THE SPANISH MAIN

 

Now this, my friends, THIS is Technicolor! As the lobby card pictured above so proudly proclaims, THE SPANISH MAIN (1945) was shot not just in Technicolor, but in "Glorious" Technicolor. The Technicolor cinematography (hats off to George Barnes who received an Oscar nomination for his work) in SPANISH is light years better than the Technicolor displayed in UNHOLY WIFE (which I recently reviewed on this blog).

Produced at RKO, SPANISH MAIN was the studio's first all-Technicolor film since BECKY SHARP (1935). It's a lush and lavish swashbuckling adventure film starring Paul Henreid and Maureen O'Hara, the woman for whom Technicolor cinematography seems to have been invented. The close-ups of the drop-dead gorgeous O'Hara are simply breathtaking, alive and shining with a rich vibrancy that is better than real life.

The narrative is pretty routine stuff. Henreid is Laurent van Horn, a Dutch sailor who butts heads with the corrupt governor of Cartagena Don Juan Alvarado (Walter Slezak). Laurent escapes with three companions only to return five years later under the guise of the notorious pirate, The Barracuda (his ship bears the same name).

The Barracuda intercepts a Spanish vessel bound for Cartagena carrying Francisca Alvarado (O'Hara), the daughter of the viceroy of Mexico and the bride to be of Don Juan.

The Barracuda takes Francisca as his own wife, is challenged by his old flame Anne Bonny (Binnie Barnes) and meets treachery from his second in command Mario Da Bilar (John Emery). Veteran tough guy Barton MacLane is almost unrecognizable under a wig and pirate garb as Captain Black, another foe that The Barracuda must eliminate. 

There's tons of sword fighting and ship to ship combat all of which is well staged and handsomely mounted by director Frank Borzage with the stirring score by Hanns Eisler adding immensely to the action. The miniatures and sets are quite good by 1945 standards and it's obvious that RKO spared no expense to bring this rousing adventure to the screen. 

Walter Slezak practically steals the show as the buffoonish villain Don Juan Alvarado. He's a vainglorious lout who poses no real physical threat, preferring to have his underlings do all of his dirty work. At times it seems Slezak is somehow preparing for his turn more than twenty years later as the villain The Clock King on television's BATMAN.

Screenwriters George Worthing Yates and Herman J. Mankiewicz know better than to reinvent the wheel and their script rings all the notes of a standard pirate swashbuckler. Nothing new or original here but who cares? Feast your eyes on the saturated Technicolor palette and the ravishing Maureen O'Hara.

 A good time is guaranteed.