Captain Scarlett (1953)

This entertaining but quickly forgettable historical swashbuckler has the benefit of giving the post Napoleonic era of France a distinct Mexican feeling. 1930's matinée idol Richard Greene is a French nobleman back from the end of wars after Napoleon was banished, finding out that his lands have been taken over by self proclaimed nobility. So when you are the sudden enemy of a newly declared state, what do you do? Go on the road, create a merry band of men, (and one tough woman), and fight against the injustices by ridding the countryside of these wicked rulers with no genuine claim to their titles.It's silly but colorful, historically inaccurate but action packed, and often camp. Having been a rival to Tyrone Power at 20th Century Fox, Greene is still dashing, having aged pretty well over the previous 15 years. But I never was convinced that I was anywhere near the French country side, given obvious Mexican actors and settings, and one brief dance sequence that is totally Spanish. Other than Greene, the other actors really are not worth recommending. They do the best with what they have, and action sequences often make this quite thrilling.

Richard (Robin Hood) Greene stars as Captain Scarlett a nobleman who went off to war and came back to find his lands and titles usurped.Good looking film is simply put one of the dullest swashbucklers on record. Its a semi-large lowish budget production that is so by the book that you can almost sense a guy off screen reading the directions out for what the actors are suppose to do. I kept wanting to yell "get on with it" at the screen. I mean really this movie had me nodding off almost instantly. Which lead me to put it in the sleep aide case (yes I really do have a case of DVDs to help me sleep.) 3 out of 10

This should have been a classic swashbuckler in the tradition of Zorro, Robin Hood, and Captain Blood. It has a good, traditional, premise (young nobleman returns home to find his home and land taken over by the bad guy, and then tries to get back his land, right wrongs, and free the oppressed, all while making loyal friends and falling in love), but the poor acting, directing, and way too cheesy script (so bad it's funny) ruin this movie for the sophisticated viewer. I loved this film as a child, however (the poor acting and super cheesy script did not bug me then), especially the fact that he teaches the girl (Princess Maria) how to sword fight (in one of the few good lines in the film he comments that no one has taught her anything useful - her skills up to that point being embroidery, dancing, etc). I really wish Disney or some other company would remake this movie in to something better, instead of remaking good old films into something worse. Saddly, I fear this film has been forgotten by the big studios and that I will have to content myself with the fact that many of the things I enjoyed in the movie as a child (like the sword fighting Princess, and the way they trick the bad guys in by all dressing as Captain Scarlet) have been used since in other, better made movies.

Set in France in the years following the fall of Napoleon, Captain Scarlett seems to have been very much inspired by the legends of Robin Hood and Zorro. Captain Scarlett (Greene) returns to France to discover that his lands have been seized by an unscrupulous nobleman. After saving Princess Maria (Amar) and being joined by a man named Pierre (Young) who has also lost his lands, the group proceeds on a series of adventures in the fight for justice.Sadly, "Captain Scarlett" is a highly flawed film. Its villains are incompetent bumblers, the music score is often out of place, the fight scenes often poorly done, and acting generally weak. Some scenes shot on soundstages are particularly poorly done. Overall, the film is mediocre at best. Nevertheless, die hard fans of classic adventure films and swashbucklers might want to give this one a chance. Be warned, however, that "Captain Scarlett" has the feel of a comic book and that plausibility is largely lacking.