I'm a big fan of Tyrone Power in "The Mark of Zorro," which is perhaps my favorite escapist film of all time. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find another movie with Power that's quite as good.
And "The Black Swan," I'm afraid to say, is markedly inferior to Zorro. Everything about this film is worse - the script, the acting, the direction, and especially the choreography for the sword-fights (Zorro does not, for instance, feature such obviously sped-up footage in the fight scenes!)
Another disappointment is that "The Black Swan" spends way too much time developing its often tedious romance subplot. Maureen O'Hara is nice to look at, and she does have some chemistry with Power, but she rebuffs him again and again in scenes that get repetitive really fast.
I don't want to sound too negative, since there are aspects of this movie that I like. The plot deals with the compelling issue of pirates being forced to turn "legitimate" after Britain and Spain make peace. Some of them decide to work for the British crown, while others go renegade. Watching this schism develop in the pirate community is pretty interesting.
There are also a few good guest actors - notably Laird Craiger as Captain Morgan (the guy on the rum bottle?) His flamboyant costumes and over-the-top dialog give the movie some life during segments when it might otherwise be slow and draggy.
But, despite a few good points, "The Black Swan" is essentially just a lightweight action movie - the "Pirates of the Caribbean" of its day. A more literate and witty script might have elevated it to a higher level, but alas, the only line of dialog I can remember offhand is "the English dog still barks!" Hardly Shakespearean, is it?
And "The Black Swan," I'm afraid to say, is markedly inferior to Zorro. Everything about this film is worse - the script, the acting, the direction, and especially the choreography for the sword-fights (Zorro does not, for instance, feature such obviously sped-up footage in the fight scenes!)
Another disappointment is that "The Black Swan" spends way too much time developing its often tedious romance subplot. Maureen O'Hara is nice to look at, and she does have some chemistry with Power, but she rebuffs him again and again in scenes that get repetitive really fast.
I don't want to sound too negative, since there are aspects of this movie that I like. The plot deals with the compelling issue of pirates being forced to turn "legitimate" after Britain and Spain make peace. Some of them decide to work for the British crown, while others go renegade. Watching this schism develop in the pirate community is pretty interesting.
There are also a few good guest actors - notably Laird Craiger as Captain Morgan (the guy on the rum bottle?) His flamboyant costumes and over-the-top dialog give the movie some life during segments when it might otherwise be slow and draggy.
But, despite a few good points, "The Black Swan" is essentially just a lightweight action movie - the "Pirates of the Caribbean" of its day. A more literate and witty script might have elevated it to a higher level, but alas, the only line of dialog I can remember offhand is "the English dog still barks!" Hardly Shakespearean, is it?