Under the flag of the privateers
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Under the flag of the privateers |
| Original title | Los bucaneros del Caribe Il conquistatore di Maracaibo |
| Country of production |
Spain Italy Germany |
| original language |
Spanish Italian |
| Publishing year | 1961 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Eugenio Martín |
| script |
Gianfranco Parolini Giovanni Simonelli Helmut Harun (only German version) |
| production | Leonardo Martin |
| music | Miguel Asins Arbo |
| camera | Francesco Izzarelli |
| cut | Antonio Gimeno |
| occupation | |
| |
Under the flag of the buccaneers is a 1960 Spanish-Italian-German pirate film with the Austrian Hans von Borsody in the lead role.
action
The Caribbean in 1620. The Spanish Conquistadors subjugated South and Central America and are exploiting this region unrestrainedly. The stolen gold is transported to mainland Spain on a large scale, which, however, also calls for numerous pirates and privateers, which are making this region unsafe. Despite intensive guarding, they try to ambush the heavily loaded ships on their way to their Spanish homeland and steal the gold treasures. The Spanish galleons are attacked and captured while they are crossing the Caribbean Sea. The court in Madrid is very concerned, and one wonders how the pirates can always be so well informed about cargo and departure times. There must be a traitor in your own ranks somewhere.
The buccaneers have their headquarters on Tortuga Island and are well organized. The predatory sea villains are led by "El Valiente". Nobody knows him, knows what he looks like, because he always hides his face behind a red mask. Obviously, "El Valiente" receives its important information directly from Maracaibo , where the Spanish governor and ruler of the colonies is based. The German sailor Albert von Eyck, actually a nobleman of great honor, also fights on the side of the privateers. When “El Valiente”, together with the pirate captain Brasseur, is supposed to capture the frigate “Santa Maria”, which has loaded extremely valuable cargo, the latter acts on his own account and instead of taking the stolen treasures to Tortuga instead of as agreed, hides them on one small island.
Brasseur destroys his own ship with all his men as unwelcome witnesses on it, and escapes with a dinghy. Back on Tortuga, he claims that he and his ship were attacked and cleverly directs suspicion on the German privateer Albert. Von Eyck is more and more appalled by the pirates' activities and begins to distance himself from his own actions from the past. At the slave market in Tortuga he sees the classy mestizo Altagracia, who charms him, whereupon he buys her. This in turn calls Brasseur, who himself had his eye on the fiery beauty, and the two men duel in a fencing match that ends without bloodshed.
Albert sails out to sea with his slave purchase on his ship “Teutonia”, pursued by Brasseur and his pirate thugs. There they encounter a Spanish armada, and so von Eyck is immediately taken under fire from two sides. In order to underline his innocence during the attack on the "Santa Maria", he spontaneously plans to change sides and wants to explain himself to the Spanish sailors. But the firefight makes this impossible, and Captain Brasseur has long since pounced on the Spanish galleon. Now captain van Eyck is with the Spaniards and can drive Brasseur away. He introduces the rescued to his friend Hans Blank as the captain of Teutonia, while he pretends to be a German scientist named "Eisenbrink". The rescued Spanish noblewoman Doña Isabella Valdez is delighted with the German nobleman, and von Eyck accompanies her to the governor's seat in Maracaibo.
Van Eyck wants to establish contacts with the influential governor of Spain and is in constant company with the beautiful Isabella, which, as expected, provokes considerable jealousy among the fiery Latina Altagacia. The red-haired Moira, a lady-in-waiting, also conspicuously frequently swarmed around the Teutons. She knows who this "Eisenbrink" really is and offers to take him to "El Valiente". Brasseur has not been idle in the meantime. He has brought all pirate ships under his control and plans to attack and capture the heavily fortified fortress of Maracaibo at full strength. The governor learns who this "Eisenbrink" really is, namely a pirate, and has him arrested and chained. Brasseur now starts his first attack on the fortress, but fails. Meanwhile, von Eyck is freed by his friend Hans Blank, and both guys pounce on the attacking Brasseur and his people. Another surprise happens when “El Valiente” falls in the general turmoil. Albert pulls the red mask off his face and recognizes the dying Countess Moira, who received her knowledge of the sea routes of the Spanish galleons directly from the governor, her lover.
Captain Brasseur realizes that he can no longer win and tries to escape Maracaibo with Albert's ship. Von Eyck provides him, however, and there is a duel, man against man. The Brasseur privateers have lost and their two pirate sailors go up in flames. Captain Albert von Eyck is hailed as the hero and savior of Maracaibo. As the captain of the honor guard, the German is to be given supervision of Spanish ships in the Caribbean at the request of the governor. But Eyck's love of freedom and irrepressible desire for independence let him refuse this offer. With Altagracia and his friends, he sets off on new adventures in the high seas.
Production notes
The film was shot under the flag of the privateers in Peñíscola (Spain) and premiered in Italy on April 29, 1961. The German premiere took place on June 16, 1961.
Reviews
The lexicon of the international film located in Under the Flag of the Buccaneers on the one hand an “openly naive joy in big words and roaring fencing swarms”, on the other hand one saw also “technical weaknesses, but a lot of turbulence and colorful agitation . "
Cinema.de saw in the film a “colorful, pathetic lake spectacle with a lot of saber rattling”.
Paimann's film lists summed up: "With a fable that uses a variety of promotional props without hesitation ... colored in a double sense."
Web links
- Under the flag of the Buccaneers in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ in the international version: Alan Drake
- ↑ in the international version: Blaine
- ↑ Under the flag of the privateers. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 1, 2018 .
- ↑ Under the flag of the pirates on cinema.de
- ^ Under the flag of the buccaneers in Paimann's film lists
