Movie poster for The Sea Hawk

The Sea Hawk is a 1940 adventure film about an English privateer set in the Elizabethan era, loosely based on the historical figure Sir Francis Drake. While the film bears the same name as the novel The Sea Hawk by Rafael Sabatini, its plot has nothing to do with the novel, and is instead based on a story by Seton I. Miller. Image File history File links The_Sea_Hawk. ... Image File history File links The_Sea_Hawk. ... A privateer was a private ship (or its captain) authorized by a countrys government to attack and seize cargo from another countrys ships. ... Elizabeth ushers in Peace and Plenty. ... Sir Francis Drake, c. ... 1940s paperback edition The Sea Hawk is a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1915. ... Rafael Sabatini (April 29, 1875 - February 13, 1950) was an author of novels of romance and adventure. ...

The film was directed by Michael Curtiz and starred Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, and Claude Rains. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, and featured a score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Michael Curtiz (December 24, 1886 - April 10, 1962) was a film director, whose films include The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca, and White Christmas. ... Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, one of his most famous roles Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (June 20, 1909 – October 14, 1959), was an Australian film actor born in Hobart, Tasmania, most famous for his romantic swashbuckler roles. ... Brenda Marshall (September 29, 1915 – July 30, 1992) was an American cinema actress. ... Claude Rains in Casablanca (1942) Claude Rains (November 10, 1889 - May 30, 1967) was an English actor. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ... Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897 - November 29, 1957) was a composer. ...

Plot

The film begins with King Philip II of Spain declaring his intentions to destroy England and after this "puny rockbound island as barren and treacherous as her Queen" is out of the way, he believes that world conquest will follow: "it (a map) will cease to be a map of the world; it will be Spain." He sends one of his courtiers, Don Alvarez, played by Claude Rains, as his ambassador to England to allay suspicions generated by the great armada he is building that he plans to send to invade England. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... Combatants England Spain Commanders Charles Howard Francis Drake Duke of Medina Sidonia Strength 34 warships 163 merchant vessels 22 galleons 108 merchant vessels Casualties 500 dead or wounded 600 dead 3 merchant ships sunk 1 merchant ship captured The Spanish Armada or Great/Grand Armada(Old Spanish: Grande y Felic...

In England, the Queen is in audience with her ministers where those suspicious of King Philip's armada plead with the Queen to build a fleet, which she hesitates to do in order to spare the purses of her subjects.

Later, the ambassador's ship is attacked en route to England by the Albatross, captained by Errol Flynn's character of Captain Geoffery Thorpe. The ship is taken, and Don Alvarez and his niece are taken aboard and brought to England. The dashing Thorpe is immediately enchanted by Alvarez's niece, Donna Maria, generating the romantic subplot that carries throughout the film, and later returns her jewels that were part of the plunder seized from the Spanish vessel. Her former hard exterior towards him softens as she too begins to fall in love.

Upon reaching England, Don Alvarez is granted an audience before the Queen, who accepts Donna Maria as one of her maids of honour. The Sea Hawks, a group of English privateers who loot Spanish ships for "reparations" appear before the Queen, who scolds them for their piratical attacks and for endangering the peace with Spain. Captain Thorpe finally appears and despite his attack on the ambassador's ship, is instead allowed to proceed with a plan to seize a large caravan of gold in the New World and bring it back to England. The Queen is wary of what an attack on Spain's source of wealth may do, but allows Thorpe to proceed with the plan in any case. A privateer was a private ship (or its captain) authorized by a countrys government to attack and seize cargo from another countrys ships. ... Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, c. ...

Suspicious of Thorpe's expedition, Lord Wolfingham, one of the Queen's ministers (who is secretly a Spanish loyalist who collaborates with Don Alvarez, and is interested in placing a ruler friendly to Spain on the throne) sends a spy to try to discover where the Albatross is really heading, but to no avail; Lord Wolfingham and the other courtiers are told that Thorpe is heading out on a trading expedition up the Nile River in Egypt, which Wolfingham doubts. A lord is a male who has power and authority. ... The Nile (Arabic: النيل an-nīl), in Africa, is one of the two longest rivers on Earth. ...

Upon visiting the chartmaker who is crafting the chart for the Albatross' voyage, Don Alvarez and Lord Wolfingham determine that the ship is really heading to the Isthmus of Panama and informs the same Spanish captain whom Thorpe earlier defeated to sail ahead, in order to capture Thorpe and his ship. The Albatross reaches its destination, and part of her crew seizes the caravan. They are secretly led into a well-laid trap; during the ensuing action, the Spanish drive the English crew into the swamps. Thorpe and a few others survive and return to the ship, only to find that it has been captured by the Spanish. Thorpe and crew are returned to Spain, tried by the Inquisition, and sentenced to be chained to the oars of a Spanish galley for the remainder of their natural lives. The Isthmus of Panama is the narrow strip of land between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean which links North America and South America. ... A freshwater swamp This article is about the wetland type (a landform). ...

In England, Don Alvarez informs the Queen and her maids of Thorpe's fate, causing his niece to faint. The Queen and Don Alvarez exchange heated words, and she orders him out of her court before she orders his arrest. Disgusted, she also orders a portrait of King Philip to be removed from her quarters.

On the Spanish ship he is imprisoned on, Thorpe meets an Englishman named Abbott who was captured in Spain trying to discover evidence that the Armada is intended as an offensive measure rather than for the defense of Spain. Through cunning, the English take the ship during a night attack after freeing themselves from their chains. They board another ship in the same harbor, where an emissary has the secret orders. Thorpe and his fellow men take that ship as well and sail back to England with the plans in hand.

Upon returning to England, Captain Thorpe must reach the Queen with the Spanish plans before it is too late. A carriage bringing Don Alvarez to the ship which unbeknownest to him Thorpe had captured also brings his niece. Don Alvarez boards the ship and is presumeably held prisoner as Captain Thorpe, dressed in the uniform of a Spanish courtier, sneaks into the carriage carrying Donna Maria, who has decided to stay in England in hope that Thorpe may one day return. The two declare their love for each other, noting that his English ancestry and her Spanish ancestry do not matter.

Lord Wolfingham's spy, who escorted the ambassador and his niece, sees Thorpe in the back and, upon reaching London, orders the carriage to the castle guard's gate. Thorpe escapes in time and enters the Queen's residence, having to fend off castle guards in the meanwhile. He finds Lord Wolfingham, whom he engages in a sword fight, which ends when Thorpe kills Wolfingham. Further castle guards are sent to stop Thorpe from reaching the Queen, but because of Donna Maria, she is informed as to what is going on and orders the guards to stop. Thorpe then shows the secret dispatches to the Queen, who is immediately convinced of the danger Spain poses.

A ship is then the scene of great pagentry, where the Queen knights Captain Thorpe for his gallantry, with Donna Maria present, and declares her intention to build a great fleet to oppose the Spanish threat. The movie closes with cheers and great pomp, and a declaration of "Hail to the Queen and to England." Sir is an honorary title. ...

Trivia

The speech the Queen gives at the close of the film was meant to inspire the viewing British audience, which was already mired in the grip of the Second World War. Suggestions that it was the duty of all free men to defend liberty, and that the world did not belong to any one man (an obvious insinuation of Hitler's wish to conquer Europe) was very rousing indeed. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ...

External links

DVD Journal review