The Black Swan
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Movie Reviews of The Black Swan
Movie Review: Great Movie, Questionable DVD Mastering
Summary: 5 Stars
The Black Swan is a great Technicolor movie, a movie that was rarely shown until the 90s, when AMC (before the commercials and the crummy movies) and TMC finally broadcast it. I wanted to see it after reading about the movie in Everson's "The Bad Guys." The commentary on the DVD release by Rudy Behlmer and Maureen O'Hara is a real plus, the restoration looks fine but there is one slight problem with my DVD of this movie. The first DVD Amazon sent me had freezes during the dueling scene between George Sanders and Tyrone Power. I ran DVDInfoPro, which showed plenty of read errors. The replacement DVD Amazon sent me played fine during the big duel, but when I ran the CRC Read Error test on the new DVD, it showed 24 errors, the first occurring at about 4 GB mark, 62% through the movie, apparently just after the layer change (shown by a red line on the display). At the 75% completion point of the test, there were no more reported read errors.
After all the effort 20th Century Fox went to restore the movie (40 hours of time, according to the restoration short), you would think someone at the DVD mastering company would run a scan on the pressed DVD, to see if there were read errors. I could be just unlucky and have gotten two defective discs in a row, or, more likely, the studio did not catch a manufacturing error and released a bad batch of DVDs among those produced. When I received the replacement DVD, the cardboard box was crushed and the DVD case was busted, but the DVD inside was unmarked. So maybe for me this DVD has a curse on it, just like the Black Pearl. I will keep The Black Swan as is, read errors and all.
Movie Review: BLACK SWAN finally on DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
THE BLACK SWAN 1942
Directed by Henry King and stars Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, George Sanders, Laird Cregar, George Zucco, Thomas Mitchell.
This is one great swashbuckler. As I remember it, this is the one where Maureen O'Hara has to say "Jamie Boy" three times before she can win the heart of Tyrone. At the very end she does and when they kiss she literally SUCKS his face with a mouth open enough to eat a 14 lb. potato. George Sanders is the bad guy and you really hate him. The plot has to do with the Black Swan being a sought after pirate frigate which of course the hero gets along with the girl. Morgan the Pirate is made the govenor of Jamaica and he wants to go after all the rivaling gangs now that he has position power.
Music by Alfred Newman (nominated for best music) and it won an oscar for cinematography. It's in glorious technicolor and one beautiful movie, not to be missed by anyone who loves pirate movies.
Maureen O'Hara was in another swashbuckler from 1952 with Errol Flynn (AGAINST ALL FLAGS) and while I mention her, she was also in SINBAD THE SAILOR and AT SWORD'S POINT and of course her film debut in Hitchcock's JAMAICA INN but I think her best was THE BLACK SWAN as far as swashbucklers go.
Movie Review: Technicolor Treasure
Summary: 5 Stars
Why did they ever stop using technicolor film? Some of the best old movies (Gone With the Wind, Ten Commandments, Wizard of Oz) stand the test of time because of the exceptional color that made costumes, scenery, and people seem to leap off the screen. The Black Swan is a visual treat: lots of color and beauty, not only on handsome Tyrone Power and beautiful Maureen O'Hara, but also in ship-on-sea shots, and even interior shots. Even if the film's plot and acting bored you stiff (and it won't) it's beautiful just to look at. If you like swashbuckling films that are colorful and fun, The Princess & the Pirate, with Virginia Mayo and Bob Hope are great, too. This is a great movie to watch George Sanders as a campy villian (something he doesn't usually do; he usually plays the seriously bad bad guy)and Thomas Mitchell is likeable and interesting in just about anything. Wish they still made movies like this. Today's films try too hard, and still fall short.Movie Review: Jamie Boy & Maggie Denby - what a pair!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love romance novels, so naturally I loved this movie. To the reviewers who think Jamie was rough, sadistic, etc. - this is a PIRATE we are talking about! HELLO! Pirates were not known for their politeness & manners.
*****Spoiler*****
I LOVED when Jamie first sees Margaret coming down the stairs (and the wall scene that follows it). My heart just does flips! Loved the scruffy looking beard - perfect - wish he'd worn it through the entire movie, not just the first 1/4.
I thought the gowns that Margaret wore were gorgeous (Maureen's costumes always were), the sets were great, loved the swordfights & ship battle scenes. Most of all, I thought Ty did an excellent job. I only have one minor complaint - baggy pants? What was up with those pants??? In the romance novels, the pirates usually wear tight, form fitting breeches! Oh well, just a trivial complaint I have with the wardrobe they gave Jamie to wear.
Movie Review: Very high quality
Summary: 5 Stars
I think this is the best swashbuckler I've ever seen. I've seen Errol Flynn's Captain Blood, Adventures of Robin Hood, and Sea Hawk, and the newer Pirates of the Caribbean movies can't begin to compare to Errol Flynn's. But compared to Errol Flynn's, The Black Swan is superior! The fun thing about pirate movies of this era, Hollywood's Golden Age, is that the pirates were rebels without being rapists, and they had a sense of honor, even if in reality, pirates rarely did. Such is the case with The Black Swan, featuring a reforming pirate who has not completely lost his rebellious streak. The comedy, adventure, and romance elements of the movie work perfectly together (the comedy is greatest when Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara spar), the audiocommentary is delightful to listen to, and the movie has so much variety and plot twists, that I rank this as one of the most fun and high-quality movies ever. Alfred Newman also does an excellent music score.