Henry King's - The Black Swan - starring Tyrone Power Maureen O'Hara

Directed by Henry King
USA 1942

A sweeping pirate epic with Power as an aide to notorious buccaneer Henry Morgan (Cregar), the film opens with Morgan pardoned from the gallows and sent to Jamaica as its new governor. Trying to prevent his former associates from continuing their villainous activities, Morgan encounters resistance from two renegades (Sanders and Quinn). Power, meanwhile, falls for the daughter (O'Hara) of the former governor, but she spurns his brazen advances. Although kidnapping her and taking her along on his warship doesn't initially help matters, things change when Sanders and Quinn overpower his ship, forcing Power to fight for the woman he loves.

The story and dialogue smack of the Errol Flynn adventure Captain Blood, but the film employs its cliches with such overwhelming vigor and good humor that they seem like old friends. Even though his physique isn't quite up to the more beefcake aspects of the hardsell by the producers, Power is full of marvelous dash and derring-do. Cregar, all hearty bravado, is equally wonderful, his enormous body bedecked in wigs and finery, and the practically unrecognizable Sanders, sporting a thick red wig and beard, is quite effective as a less civilized type of villain than those he usually played.

Excerpt from TV Guide located HERE

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Theatrical Release: December 4th, 1942

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DVD Review: 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:24:36
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.65 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Mono), DUBS: French (Mono), Spanish (Mono)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by Rudy Behlmer and Maureen O'Hara • Trailer • Restoration comparison • Fox Flix DVD Release Date: July 11th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 20

Comments:

I have a feeling that this is an accurate representation of how this film looked theatrically. The colors have that same extravagant variances often seen in other early color films - you get used to it very quickly. It is also quite sharp with good contrast (blacks seem a little boosted). The anamorphic, progressive image looks quite impressive.

The commentary was acceptable - Ms. O'Hara filled the time quite nicely - although it seemed more like an interview than a commentary at times. There were a few amusing anecdotes but we are talking about a film almost 65 years old. Behlmer knows his stuff and talks quite well. The restoration comparison shares visual evidence of the superiority - frankly, I think our DVDBeaver comparisons do a better job :) - but the 2 million dollars worth of restoration are very evident (I've now heard it was closer to 5 million). Overall this film looks quite remarkable and makes for very enjoyable viewing. Fox continues to impress with its 'Studio Classics' lineup.

Gary W. Tooze

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