Fri 21 May 2010
Movie Review: RAIDERS OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1953).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews1 Comment
RAIDERS OF THE SEVEN SEAS. United Artists, 1953. John Payne, Donna Reed, Gerald Mohr, Lon Chaney, Anthony Caruso, Henry Brandon, Skip Torgerson. Director & co-screenwriter: Sidney Salkow.
John Payne, probably better known for the westerns and noirish crime he did, takes a break from either and shows up in this film taking place in and around the Caribbean in color as a privateer called Barbarossa, or “Red Beard.”
I mention that the film is in color for two reasons. First of all, to show off John Payne’s red close-cropped chin adornment, and secondly, to demonstrate how striking a beauty the young dark-haired Donna Reed was. Although she was in her share of them, black and white films (and TV work) simply did not do her justice.
As the daughter of a Spanish governor, she is kidnapped by Barbarossa early on in this film, or at least her character Alida is. And of course if you think it follows that the two of them get along, it only means that you have not seen many movies of this same type, whether they are pirate films, westerns, or even straight drama — in eras, it should go without saying, where kidnapping was ever an acceptable first step in winning a lady’s hand.
As it happens, Alida is also engaged to marry Captain Jose Salcedo (Gerald Mohr), but since her future husband was chosen for her in advance, his hold on her is tenuous. And once he shows his true colors, then as if by magic — movie magic, that is — well, you know, and you could have written this too.
Gerald Mohr, he of the sleepy eyes and perpetual lopsided sneer, is horribly miscast as a Spanish officer, just as a warning, in case you are a fan of his, as am I.
Mohr was far more suited for westerns and film noir than even John Payne was. With a voice very similar to Philip Marlowe’s on the radio, he would also have been pitch perfect as a sleazy but effective private eye type of character, although I am not sure if he ever played one on the screen.
As for Donna Reed, she won an Oscar for her very next film, From Here to Eternity, then starred in a Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis film, followed by a couple of westerns. Given the uneven nature of the films she was in, I wonder how well she’d be remembered today if she hadn’t landed her own series on TV, The Donna Reed Show, a very domestic situation comedy that lasted for eight years, 1958 to 1966, followed by a short stint as Eleanor Ewing on Dallas in the mid-1980s.
In any case, there is some entertainment value to this film, but in all honesty, it’s all done pretty much by the numbers.
Luckily they did film it in color — even though I couldn’t come up with any scenes from the movie to prove it — otherwise even that last paragraph might be stretching the truth a little too much.
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:46 am
I enjoyed this one for what it was, if only for Payne as Barbarossa the pirate and Donna Reed looking great. I’ve never figured out if the Red Beard played by George Sanders in THE BLACK SWAN is supposed to be the same as this one — I don’t think so, but it’s hard to tell sometimes. Especially since the real Barbarossa was a Barbary Pirate — not the Spanish Main (which is dealt with in the opening of this film).
The pirate kidnapping his leading lady was a staple of the genre. In fact, kidnapping of brides was so common at one time it’s why modern brides stand on the groom’s left — to free up his sword arm to fight off her family. Bride stealing is still practiced in some cultures today, though it is usually ritualized and not actual.
Payne did quite a few swashbuckers in this period TRIPOLI, CARIBBEAN as well as modern adventure like CAPTAIN CHINA.
The closet to a private eye Mohr played on screen was a stint as the Lone Wolf on screen. While he was attractive and not a bad actor there was just something too sinister of sleazy about his on screen prersona and he usually ended up playing charming villains.