Adventures of Captain Fabian

As stated in another review, bit of a slow mover this one. Not one of Flynn's best. Although Flynn is credited with writing this, it is believed the he didn't actually write any of this. In his biography "My Wicked, Wicked Ways", he stated that he did. But others from the time dispute that claim. Who knows, Flynn did author 2 books on his own, and would have preferred to be remembered as a good writer. But, all in all, this movie is good, not the best, but good and entertaining. Vincent Price does an excellent job, Anges Morehead, is as usual very dependable and shows why she is one of the better character actors in Hollywood. Errol Flynn, to me, appears half asleep though this movie. Strange, considering he boasted he wrote it. Not much of an adventure film.. But for Flynn fans, a good film, and should be seen..

This is not an adventure film as the title might suggest, but a slow moving melodrama, with some good scenes. The film was made independentley in France, and from the beginning there was to have been two versions, one english and one frenchspeaking. Director Robert Florey, was hired to helm the frenchspeaking version, but it was never made. Instead Florey stayed on as uncredited assistant director to William Marshall, some scenes show his influence, and he directed most of the final dockside fight. It was also Florey who brought in actors Victor Francen and Jim Gerald, as well as art director Eugene Lourie to the project. The film is good to look at, photography(by Marcel Grignon) and settings are intriguing, but the direction is to slow to really keep intrest, but a few scenes near the end are well made. The acting is ok, Agnes Moorehead gives a fine performence, and Errol Flynn is interesting as a rough seacaptain, a toned down role in comparision with Micheline Presles flambouyant creole girl. Vincent Price is properly slimy as a spineless dandy and Victor Francen is seen to briefley as his grim uncle. The story is very old fashioned, a little "Monte Cristoish" in style, and have some curiosity value. This film must unfortenatly go down as a missed opportunity, although an interesting one, like Vincent Price later said: this should have been a very good film". Altough the film has flaws, its visually interesting also the music by Rene Cloerc has its moments. if you like oldfashioned, romantic melodramas, this could be worth watching and the final scene is inspired.

Serving girl Micheline Presle is mistreated by Agnes Moorhead and made love to by her nephew Vincent Price, but she's not good enough to marry. Instead, she's framed for an accidental murder Price commits, until sea captain Errol Flynn wanders by, gets her out of trouble, sets her up with a nice tavern and clothes, and leaves again. So, Mlle Presle decides to get her revenge by conniving her way into New Orleans elite society by marrying Vincent Price.

Considering Flynn wrote the screenplay this movie was based on, and has the starring position in the credits, he's not around that much, nor does his character seem particularly interested in any of the events or characters. He very well may be having adventures at sea, but mostly it's Price and Mlle Presle being angry with each other, and trying to frame each other, until a corpse shows up. It's not clear if Price or Mlle Presle killed it, but Price decides to frame Flynn, who's in town, and then leads a lynch mob against him.

No one is particularly well served by this movie, even though there's a spectacular explosion and fire towards the end. Robert Florey did some uncredited direction on it.

Micheline Presle stars as Lea Mariotte, a Creole maid in 1860 New Orleans. She gets accused of murder in order to cover up the misdeeds of local wealthy scion George Brissac (Vincent Price), but she gets freed thanks to the intervention of merchant sea captain Michael Fabian (Errol Flynn). Fabian has a score to settle with the Brissac family, but Lea sees George as her entry into posh society.

This odd movie doesn't really work, but I liked parts of it. Although a shirtless Flynn is featured in the promotional art, which combined with the title make this seem like a swashbuckler, he's really more of a supporting player, and this is Presle's film all the way (she was dating or married to the director at the time). To say that her character is complicated would be an understatement, as she's at times the most evil person in the movie, but then the script tries to make her actions seem justified. Many of the characters are morally dubious and hard to pin down.

The production values are excellent in some scenes, but amateurish in others. There's some nice (if obvious) miniature work, and some good crowd shots. Vincent Price is squirmy and entertainingly hammy, and Agnes Moorehead also chews the scenery as a Creole relative of Lea's. I also enjoyed seeing future European "B" movie staples Howard Vernon and Reggie Nalder in minor roles.

The production of this movie was troubled, with director Marshall being accused of incompetence and Robert Florey being brought in to shoot some scenes. Flynn himself is credited with the screenplay, although he was later sued by an associate who claimed to have worked on it. Speaking of litigation, there was more to go around, as Flynn sued Republic to try and get the film blocked from release (it would have violated his contract with Warner Brothers). It may not be good as in cohesive, but it is entertaining.

There is a myth perpetuated by film buffs that a film can be so bad that it's good.

This is absolute nonsense of course as there is no such animal.

Even allowing for the directorial inexperience of 'actor' William Marshall this lamentable opus is just plain bad.

The leading lady is Micheline Presle(here billed as Prelle so as not to challenge non-European viewers!) It is hard to believe that she had previously appeared in 'Diable au Corps' and 'Les Jeux sont faites'. Being married at the time to Marshall was probably her excuse although her role as a Creole femme fatale no doubt looked good on paper.

Agnes Moorhead and Victor Francen are wasted and Vincent Price's character is so obnoxious as to be almost unwatchable. This was not a happy experience for Price as he was obliged to sue for 'unpaid salary'.

The score by Rene Cloerec is atrocious and the screenplay, allegedly written by leading man Errol Flynn, is aimed at the slowest-witted person watching.

The professional relationship between Flynn and Marshall was short-lived and doomed from the outset, resulting in a legal dispute over a semi-documentary pacifist piece called 'Hello God'.

Watching Flynn in this is a sad spectacle indeed. An actor in his prime who has simply ceased to care.

Ten years were to elapse before Marshall was again let loose on a film set resulting in 'The Phantom Planet' which is no doubt yet another that falls into the category 'so bad it's good'!