Captain Scarlett (UA/Craftsman 1953)
Colour Directed by Thomas Carr Writer and Producer Howard Dimsdale Stars Richard Greene (Captain Carlos Scarlett), Leonora Amar (Princess Maria), Nedrick Young, Eduardo Noriega, Manuel Fabregas, Jorge Trevino, Carlos Musquiz, Isabel DellPuerto
Synopsis After the Napoleonic wars, southern France is in need of a protector against the villainous Duke of Corlaine. Captain Scarlett rides into action....
Reviewed by Lucy Carpenter
The movie is advertised as The Thrill of Cold Steel! The Romance of Warm Lips! And The Excitement of Blazing Adventure! Does it live up to its billing………
After the fall of Napoleon, swashbuckling hero, Captain Scarlett returns to France to discover that his lands have been seized by a traitorous nobleman (what other swashbuckling hero returned from the Crusades to meet the same fate?) Scarlett must now unite the countryside against the tyrannical duke, while forming a “band of outlaws” to rescue a beautiful princess from being forced into marriage with a lecherous Count.
Upon his return to France, Scarlett learns from
his good friend, a rotund Friar (sound familiar?) that his estate has been
seized, so he sets out to reclaim his land.
As he climbs through his castle window where the Princess Maria is
sitting before a mirror, the reflection that you see in the mirror is the
handsome figure of Captain Scarlett, tall, wavy dark hair and a smile that
lights up a room (nice effect, what girl wouldn’t love to have a handsome
and chivalrous Captain appear through her window?)
Their encounter is memorable – Princess Maria, “Who are you,
what do you want?”,
to which he replies “The
name is Scarlett, as to what did I want when I climbed in here, or what do
I want now that I have seen you?” Scarlett
is then captured and thrown into a dungeon where he becomes friends with
Pierre, who is suffering from the same fate as Scarlett.
They manage to free themselves and Scarlett returns to the castle
in time to save the Princess from the forced marriage.
Princess Maria asks to join them in their adventures – she’s
very trusting – but then again, looking at Scarlett, who wouldn’t be!
Now the fun begins, they flee off into the woods (how do you say
Sherwood Forest in French?),
they don’t steal from the rich and give to the poor, but they do help
the countrymen who are tax burdened and mistreated by the evil Duke.
The princess is captured by the soldiers and is sentenced to death
unless Scarlett and Pierre surrender.
Our hero comes to the rescue of the damsel in distress. Richard
Greene makes the movie worth watching, (although I much prefer him in
Lincoln green tights, than a scarlet
cape!). The movie was very
washed out – except for the scarlet
cape – billowing in the breeze - great costumes and décor from that
time period – I found the music to be annoying, sometimes playing over
dialogue. Leonora Amar as the
Princess was believable (almost reminded
me a little of a Maid Marian type),
Pierre was good but I found the rest of the cast to be weak. Though the
storyline is predictable watching our swashbuckling hero in action is
always great. Now for the
thrill of cold steel – indeed our hero can duel, he even teaches the
Princess how to duel. The
romance of warm lips – only one kiss – but it looked very warm –
I’m not sure just how blazing the adventure was, but Richard Greene
certainly was. His movies are always worth watching, if only to see him!
Source:-
Halliwell's Film Guide 11th Edition (1995) published by HarperCollins