The Sea Hawk (1940) ****

The Sea Hawk (1940) is an exciting action adventure picture from that purveyor of excellence, director Michael Curtiz. Replete with swashbuckling, derring-do, drama, and romance, The Sea Hawk features Errol Flynn (in his tenth collaboration with Curtiz) as a dashing buccaneer, Alan Hale (again paired with Flynn) as his right hand mate, Claude Rains as (amusingly) a Spanish ambassador, and Flora Robson as a wonderful, saucy Queen Elizabeth. 

Beautifully photographed by Curtiz's frequent cinematographer of the time Sol Polito, with a sweeping, rousing score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, The Sea Hawk combines elements of Curtiz and Flynn's previous work together—Captain Blood (1935), The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938) and The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex (1939)—to form a vastly entertaining Hollywood epic of the kind they simply "don't make anymore".

You can find my Michael Curtiz Feature Films Ranked list here.