According to Maureen O'Hara in her memoirs RKO made The Spanish Main in order to capitalize on what 20th Century Fox did with The Black Swan in which she also starred. The results however were not nearly as good.
In the former film Maureen had the good fortune to co-star with Tyrone Power in one of his best swashbuckling roles. Later on RKO gave O'Hara a truly good swashbuckling leading man in Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in Sinbad The Sailor, but in this film her co-star is Paul Henreid whose swash doesn't buckle quite as well as Power or Fairbanks. Maureen didn't think so herself either.
Anyway Henreid is an honest potential colonist who is a Dutch refugee seeking a home in the British Carolinas when his ship is blown off course to Cartagena. The governor of Cartegena Walter Slezak promptly claps all the passengers in prison. Henreid is lucky to escape, but his time there twists him as prison does to most people.
Five years later and Henreid is the notorious Barracuda with the fastest ship on The Spanish Main. He's now in the capturing business and he manages to capture Maureen O'Hara the intended bride over from Spain for Slezak. It was one of those arranged things, she wouldn't have married him if she had seen and/or known Slezak.
She's not real keen on pirates either, but she warms up to Henreid after a fashion. That doesn't sit well with some of Paul's crew. namely Barton MacLane and John Emery. And it really doesn't sit well with the legendary female pirate Captain Anne Bonney played by Binnie Barnes who has a thing for Paul herself.
Those are the plot ingredients and The Spanish Main plays like a road company version of The Black Swan. Best in the cast is Binnie Barnes who has a real fire in her portrayal of Captain Bonney.
This was apparently RKO's big budget film for the year and it got an Oscar nomination for the color cinematography, the better to show off Maureen's red tresses. A lot of it is done tongue in cheek, maybe if the whole thing had been a satire, The Spanish Main might get a better rank from me.
In the former film Maureen had the good fortune to co-star with Tyrone Power in one of his best swashbuckling roles. Later on RKO gave O'Hara a truly good swashbuckling leading man in Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in Sinbad The Sailor, but in this film her co-star is Paul Henreid whose swash doesn't buckle quite as well as Power or Fairbanks. Maureen didn't think so herself either.
Anyway Henreid is an honest potential colonist who is a Dutch refugee seeking a home in the British Carolinas when his ship is blown off course to Cartagena. The governor of Cartegena Walter Slezak promptly claps all the passengers in prison. Henreid is lucky to escape, but his time there twists him as prison does to most people.
Five years later and Henreid is the notorious Barracuda with the fastest ship on The Spanish Main. He's now in the capturing business and he manages to capture Maureen O'Hara the intended bride over from Spain for Slezak. It was one of those arranged things, she wouldn't have married him if she had seen and/or known Slezak.
She's not real keen on pirates either, but she warms up to Henreid after a fashion. That doesn't sit well with some of Paul's crew. namely Barton MacLane and John Emery. And it really doesn't sit well with the legendary female pirate Captain Anne Bonney played by Binnie Barnes who has a thing for Paul herself.
Those are the plot ingredients and The Spanish Main plays like a road company version of The Black Swan. Best in the cast is Binnie Barnes who has a real fire in her portrayal of Captain Bonney.
This was apparently RKO's big budget film for the year and it got an Oscar nomination for the color cinematography, the better to show off Maureen's red tresses. A lot of it is done tongue in cheek, maybe if the whole thing had been a satire, The Spanish Main might get a better rank from me.