Crappy film

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Amusing and entertaining swashbuckler has Don Juán (Errol Flynn in his self-mocking best) saving Queen Margarita (Viveca Lindfords) who secretly loves her champion from her evil First Minister , (the British Robert Douglas) . He , then swashbuckles his way across England and Spain in effort to win her heart . At the end Don Juan finds a worthy fencing adversary in the treacherous Duc of Lorca (actually , Duke of Lerma , favorite of King Felipe III) at an exciting final duel .Errol's last spectacular and overwhelming epic features impressive duels , elegant costuming , impressive production design , marvelous gowns , and loads of action . It is so crammed with fights and action , there hardly seems to be a set-piece that doesn't start or end with a duel , fencing or brawl . This was the major ¨Sword and Swagger¨ film mounted by First National Pictures and Warner Brothers for its superstar of swashbucklers , Errol Flynn . Errol is still nearly at his most agile and deft style . Errol Flynn was 38 when he made this movie , but his wild lifestyle had diminished his health and made him less able to perform his own stunts, as he had in earlier films . Previously , Flynn made his best swashbucklers and played successes as ¨Captain Blood¨ , ¨Adventures of Robin Hood¨, ¨The prince and the pauper¨ , ¨Sea Hawk¨, ¨The private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ , ¨Gentleman Jim¨ . Flynn performed splendidly the mass battle royal at the ending and the ultimate romantic gesture for the queen , he certainly gave his enthusiasts something to remember him by . It was all downhill for Errol after this , as he followed his successive flops as ¨The warriors¨, ¨Against all flags¨, ¨The Master of Ballantree¨ and ¨Adventures captain Fabian . Support cast is pretty well , such as Alan Hale Jr as his squire , Rommy Brent playing the silly King Felipe III and Robert Douglas is too good for his baddie role . And other notorious secondaries in brief apparitions as Robert Warwick , Douglas Kennedy , Barbara Bates , Monte Blue , Raymond Burr , Helen Westcott , Fortunio Bonanova and forthright as well as sympathetic Una O'Connor , as usual . Richly costumed , including luxurious gowns and in glamorous Technicolor by cameraman Elwood Bredell . Breathtaking and luxury set design and art design by Edward Carrere and Harry Platt , though mostly interiors . Thrilling and evocative musical score by the great maestro and prolific Max Steiner . The picture is not a masterpiece , but being made with huge confidence and fair play by Vincent Sherman . Vincent directed all kinds of genres : drama , suspense , Western , biography , such as ¨Cervantes¨, ¨Lone Star¨, ¨Affair in Trinidad¨, ¨The Young Philadelphians , ¨Ice palace¨, ¨All through the night¨ , ¨Underground¨. Being his best films : ¨Mr Skeffington¨and this ¨Adventures of Don Juan¨.

You could look at it cynically and view Adventures of Don Juan as a career life support, seeing Errol Flynn going to back to doing what made him famous in the first place after a string of unsuccessful pictures at the box office but it is none the less Errol Flynn returning to do what he does best. Despite not having done a swashbuckler since The Sea Hawk in 1940, Adventures of Don Juan manages to recapture the magic of his earlier days in this very dialogue driven swashbuckler. Flynn's signs of ageing are increasingly apparent but considering his health and status as a star this would have been the final time Flynn could have headlined a big budget production such as this.The Technicolor here doesn't have the striking vibrancy of The Adventures of Robin Hood but the beautiful, detailed backdrops and very large scale sets with immaculate attention to detail are superb. The only complaint I have production wise is the very obvious use of footage taken from The Adventures of Robin Hood which sticks out from the rest of a movie which was filmed a decade later. It's a shame they couldn't get Michael Curtiz to direct for one last Flynn adventure or Erich Wolfgang Korngold to do the music score, none the less Max Steiner's score does the job. I also previously knew Viveca Lindfors as the teacher from the 1985 comedy The Sure Thing. To see her 37 years earlier play a Spanish queen in the 17th century was such a contrasting role.Unlike John Barrymore's take on Don Juan in 1926, Flynn's Don Juan uses the character's insatiable lust for woman for laughs rather than for tragedy (I doubt a film in tone of the Barrymore Don Juan could be made during the code era). Flynn's Don Juan is a charmer but with a tad buffoonery to him, who's love making antics threaten relations between England and Spain. However Flynn injects some John Barrymore into his performance with his manner of speaking, which it should then come as no surprise that Flynn would later portray Barrymore in Too Much, Too Soon. What is also taken over from the Barrymore Don Juan is the famous breathtaking epic dive down the stairs; and it does not disappoint. The two villains in Adventures of Don Juan, the King of Spain (Romney Brent) and the Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas) attempt to hatch a plan to build an armada in secret for world conquest and use shady tactics along the way such as abducting subjects by force for the navy. This was only a few years after the Second World War had ended and the memories of Hitler where still vivid in people's minds. Robert Douglas channels a bit of Basil Rathbone in his performance while the partnership between these two villains is the classic Emperor/Darth Vader set up; with one figure taking the public limelight and the other pulling the strings behind the scenes; as the Duke de Lorca puts it, "I have no desire to sit on a throne, I much prefer to stand behind it".

Super and spectacular is this movie and gets high marks for the costumes,color,for which it won an Oscar.Womaniser Do Juan returns to his homeland in Spain and in great swashbuckling fencing style needs to save his country from a tyrant who seeks to persuade the Monarchy to go to war.Good story,excellent design and presentation and the whole picture is gloriously colorful with plenty of wit and action.Thank you:TCM.8/10

The most eagerly awaited Flynn movie has at last made it to DVD! Unavailable for some years except on a VHS tape and an obscure over priced Korean disc it, thankfully, is back in the Warner Bros. stable where it belongs. The wait was worth it for the disc is simply pluperfect! With rich vibrant three-strip Technicolor and sharply defined images it is a joy to behold! Flynn is terrific in the title role of the great lover and roue. Not withstanding perhaps a nod to the actor's own lifestyle the part was nevertheless taylor made for him. And although it was said at the time that he was slowing down and that he hit the booze while filming there is no evidence of it on screen. The great swashbuckler cuts a fine figure in his many fabulous costume changes throughout the picture. These costumes - designed by the great Travilla - won the 1948 Acadamy Award for best costume design.The supporting cast were well chosen too! Robert Douglas is great as Flynn's adversary - the evil Duke DeLorca. His dark eyes blackened even more to make him look that bit extra villainous. Alan Hale is once again Flynn's faithful sidekick but after 12 movies this was to be their final picture together. He died the following year. The female lead is taken by the beautiful Swedish actress Vivica Lindfors. Here she plays Margaret Queen of Spain and the one true love of Juan. Lindfors' final film was "Stargate" in 1994! She died in 1995 at the age of 75."The Adventures of Don Juan" is well directed by Vincent Sherman and is probably his best remembered movie. The atmosphere, the colour and the sets in the court scenes are really very impressive. But now and then the film gets a little bogged down with some palace intrigue until the picture's famous set piece - the brilliantly staged sword-fight on the magnificent palace staircase. It ranks as one of the cinema's finest duels and Flynn will always be remembered for it even though that amazing leap with the knife was performed by stuntman and B picture actor Jock Mahoney.Then, of course there is the music by Max Steiner - one of his very best scores! Particularly splendid is his music for Juan's Parade into London with its masterful use of bells and chimes. Also the wistful Ballade which accompanies Juan on his many and various balcony climbings, the driving action music for the fight in the palace and the gorgeous love theme for the scenes with Juan and the Queen especially for the sequence near the end. Here the theme is heard in full bloom as the lovers say farewell to each other forever ("I shall be the only one who knew, for just a little while, that there was no Queen"). Interestingly Flynn's usual swashbuckling composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold - who had served him brilliantly on past successes such as "Captain Blood", "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" and "The Sea Hawk" -was originally slated to score "The Adventures Of Don Juan" as far back as 1945, but by the time the picture went into production the esteemed composer had left Hollywood and returned to his birthplace Vienna. As brilliant a composer as Korngold was it's difficult to imagine he would have topped Steiner's exceptional score. But alas we will never know!So quite a wonderful disc all round with good extras consisting of a commentary by director the late Vincent Sherman and Flynn authority Rudy Behlmer, a trailer and some instantly forgettable old fashioned shorts but the movie is all, so enjoy. En Garde!