The Lord of the Seven Seas

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Movie
German title The Lord of the Seven Seas
Original title The Sea Hawk
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1940
length 122 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Michael Curtiz
script Howard Koch
Seton I. Miller
production Hal B. Wallis
music Erich Wolfgang Korngold
camera Sol Polito
cut George Amy
occupation

The Lord of the Seven Seas is an American feature film from 1940. The Warner Brothers production with Errol Flynn in the lead role was directed by Michael Curtiz .

action

In 1586, Spain ruled the New World under King Philip II . Only England under Queen Elizabeth I is a serious opponent in the struggle for control of the seas. Elizabeth knows that she is inferior to the Spanish, and the English kingdom is only defended at sea by a small group of privateers . Her policy is appeasement, with the support of Lord Wolfingham.

The English privateer captain Geoffrey Thorpe ambushes a Spanish galeas in the English Channel . It is the ship of the Spanish ambassador Don José, who wants to bring his niece Doña Maria to Elizabeth's court. During the hijacking of the ship, Thorpe falls in love with Doña Maria and at the same time frees the English galley convicts on board. Thorpe brings the ambassador to England with his niece, where Thorpe is confronted with his Queen's accusations. Nevertheless, she gives him permission to sail to Panama to raid a Spanish gold transport.

However, Lord Wolfingham, an advisor and confidante of the Queen, turns out to be a spy for the Spaniards. He learns that Thorpe intends to be on the road again soon; Together with the Spanish ambassador, he determines the rest of the plan on the basis of evidence. The Spaniards can now prepare for Thorpe's attack. He and his crew get caught in a trap and are sentenced with his surviving men in Spain to life imprisonment as a galley convict. When he learns from a fellow prisoner that Spain is mobilizing its armada against England, he dares to break out and can take a Spanish ship in Cadiz , and with his crew and the evidence he makes it back to England. On the way to the Queen he can kill his adversary Wolfingham and bring Elizabeth the evidence of Spain's war plans. Thorpe is ennobled by the Queen, marries Maria and prepares the royal fleet for the upcoming battle with the Armada.

background

The Lord of the Seven Seas is the tenth of twelve films that Michael Curtiz made with Errol Flynn as the leading actor. In addition to Under Pirate Flag, it is one of the most elaborate sea adventure films of its era. Most of the film was shot in the studio, with some scenes in Laguna Beach . Two sailing ships were recreated in their original size, which were moved in a tank by cranes. So even sea battles could be filmed realistically.

The film is originally based on the 1924 silent film The Sea Hawk , a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Rafael Sabatini , but another screenplay by Howard Koch was used for the new film. Koch added contemporary allegories . In this way, parallels can be drawn with the current events in world history in 1940. The Spanish King Philip and his claim to world power corresponds to the German dictator Adolf Hitler , while in the politics of Elizabeth I traits of the appeasement politics and later the politics of Winston Churchill can be recognized. At the end of the film, Elizabeth I gives a speech to the seamen Thorpes, who are supposed to prepare England for war to end tyranny for all eternity.

The story of the privateer Geoffrey Thorpe is based on the biography of the privateer Francis Drake .

German version

The German dubbing was created in 1949 at the Tempelhof Berlin film studio . Georg Rothkegel was responsible for the script and dubbing .

role actor Voice actor
Cpt. Geoffrey Thorpe Errol Flynn Klaus Miedel
Doña Maria Alvarez de Cordoba Brenda Marshall Charlotte cyclist
Don José Alvarez de Cordoba Claude Rains Werner Pledath
Queen Elizabeth I. Flora Robson Gabriele Hessmann
Carl Pitt Alan Hale Walter Altenkirch
William Tuttle Clifford Brooke Walter Werner
Judocus Hondins Alec Craig Karl Hellmer
Oliver Scott Julien Mitchell Erich Dunskus

Reviews

  • "Elaborately designed, lively staged and played, the film offers captivating entertainment." - " Lexicon of International Films " (CD-ROM edition), Systhema, Munich 1997
  • "Flynn as a victorious warrior in the role of his life; thanks to the balance between pirate, costume, cloak-and-sword film and romance a classic of the cinema." (Rating: 3 stars = very good) - Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz in Lexicon "Films on TV" (extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 357
  • "Sensational film of great proportions! Sometimes brutal." - 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958 . Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism, 3rd edition, Verlag Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 187
  • "An adventure film of the best kind, full of action and suspense." - Heyne film dictionary

Awards

The film received four Oscar nominations in the following categories: Best Production Design (Black and White), Best Special Effects, Best Music and Best Sound.

media

DVD release

  • The Lord of the Seven Seas . Warner Home Video 2005

Soundtrack

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Page of the Laguna Beach Historical Society
  2. ↑ Thomas Bräutigam : Lexicon of film and television synchronization. More than 2000 films and series with their German voice actors etc. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-289-X , p. 178 / The Lord of the Seven Seas in Arne Kaul's synchronous database ( Memento of the original from 16. January 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Retrieved December 16, 2007 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.synchrondatenbank.de