Product Details

• Actors: Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Laird Cregar, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders
• Directors: Henry King
• Writers: Ben Hecht, Rafael Sabatini, Seton I. Miller
• Producers: Darryl F. Zanuck, Robert Bassler
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: February 13, 1996
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303943004
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,451 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

With a clanging of swords, thundering cannons and lots of braado, Tyrone Power stars in this swashbuckling classic that won an Oscar for its color cinematography. Power brings a winning mix of gallantry and roguishness to his role. He plays Jamie Waring, an English buccaneer enlisted to stop the high-sea piracy of the fighting ship The Black Swan. It's a task the seafaring man of action is ideally suited to carry out, for he was once an officer of the infamous ship. Swordplay and swashbuckling to the hilt...a classic pirate movie.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

147 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Swashbuckler!, October 3, 2000

By 

S. Jones (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Swan [VHS] (VHS Tape)

What is perhaps the most perfect thing about this movie is that it captures the true essence of the swashbuckling films. "The Black Swan" is both directed and acted with a refreshing abandonment. Everything is let loose and blown up and had fun with, and it's quite a ride from beginning to end. Even such props as the costumes, which can overshadow the people in them, or the script, which can sometimes seem too lofty, only compliment the overall treat. We're given a daring adventure, vibrant characters, and exquisite scenery, and all we're asked is to have fun while we're visiting.

Tyrone Power (as Captain Jamie Waring) and Maureen O'Hara (as Margaret Denby) create the ultimate classic pirate/noblewoman couple, complete with Tyrone's charismatic charm and Maureen's signature spitfire nature. Their scenes together spark with that unique chemistry and also with an effortless humor that is more intelligent than slapstick and yet remains by and large unpredictable. They take turns being abused by just about everyone, including each other, and what should have been the most romantic moment (in bed together, a distinct no-no in Hollywood at the time) is rather a tense moment with death leering over them literally. They make a memorable couple, surrounded by a host of splendid actors.

George Sanders is once again a convincing villain, though far removed from his customary suave and sophisticated roles, and his coarse red beard helps those who might have trouble with this new image. Anthony Quinn is his nasty sidekick, alternately grinning maliciously at Jamie or leering over Margaret. Laird Cregar is wonderful as Captain Morgan, alternately proud of and frustrated with Jamie. Thomas Mitchell is perfectly cast as Jamie's right hand man and the would-be source of wisdom for all of Jamie's women troubles.

You must watch this movie in the same spirit that it was made, with your hair down and your heart open to excitement and your mind turned away from somber matters. Watch it if you want to lose a foul mood, or if you want to see some marvelous (award-winning) cinematography, or if you simply want to escape back into this fantasy world that Hollywood created so long ago--when leading men were as beautiful as their female counterparts, and when leading ladies always wore impeccable makeup, and when grand adventures didn't need to start or end on a tragedy.

73 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars D'arr!, August 8, 2003

By 

Yossarian (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Swan [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Black Swan is one of the great pirate films, in part because it manages to have a sense of humor without ever lapsing into farce. All the elements are here: sword fighting, ship battles, wine, women, and song.. tied together by an excellent cast and, as is always necessary, a gorgeous firey female lead. The Black Swan is one of those films that was so excellent that many of its elements became cliched, which some may inadvertantly read into the film when viewing it. Don't; it's a truly refreshing swashbuckling experience with just the right mix of musketry, mayhem, and mirth. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BLACK SWAN finally on DVD, May 9, 2006

By 

Stephen M. Leiker (Somerset, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Black Swan (DVD)

THE BLACK SWAN 1942
Directed by Henry King and stars Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, George Sanders, Laird Cregar, George Zucco, Thomas Mitchell.

This is one great swashbuckler. As I remember it, this is the one where Maureen O'Hara has to say "Jamie Boy" three times before she can win the heart of Tyrone. At the very end she does and when they kiss she literally SUCKS his face with a mouth open enough to eat a 14 lb. potato. George Sanders is the bad guy and you really hate him. The plot has to do with the Black Swan being a sought after pirate frigate which of course the hero gets along with the girl. Morgan the Pirate is made the govenor of Jamaica and he wants to go after all the rivaling gangs now that he has position power.

Music by Alfred Newman (nominated for best music) and it won an oscar for cinematography. It's in glorious technicolor and one beautiful movie, not to be missed by anyone who loves pirate movies.

Maureen O'Hara was in another swashbuckler from 1952 with Errol Flynn (AGAINST ALL FLAGS) and while I mention her, she was also in SINBAD THE SAILOR and AT SWORD'S POINT and of course her film debut in Hitchcock's JAMAICA INN but I think her best was THE BLACK SWAN as far as swashbucklers go.