Cartagena monkfish

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Movie
German title Cartagena monkfish
Original title The Spanish Main
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1945
length 96 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Frank Borzage
script George Worthing Yates ,
Herman J. Mankiewicz
production Robert Fellows
music Hanns Eisler
camera George Barnes
cut Ralph Dawson
occupation
synchronization

The anglerfish of Cartagena (Original title: The Spanish Main ) is an American pirate film from 1945 . Directed by Frank Borzage . When a cruel Spanish grandee has castaways captured, it takes revenge five years later. During the crossing, his bride is kidnapped. Walter Slezak plays the grandees Don Alvarado, Maureen O'Hara his bride Francisca and Paul Henreid the former captain Van Horn, who now cruises the seas as a barracuda .

The script is based on a story by Æneas MacKenzie.

action

When the ship of the Dutch captain Laurent Van Horn stranded in Cartagena off the Colombian coast, the captain asked the Spanish viceroy Don Juan Alvarado to be allowed to repair his ship so that he could continue his voyage. However, Grande, decried as irascible and arbitrary , does not consider complying with Van Horn's request. The captain is put in a prison cell in the interior of the country. There Van Horn meets other prisoners who were wrongly arrested. Under Van Horn's leadership, the men band together and manage to overpower the guards and flee.

Five years have passed since then and Don Alvarado has only faint memories of the unfortunate story of Van Horn. The grandee is eagerly awaiting his future wife Francisca, the daughter of the Mexican viceroy, whom he has never seen. He's got into trouble with a pirate ship , the Barracuda , whose captain is also only called “Barracuda” after his ship and has been making the seas unsafe for some time. Even on the galleon on which Francisca is located, one feared “Barracuda” and his men. And indeed the barracuda with the black pirate flag is sighted. There is only a short fight and then the pirates have captured the Spanish galleon . Barracuda , behind whom the former captain Van Horn hides, declares Francisca to be his personal prisoner. He wants to steal the bride from the man with whom he still has an old account open. In order to spare the San Pablo , a Spanish ship approaching them, from being taken over, Francisca agrees to agree to a wedding with Laurent. Since the Bishop of Darien is among the prisoners, he is responsible for marrying Laurent and Francisca. On her wedding night, the young woman is about to defend herself with a hidden knife, but Laurent leaves her cabin after a brief hug. The Barracuda moored in the pirates' nest Tortuga , where a front against the captain was formed, led by the privateers Mario Da Bilar and Benjamin Black. Some grudge Barracuda with his young happiness, others fear that Don Alvarado's revenge will be terrible and that they will all be drawn into the maelstrom of his lust for retribution. Da Bilar is able to win over the jealous pirate Anne Bonny, a former lover of Laurent. She wants to help him with a kidnapping of Francisco, which intends to bring the young woman to the court of the viceroy. Before that, however, there is still a fight between the two women when Anne points her sword at Francisca, who then fearlessly challenges her to a pistol duel. Laurent loads the guns with soot instead of gunpowder , so that both women stand there with soot-blackened faces to the amusement of the crew.

Just as Laurent Francisca confesses his love and the couple embraces, the pirates, led by Anne and Da Bilar, strike and take Francisca prisoner in order to bring her to Cartagena. When Laurent is also about to be captured, his friends who hurry to his aid can prevent this, with Benjamin Black being killed. Meanwhile, the traitors under Da Bilar's leadership are under pressure as Don Alvarado threatened to let them down if they didn't bring him Van Horn too. Francisca has now met her fiancé and is anything but impressed by his appearance, she insists that they be brought back to Mexico. Don Alvarado doesn't care, he's planning the wedding for the next day. Under the pretext that he wanted to thank them, the Grande goes on board the Barracuda , where he has the entire crew captured. With the men loyal to him, Laurent sets course for Cartagena in a waiting ship, the Cobra . He wants to get back the woman he loves at all costs. When the Cobra is sighted, Da Bilar offers Don Alvarado to help him arrest Van Horn if he can guarantee his freedom in exchange. After the Cobra docks, Da Bilar greets Laurent and tells him that he escaped from prison. Then he claims that Francisca cheated on Laurent and bribed the crew to take them to Cartagena. Laurent pretends to believe him, but is certain that Da Bilar is trying to set a trap for him. Laurent manages to get to Francisca, who hastily tells him about Da Bilar's betrayal and implores him to take himself to safety. Laurent now knows that Francisca loves him. When the two of them embrace, Don Alvarado's men appear and arrest Van Horn. Disguised as a maid, Francisca gains access to the prisoners and gives them a basket with groceries, under which knives have been hidden. Francisca then draws a gun, points it at the guards and orders the prisoners to be released. In an attempt to free Anne Bonny as well, the woman who has since bitterly regretted her betrayal is killed. Da Bilar, who came to hear of incidents in the cells, is eliminated by Laurent. In the confusion, the guards manage to seize Alvarado's Francisca and bring her to the Barracuda , where Don Alvarado is already waiting for her. However, the guards miss the fact that Laurent has disguised himself as a priest and goes on board with Francisca, while his friends climb over the bow of the ship and defeat the guards. When Don Alvarado is already sure of his cause, Laurent drops the hood of his priestly robe and Alvarado realizes with horror that he is in the hands of the pirates and that his men have disappeared. Francisca is clearly on Laurent's side. The barracuda can start its journey unhindered. When she is on the high seas, Laurent and Francisca happily retreat to their cabin.

background

The shooting took place from mid-November 1944 until late February 1945. For RKO Pictures , who produced the film, it was their first Technicolor film . The film premiered in the United States on September 10, 1945, and in the Federal Republic of Germany on November 3, 1950. In the GDR it was first seen on January 18, 1964 in the DFF , it was first broadcast by ARD on July 17, 1965.

Merle Oberon and Laraine Day were cast for the role of Francisca . Maureen O'Hara, who then got the role, was signed to 20th Century Fox but had to make one film a year for RKO. The figure of Anne Bonny goes back to a famous pirate who sailed the seas in men's clothing at the beginning of the 18th century and was considered an expert in handling pistols and machetes. 20th Century Fox released the 1951 film The Pirate Queen ( Anne of the Indies ) starring Jean Peters in the role of Annie. In 1995 there was another film adaptation, directed by Renny Harlin, titled The Pirate Bride ( Cutthroat Island ) with Geena Davis in the lead role.

Jack L. Warner is said to have said about Henreid's idea to play a pirate role one day that if he wanted a pirate he would take Errol Flynn , if he wanted a lover he would fall back on him. RKO then offered him the role in The Spanish Main . Henreid didn't like the script at hand. He insisted on a new version, Hermann Mankiewicz then incorporated Henreid's ideas in the second draft. Henreids was pleased with the result, which he also expressed in his biography. He said Mankiewicz's script was perfect, an exciting story, with everything that went with it and what he wanted. The film was a great success for RKO. Dore Schary, the head of production at RKO, spoke of gross profits of 14 million dollars.

Maureen O'Hara thought Paul Henreid was exactly right for the role, he embodied the protective role very credibly, as he had already proven in his role as Victor László in Casablanca . However, there were other voices as well. The music by Hanns Eisler, who had a decisive influence on the film, was also praised.

synchronization

role actor Voice actor
Laurent Van Horn ("Barracuda") Paul Henreid Fritz Wagner
Francisca Maureen O'Hara Gudrun Genest
Don Juan Alvarado Walter Slezak Arno Paulsen

Reviews

For the lexicon of international films , the film represented an “entertaining mixture of adventure romance and love story with lots of crowd scenes and sea battles”.

The television magazine prisma.de judged: “Embedded in a picturesque and exotic scenery, the beauty of which is emphasized by the Technicolor color, the Italian-American Frank Borzage touches on topics in this film that characterize his entire cinematic work: Beyond the entertaining Pirate films, with its crowd scenes and sea battles, portray a love that is strong enough to outlast misery, misfortune, war and even death. "

Variety believed that Paul Henreid played the dashing Dutchman well. Maureen O'Hara does not have much opportunity to prove her acting skills, but meets the requirements of the role with exuberant beauty. Walter Slzeaks embodiment of the cruel Spanish governor is conspicuous [good].

Most of the critics were as pleased as the general public, and typical of what they said was Bosley Crowther's contribution to the New York Times : “Paul Henreid is a dashing pirate, Maureen O'Hara is a spirited girl, and Walter Slezak a hideous governor. One should watch the film as naturally as water comes from a tap. Perhaps it is particularly suited to young people. "

Awards

At the Academy Awards in 1946 , George Barnes was nominated for “Best Cinematography” in a color film for The Anglerfish of Cartagena . The Oscar went to Leon Shamroy for Deadly Sin ( Leave Her to Heaven ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d The Spanish Main. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved November 12, 2018 .
  2. ↑ The anglerfish of Cartagena. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 24, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ The anglerfish of Cartagena at prisma.de , accessed on January 24, 2017.
  4. ^ The Spanish Main ( Memento March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: Variety , published December 31, 1944. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  5. ↑ Bosley Crowther: Usual Beautiful Lady Is Saved From Usual Heinous Fate by Usual Pirate Hero in Film at Palace, "The Spanish Main"
    In: The New York Times , published November 7, 1945. Retrieved January 25, 2013.