The Spanish Main (1945) coming from Warner Archive December 17th!

[Areyakiddin]

COMING TO BLU-RAY FROM THE WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION ON DECEMBER 17th!
New 2024 1080pHD MASTER FROM 4K SCAN OF THE ORIGINAL NITRATE TECHNICOLOR NEGATIVES!

THE SPANISH MAIN (1945)
BD-50
COLOR
RUNNING TIME: 98 Minutes
ASPECT RATIO: 16x9 1.37:1 with side mattes
AUDIO SPECS: DTS HD MA 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: ENGLISH SDH
NOT RATED

Cast: Paul Henried, Maureen O’Hara, Walter Slezak

Special Features: Classic Technicolor® short subject MOVIELAND MAGIC (HD), Classic Cartoons BUCCANEER BUNNY (HD) and CAPTAIN HAREBLOWER (HD), Original Theatrical Trailer.

One name strikes fear among Spanish ship captains plying the coastal Caribbean waters of the Spanish Main. Barracuda, the notorious scourge of the seas. Yet it was not always so. In this lavish swashbuckler, Casablanca’s Paul Henried stars in a change of pace role as Capt. Laurent Van Horn, a Dutch trader in the Caribbean who is wrongly imprisoned by the Spanish governor (Walter Slezak) and sentenced to hang for trespassing. But Van Horn stages a breakout with other unjustly incarcerated prisoners, resurfacing as the rakish Barracuda to command the pirate waterways, rescue fair Francesca (the lovely Maureen O’Hara, who also sailed celluloid oceans in The Black Swan and Sinbad the Sailor) from marriage to the governor and avenge the wrongs done to him. The first RKO production to be filmed in gorgeous Technicolor®, it received a 1945 Oscar® nomination for Best Color Cinematography. Directed by stylish flair by the great Frank Borzage, The Spanish Main is prime entertainment for audiences of all ages.

[Dingus1539]

This should be a Technicolor stunner of a presentation!

[Jexes23]

This is one of the movies I have on an old crappy budget DVD. Will be glad to upgrade this one!

[OA-5599]

Can't wait to hear how this edition turns out. A beautiful technicolor flick with, unfortunately, a great first half, but a so-so second half.

[Beckford]

Walter Slezak is wonderful in this one. No one did dastardly swashbuckler villains quite like he did. Always so delightfully full of himself as he preened and plotted. His character in Minnelli's period musical "The Pirate" is cut from much the same richly colored cloth - and just as much fun.
As World War Two ended, "The Spanish Main" seemed to launch a decade or so of marvelous sword and swash adventure movies that kept a generation of Saturday matinee audiences ever so rousingly entertained.

Some of my favorites (listed more or less chronologically)
THE FIGHTING GUARDSMAN(1946) Willard Parker
THE EXILE(1947) Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE(1947) Tyrone Power
ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN(1948) Errol Flynn
THE SWORDSMAN(1948) Larry Parks
THE BLACK ARROW(1948) Louis Hayward
PRINCE OF FOXES(1949) Tyrone Power
THE FIGHTING O'FLYNN(1949) Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Richard Greene
FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD(1950)Louis Hayward
IL LADRO DI VENEZIA/THE THIEF OF VENICE(1950) Maria Montez, Paul Christian
ROGUES OF SHERWOOD FOREST(1950) John Derek
LA VENDETTA DEL CORSARO(1950) Maria Montez, Jean-Pierre Aumont
MARK OF THE RENEGADE(1951) Ricardo Montalban
CAPTAIN PIRATE(1952) Louis Hayward
AT SWORD'S POINT(1952) Cornel Wilde, Maureen O'Hara
THE BRIGAND(1952) Anthony Dexter
SCARAMOUCHE(1952) Stewart Granger
THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD(1952) Richard Todd
THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE(1953) Errol Flynn
THE BANDITS OF CORSICA(1953) Richard Greene
THE SARACEN BLADE(1954) Ricardo Montalban
THE BLACK KNIGHT(1954) Alan Ladd
PRINCE VALIANT(1954) Robert Wagner
THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH(1954) Tony Curtis
THE PURPLE MASK(1955) Tony Curtis
QUENTIN DURWARD(1955) Robert Taylor

Many of them have yet to appear on Blu-ray. Here's Hoping!

[Sopranogl]

Does anyone own this yet?

Is this worth a blind buy?

[Hammerlover]

Site review from Randy is up. The screenshots look beautiful.

[Randy Miller III]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

Site review from Randy is up. The screenshots look beautiful.

That they do. Thanks for the plug! Review link is below if you haven't seen it.

The Spanish Main Blu-ray Review

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Sopranogl

Does anyone own this yet?

Is this worth a blind buy?

If you like swashbucklers, absolutely! Growing up it was one of my favorites and for many years I only saw it in b&w! Yes, I’m that old! It’s a fun film and looks great in color too!

[Sopranogl]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

If you like swashbucklers, absolutely! Growing up it was one of my favorites and for many years I only saw it in b&w! Yes, I’m that old! It’s a fun film and looks great in color too!

The screenshots look great. A five-star transfer indeed!

I own Treasure Island, Against All Flags, and Swiss Family Robinson. They are a lot of fun. I will take the plunge! Thank you for commenting!

[Sopranogl]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

If you like swashbucklers, absolutely! Growing up it was one of my favorites and for many years I only saw it in b&w! Yes, I’m that old! It’s a fun film and looks great in color too!

I am so happy for you -- that you will experience this movie IN COLOR. You will appreciate the movie more than a newcomer like me!

[The Sovereign]

I've never seen this but it looks like a safe blind buy - once the price comes down a bit.

[Sinbad75]

Originally Posted by Beckford

Walter Slezak is wonderful in this one. No one did dastardly swashbuckler villains quite like he did. Always so delightfully full of himself as he preened and plotted. His character in Minnelli's period musical "The Pirate" is cut from much the same richly colored cloth - and just as much fun.
As World War Two ended, "The Spanish Main" seemed to launch a decade or so of marvelous sword and swash adventure movies that kept a generation of Saturday matinee audiences ever so rousingly entertained.

Some of my favorites (listed more or less chronologically)
THE FIGHTING GUARDSMAN(1946) Willard Parker
THE EXILE(1947) Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE(1947) Tyrone Power
ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN(1948) Errol Flynn
THE SWORDSMAN(1948) Larry Parks
THE BLACK ARROW(1948) Louis Hayward
PRINCE OF FOXES(1949) Tyrone Power
THE FIGHTING O'FLYNN(1949) Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Richard Greene
FORTUNES OF CAPTAIN BLOOD(1950)Louis Hayward
IL LADRO DI VENEZIA/THE THIEF OF VENICE(1950) Maria Montez, Paul Christian
ROGUES OF SHERWOOD FOREST(1950) John Derek
LA VENDETTA DEL CORSARO(1950) Maria Montez, Jean-Pierre Aumont
MARK OF THE RENEGADE(1951) Ricardo Montalban
CAPTAIN PIRATE(1952) Louis Hayward
AT SWORD'S POINT(1952) Cornel Wilde, Maureen O'Hara
THE BRIGAND(1952) Anthony Dexter
SCARAMOUCHE(1952) Stewart Granger
THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD(1952) Richard Todd
THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE(1953) Errol Flynn
THE BANDITS OF CORSICA(1953) Richard Greene
THE SARACEN BLADE(1954) Ricardo Montalban
THE BLACK KNIGHT(1954) Alan Ladd
PRINCE VALIANT(1954) Robert Wagner
THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH(1954) Tony Curtis
THE PURPLE MASK(1955) Tony Curtis
QUENTIN DURWARD(1955) Robert Taylor

Many of them have yet to appear on Blu-ray. Here's Hoping!

Great list! I would only add The Black Rose (1950) Tyrone Power