Captain Pirate

Bland filming of Sabatini's "Return of Captain Blood" has some good players, but lackluster direction, weak script and poor miniatures bring it down. The cyclorama behind many of the ship scenes is wrinkled and the models are not convincing. Certainly not up to the classic Flynn and Power swashbucklers and lacking the wit and sense of fun found in "The Crimson Pirate" released the same year. Louis Hayward is capable in the lead role, but lacks Errol Flynn's charisma. Patricia Medina is lovely but doesn't have much to do. Only George Givot and Ted de Corsia play their characters broad enough to make them classic pirates and Jay Novello stands out as the treacherous Egyptian. Still, it's a competent swashbuckler and is a pleasant way to kill some time.