, that he would say such a thing even under her command, and had discharged him (but later had to admit to herself that she was flattered and not altogether unhappy with what he'd told her).Distraught and consoling himself in a pub with Leporello, Don Juan discovers the Count's ring in the possession of the man (Douglas Kennedy?) who runs the Duke's secret torture chamber. But when he goes to warn the King and Queen of the Duke's treachery and treason, he's too late to stop the coup and ends up in said chamber himself. Leporello and Serafino rescue Don Juan, then the three free the Count before rendezvousing with the young fencers.With Sebastian's help, they infiltrate the castle to rescue the Queen and a grateful King. A climactic sword fight between Don Juan and the Duke's trusty Captain Alvarez (Raymond Burr) is short-lived, but followed by a much longer duel (on the elaborate staircase steps) with the Duke himself. Naturally Don Juan wins; he then has one last platonic meeting with the Queen before he leaves, declaring to Leporello that his romancing days are over until he sees a lady in a carriage (Flynn's wife Nora Eddington, uncredited).

Errol Flynn plays the great lover (and apparently swordsman) Don Juan in this enjoyable attempt by Warner Bros. to recapture some of Flynn's swashbuckling glory. It's actually the humor and not the action that makes this one stand out. Otherwise it would be just another Technicolor costumer. The action scenes are many but very routine. If you've seen a few of Flynn's swashbucklers before, you've seen fencing scenes as good or better than what this has to offer. The story itself is also nothing to write home about, but it is undeniably entertaining thanks to Errol's charisma. Alan Hale is great fun as his sidekick. Sadly this would be Hale's last movie with his frequent co-star. Don Juan romances a few lovely ladies in this one but it's his romance with Viveca Lindfors that the movie is built around. Robert Douglas is a particularly goofy-looking villain. Beautiful sets, costumes, and lush Technicolor are major pluses. Max Steiner's exciting score goes a long way towards reminding one of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's classic scores for Flynn's earlier successes. Not a patch on Robin Hood or Captain Blood but a fun movie nonetheless.

Some movie roles just fit some actors like a glove. No one else could play them. Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. Yul Brynner in "The King and I." Ava Gardner in "The Night of the Iguana." Well, this was one film Errol Flynn was born to play. Along with "The Adventures of Robin Hood," Errol Flynn is in his element as Don Juan. In fact, given his real life reputation, this film contains a lot of humorous and witty scenarios that probably raised the viewers' eyebrows then and still do today for film lovers who know of him. The plot begins as such: When Don Juan disgraces his country of Spain in another country, he goes home and gets embroiled into a political uprising and crisis against his Queen. Robert Douglas always makes a most formidable and imposing villain in movies like this, but here he outdoes himself, and Viveca Lindfors, who was a very striking actress, gives a very thoughtful performance as the Queen, decked out in Oscar-winning gowns by Travilla (his only Oscar win - he didn't even win for dressing Marilyn Monroe in two different films.) With young ladies throwing themselves at Don Juan, such as Ann Rutherford, and exciting duels throughout the film, this is an Errol Flynn film that really gets one stirred up and leaves you feeling good and satisfied long after it's over. No one ever captured the zest and flair of film like Errol Flynn. No one does it better.