the leading man is my tpye

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Producer: George A. Hirliman. Executive producer: Edward L. Alperson. Copyright 21 December 1936 by Grand National Films, Inc. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release through Regal Film Distributors. (The Film Daily published a review of this film on 17 April 1936). 66 minutes. SYNOPSIS: In order to obtain credit, a personable but down-on-his-luck schooner master spreads a false rumor that he has uncovered a vast pirate treasure. Setting: an island in the South Seas.NOTES: A companion piece to We're in the Legion Now. Both films were formerly distributed to TV by Screen Gems in washed-out black-and-white versions. It's good that we now have them in color, even if both prints are a bit worn and splicy. Still, there are so many jump cuts in the original negatives, one or two dozen more is not going to make much difference.COMMENT: Curiosity value (piqued by ingenious cast credit titles) but little else is on offer here in this scrappily directed South Seas travelogue-musical-Boy's Own Paper pirate adventure. Perhaps I'm being a bit hard on the film. The brothel madame (convincingly played by Margaret Irving) would never gain a place in Boy's Own. Nor would the sadistic Samson (played with a little too much enthusiasm by Roy D'Arcy). And the lovely but faithless Movita who enjoys the spectacle of men fighting over her, is yet another no-no.I also found pouring-on-the-charm-and-casting-off-the-shirt George Houston a bit hard to take as the singing hero, whilst somewhat plain and scratchy-voiced Marian Nixon failed to engender my interest in the heroine. The most capable and interesting performance came, oddly enough, from screenwriter Crane Wilbur who handed himself a sizable role as a sympathetic doctor. I also liked Harold Howard's crafty interpretation of a money-pinching yet money-mad trader. And it's good to say that Vince Barnett's portrayal of the hero's comic sidekick is a lot more restrained in Calamity than in his over-the-top Legion.Reinhardt's direction rated as one or two pegs more competent than Crane Wilbur's handling of We're in the Legion Now (which is faint praise indeed), though he does manage to capture enough sleazy island scenery to put us off traveling to Polynesia for life.

I truly dislike the word inappropriate. It has been overused, abused and slaughtered to death in our language of today. However, when it is used "appropriately", as it is here, it has an important factor in expressing a feeling. "Captain Calamity" had the potential to be a nice little color adventure from a growing poverty row studio, but there is definitely in this case an inappropriate use of humor throughout the film which comes at the strangest times. Jokes are thrown in as some of the characters are killed or lay there dying or injured, leaving a sort of unnecessary sardonic feeling to the events occurring on screen. It all surrounds a South Seas search for treasure and the fight between captain George Houston and various pirates who come in and out of the action. Then, add some rather insipid songs, and you have what might have been a nice little operetta on stage in the early 1920's, but is just an eye roller 15 years later.For one thing, certain characters seem to be splitting their loyalties down the middle, on Houston's side one minute then betraying him or plotting against him in the next with no apparent motive. Marian Nixon is his love interest, a pretty young lady with an alcoholic foster father (Crane Wilbur), while "Mutiny on the Bounty's" Movita is the second female lead in a storyline with Houston's loyal right-hand man Roy D'Arcy, a comic relief type who jokes around at the most awkward times. Margaret Irving adds some spark as the patroness of a South Seas dive, while Vince Barnett is the epitome of sleaziness as the greedy Burp. While you can't expect Technicolor like quality from a poverty row film, the over-use of blue makes it seem rather tinted than colored. Certain major studios used this form of color for their short subjects. But in the end it is the fault of the script which makes this less than memorable even though it is still worth a look to see the progress color films were making.

This film was made by Grand National Films, a company with a brief existence from 1936 to 1939. They were trying to become a major player by signing up James Cagney, but his second film for the firm, Something To Sing About cost a fortune for the company and laid an egg at the box office, effectively bankrupting the fledgling firm. Captain Calamity sounds like it would be a comedy film, but it is not. There are some attractive players here, like George Houston, who goes through much of the film with no shirt on, and Movita, a player whose character suffers a surprising fate. The color is a version of Cinecolor which favors blue and red and really looks quite lovely on the unrestored but very watchable print I viewed. Most prints have the first section of credits missing, and cuts in for the shots of the cast poking their heads through a life preserver, with their names printed on the preserver. A good example of early, good-looking color from a company other than Technicolor.

With a name like "Captain Calamity", I was surprised coming out of the film at how entertaining it actually was. George Houston portrays the title character, Captain Bill Jones, who gets a lot of mileage out of a single gold doubloon. Without ever actually lying about discovering a sunken treasure, Jones' tall tale takes on a life of it's own after the seed has been planted with a nefarious saloon keeper named Joblin (Harold Howard). After that, the treasure grows with each telling of the tale, until one imagines the Schooner Marigold sinking under it's weight.To be sure, the film is not an award winner, but it is a fun adventure. George Houston, who I'd seen before in some of his Lone Rider Westerns, is much more spirited here, as he performs a host of singing numbers while grinning broadly. You never quite believe he's going to turn over his leading lady Marian Nixon to a former beau after all the commotion over the non existent gold.The best lines of the film are delivered by Captain Jones as he re-establishes his acquaintance with Joblin henchman Black Pierre. During introductions, Jones remarks - "You know of all the guys I don't like, you're the one I like most". Later in the film Jones reaffirms his mutual trust and distrust of Pierre at the same time - "I'd be quicker to believe you than any other liar I know..." Besides Marian Nixon's character Madge Lewis, the film is complemented by Margaret Irving as a conniving Madame Gruen in league with the film's bad guys, and a pretty island girl named Annana. I got a kick out of her screen credit, reminiscent of one for a character in the 1970's TV series 'Hawaii Five-O". In that one you had Zulu as 'Kono', and here we have Movita as 'Annana'. My question in each case - Why couldn't they have just used their own names? As mentioned earlier, George Houston went on to do eleven films for Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) in the period 1940-1942 as 'The Lone Rider'. Though I haven't seen any of those in which he sings, he does belt out the Lone Rider theme song over that series' opening credits. Houston's voice was by some estimates just a bit too formal and booming for lowly 'B' Westerns, but in 'Calamity', he does sound pretty good; that salt sea air does wonders.As time goes by, little known titles like "Captain Calamity" seem to be finding a wider audience with assorted compilations. I found it as part of a ten film, three DVD 'Pirates' set recently released by St. Clair Vision, which has also put together similar collections in other genres. It's a terrific way to spend a few hours at a very reasonable price (under ten dollars), and get to see a lot of actors before they became big name Hollywood stars.