The Five Best Swashbuckler Films

One of the challenges with listing “swashbuckler films” is that they form a wide genre that defies easy categorization. Yes, a swashbuckling picture must be adventurous in spirit and include some swordplay. However, that definition cuts a wide swath, so one could include tales of knighthood, pirates, samurai, surf-and-sandal epics, and Vikings. To keep my list size to a scant five (that's the "5 Best" rule!), I omitted the latter three groups and focused on classic films from the sound era only. I expect some disagreements (principally from Douglas Fairbanks fans and those bemoaning the inclusion of only twoFlynn flicks...yes, his films could have dominated the list). But, hey, disagreements generate discussion and that’s a part of loving movies, right?

1. The Adventures of Robin Hood – One of the greatest films of all time with one of the greatest casts ever assembled. It has action, humor, romance, and a marvelous hissable villain in Basil Rathbone. Errol Flynn was never more dashing and Olivia de Havilland is the consummate screen heroine. The climatic swordfight is so entertaining that I missed the continuity glitch for many years (watch Basil’s sword magically move between shots). It is, quite simply, the ultimate swashbuckling film.

2. Scaramouche - Stewart Granger is marvelous in a role that Errol Flynn would have played ten years earlier. Janet Leigh, who has never looked lovelier, exudes charming innocence and Eleanor Parker gives a delightful performance as the fiery red-headed Lenore. She and Granger have a natural chemistry that makes their scenes together sparkle. The famous MGM production values are very much on display; the colors are vivid, the costumes ornate, and the set design impeccable. You’ll swear that the thrilling climactic swordfight (maybe the longest in film history at 5:35 minutes…and my personal favorite) was filmed in a real Parisian theatre draped in gold, red, and white.

Basil Rathbone and Danny Kaye in The Court Jester.

3. The Court Jester – Yes, it’s a comedy, but it’s such a spot-on spoof of swashbuckling films that I think it qualifies as one itself. In a rare role worthy of his talents, Danny Kaye gets to sing, dance, use funny voices, contort his expressive face, and excel at physical comedy (such as walking in magnetized armor).The Court Jester also includes Danny’s most famous routine—the one that involves the pellet with the poison in the chalice from the palace, the vessel with the pestle with the brew that is true, and (finally) the flagon with the picture of a dragon (which is used for the brew that is true after the vessel with the pestle is broken). And did I mention that Danny and Basil Rathbone engage in the funniest sword duel in the history of cinema?

4. The Mark of Zorro – I’ll probably get in trouble for listing the Tyrone Power version and not addressing Doug Fairbanks (but I am consistent with my rules). Taking a page from Leslie Howard’s acting class, Tyrone does a fine job of playing the fop who is a fine fencer. His close quarters swordfight with Basil Rathbone (there seems to be a trend with him) is one of the more realistic duels—and it’s an entertaining one, too.

5. The Sea Hawk – There's little similarity with Rafael Sabatini's novel--and it should have been shot in color (by this point, Jack Warner thought Flynn was too big a draw to waste money on color). Still, The Sea Hawk is a first-rate swashbucker with Errol in top form as an English privateer who plunders Spanish ships while Queen Elizabeth looks the other way. The Sea Hawk reunites much of the Robin Hood team, including director Michael Curtiz, composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and performers Claude Rains, Alan Hale, and Una O'Connor. Errol's big swordfight with baddie Henry Daniell even recalls Robin Hood, right down to Curtiz's marvelous use of shadows.

Honorable mentions:  Ivanhoe, The Crimson Pirate, The Prisoner of Zenda, The Scarlet Pimpernal, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Captain Blood.

"Z" for Zorro--Tyrone Power's 1940 Version

Tyrone Power in full Zorro guise.

For me, Errol Flynn dominated the swashbuckler genre from his appearance in Captain Blood (1935) through Against All Flags (1952). However, I freely admit that I can't envision him as the lead in one of the best swashbuckler pictures of that period. Simply put, The Mark of Zorro is not a Flynn vehicle--but it fits Tyrone Power like a glove...or rather, a black mask with holes for the eyes.

There may be some of you that argue The Mark of Zorro isn't really a swashbuckler film at all. You would be wrong, of course. The setting may be Los Angeles in the early 19th century, but the plot and sword fights are straight out of Sherwood Forest with perhaps a dash of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Power plays Diego de Vega, a Spanish officer-in-training known for his prowess with a sword and his cocky attitude (due to his American upbringing, his nickname is the California Cockerel). When Diego's father suddenly calls him back to California, the dispirited young man tells his friends: "Think of me in the land of gentle missions, happy peons, sleepy caballeros, and everlasting boredom."

Diego playing the aristocratic dandy.

Of course, shortly after his arrival back home, Diego learns that things have changed for the worse. A greedy buffoon has replaced his father as alcalde (i.e., magistrate), the cruel Captain Pasquale mistreats the villagers, and taxes are high and going higher. Assessing the situation quickly, Diego decides to play the role of an aristocratic fop more interested in fabrics, scents, and lotions than politics. His deceit not only fools the alcalde and Pasquale, but also Diego's parents. Meanwhile, the young Spaniard dons a black mask and takes up the people's cause as the defiant Zorro--who steals from the rich and distributes the gold to the villagers through the local padre (Eugene Pallette).

No, Eugene Pallette is not playing Friar Tuck!

Although based on Johnston McCulley's serialized 1919 novel The Curse of Capistrano, The Mark of Zorro is highly derivative. The premise of a bold hero disguised as a fop has appeared in numerous literary works, most notably Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel. Not only is the plot lifted from the Robin Hood legend, but whole scenes are strongly reminiscent of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), such as robbing the coach, appearing on his love's balcony, and the climatic sword duel with--yes--Basil Rathbone. I would also be remiss to not mention Douglas Fairbanks' splendid 1920 silent Mark of Zorro, which undoubtedly provided the impetus for this remake.

Power and Rathbone cross swords.

Yet, while The Mark of Zorro lacks originality, it is executed with flair (underlined by Alfred Newman's rousing Oscar-nominated music score). I disagree with Leslie Halliwell, one of my favorite film critics, who wrote in Halliwell's Harvest that Diego is "unsatisfactorily played by a chubby young Tyrone Power, who simply can't manage, without unseemly grimaces, the elements of self-mockery which came so easily to Errol Flynn." I think Power is well-cast as both the effeminate Diego and the robust Zorro. He certainly handles a sword well, with the big showdown opposite Rathbone (a fine fencer in real life) ranking as the film's highlight.

Linda Darnell dressed in black and white.

The rest of the cast lends solid support, except for the lovely Linda Darnell. Granted, her role is barely developed as the film's heroine (in contrast to Merle Oberon's prominent role in the 1934 Scarlet Pimpernel). My chief complaint is that her line readings simply sound too contemporary. Perhaps, it was just a young actress still learning her craft--this was easily her biggest part to date.

Michael Curtiz might have directed a more lively film, but Rouben Mamoulian adds his own distinctive touches. His use of deep black contrasted against white is highly effective, especially when Zorro makes his first appearance--dressed head to foot in black aboard his black stallion as he rides swiftly through a sleepy village filled with drab off-white colors. (I have no idea why Fox bothered to colorize the film for one of its DVD releases, thereby ruining Mamoulian's photography.)

The success of The Mark of Zorro led to other action hero roles for Power (e.g., Captain from Castille, Prince of Foxes, The Black Rose). Zorro continued to be a popular character and has been played by: Guy Williams (in a Walt Disney TV series); Frank Langella (in a made-for-TV movie); George Hamilton (in a spoof); Antonio Banderas; and others.