Black Swan, The (Blu-ray) (1942)

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General		Extras
Category	Adventure	Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1942
Running Time	84:41
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Henry King
Studio Distributor	20th CENTURY FOX Bounty Films	Starring	Tyrone Power Maureen O'Hara Laird Cregar Thomas Mitchell George Sanders Anthony Quinn George Zucco
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Alfred Newman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English DTS HD Master Audio 1.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	None
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.37:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     In 1935 Warner Bros. had a massive hit on their hands with their film of the Rafael Sabatini novel of pirates and high adventure Captain Blood, a film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn that was a commercial and critical success, being nominated for 5 Oscars (although it did not win any). Five years later, in 1940, the same director and star returned with The Sea Hawk, another tale of sailing ships and high adventure, although not from a novel by Sabatini. Hollywood being Hollywood it was therefore no surprise that rivals Twentieth Century Fox decided to get into the action with their leading man Tyrone Power and their own Sabatini adaptation. The Black Swan, made in 1942 in glorious Technicolor, is terrific matinee entertainment; majestic sailing ships and thundering broadsides, pirates, sword fights, romance, a beautiful heroine, a handsome star and high adventure.

     The Spanish Main, 1674. Pirate captain Henry Morgan (Laird Cregar) is pardoned by King Charles II and appointed Governor of Jamaica with the instruction to rid the Caribbean of pirates. He enlists some of his old comrades to help, including Jamie Waring (Tyrone Power), but others such as Billy Leech (George Sanders), the captain of the Black Swan, and his first mate (a very young Anthony Quinn with a nifty eye-patch) refuse. Morgan takes over from Lord Denby (George Zucco), the previous governor, but his appointment is resented by the aristocracy, so much so that Lord Denby’s aide Roger Ingram (Edward Ashby) secretly provides Leech with information that allows him to plunder English ships. Morgan is blamed for assisting the pirates and threatened with impeachment and so he sends Waring and some other captains to capture Leech. However, Waring has fallen in love with Lord Denby’s feisty daughter Lady Margaret (Maureen O’Hara) who is about to marry Ingram. Infatuated, Waring abducts Margaret and takes her with him when he sails after Leech. It is hard to know who Waring is more in danger from: Margaret, Leech or Morgan, who sets off in pursuit!

     The Black Swan is helmed by Twentieth Century Fox’s versatile contract director Henry King who, in over three decades, directed such films as Twelve O’Clock High (1949), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) and Carousel (1956). King keeps a firm hand on proceedings, moving the film along at a rollicking pace. The film, shot in Technicolor by four time Oscar winning cinematographer Leon Shamroy (who won his first Oscar for this film, his last for Cleopatra in 1963) looks lush and glorious. The orchestral score is by nine time Oscar winner Alfred Newman, who I think was nominated a total of 45 times, including for The Black Swan, where he lost to the soap opera Now, Voyager and Max Steiner.

     The Black Swan is light-hearted and good humoured, with the usual comic relief sidekick in Thomas Mitchell’s Tommy Blue, the dialogue as sharp as any sword, it features energetic but bloodless fights and the sight of magnificent sailing ships in full rig thundering broadsides. Tyrone Power, stripped to the waist, is infectious and proves that he can swash-buckle with the best, Maureen O’Hara is spirited and beautiful, Laird Cregar is a robust Morgan and George Sanders, resplendent in red beard and wig, a caddish baddie. The level of talent, both in front and behind the camera, makes The Black Swan a colourful Saturday afternoon matinee entertainment of the highest level.

     Tyrone Power, at least from The Mark of Zorro (1940), was one of Twentieth Century Fox’s leading stars, often in swashbuckling period films such as The Captain from Castile (1947) or The Black Rose (1950). These days, his name does not have the same impact as Errol Flynn but have a look at The Black Swan to see what the fuss was about.

Video

     The Black Swan is presented in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, close to the original ratio of 1.37:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     This Technicolor print of a 75 year old film looks fabulous. Sharpness and clarity are on the soft side when the now quaint looking back projection is employed but otherwise the print is wonderfully clear and detailed. The colours look rich and luminous (compare with the washed out colours in the trailer); the blue of the sea, the yellow / red sunsets and the crimson of Power’s cloak are deep and vibrant. Brightness and skin tones are fine, blacks and shadow detail good, and an improvement over the old DVD release of the film from a few years ago.

     There is evident grain, which is nicely controlled, and I did not notice any marks or artefacts.

     English subtitles are available in a white font (they are accessed via the remote).

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is English DTS-HD MA 1.0 mono.

     Dialogue is thankfully clear and understandable. The effects, especially the cannons, boomed nicely, swords clashed and the orchestral score by Alfred Newman adds to the fun feel of the film.

     Lip synchronization is fine and I did not notice any hiss or distortion.

     There is obviously no surround or subwoofer use.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Trailer (2:02)

     The film starts without a menu but using the pop-up menu from the remote you can access chapters, subtitles and the film’s (unrestored) trailer.

     The Region Free US version of The Black Swan includes an audio commentary by Rudy Behlmer and Maureen O’Hara which gives it the edge over our release.

     With majestic sailing ships, broadsides, pirates, sword fights, humour, a feisty heroine, a handsome hero, a caddish baddie, gorgeous Technicolor photography and a rousing score The Black Swan is great fun and colourful Saturday afternoon matinee entertainment of the highest level.

     This Blu-ray of the 75 year of film looks fabulous and is an advance on the previous DVD (which itself looked pretty good) so it will please fans. Alas, it does not include the commentary available in the US.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall