The Adventures of Don Juan [Blu-ray]

Director: Vincent Sherman

Overview

Though Errol Flynn was well past his prime (and obviously well lubricated in certain scenes), he rises to the occasion of The Adventures of Don Juan with a spirited, athletic performance. As fabled Spanish swashbuckler/lover Don Juan, Flynn spends the early portions of the film romancing willing young ladies and dueling with jealous husbands. Spain's Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors) assigns Don Juan to head the royal fencing academy to keep him out of trouble. When scheming Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas) plots to topple the monarchy, it is Don Juan's eager young fencing pupils who come to the rescue. Though a troubled production (filming was habitually halted due to Flynn's precarious physical condition and by constant changes and replacements in production personnel),The Adventures of Don Juan moves swiftly and enjoyably from start to finish, abetted by a rousing, semi-satirical Max Steiner musical score, which has since been heard in such 1980s films as Zorro, the Gay Blade and Goonies. Incidentally, Errol Flynn is doubled in the famous leap from the head of a long staircase by stunt expert Jock Mahoney.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/19/2022
UPC:	0883929793860
Original Release:	1949
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Sales rank:	22,004

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Errol Flynn	Don Juan de Marana
Viveca Lindfors	Queen Margaret
Robert Douglas	Duke de Lorca
Romney Brent	King Phillip III
Ann Rutherford	Donna Elena,Actor
Robert Warwick	Count De Polan
Jerry Austin	Don Sebastian
Douglas Kennedy	Don Rodrigo
Jean Shepherd	Donna Carlotta
Mary Stuart	Catherine
Helen Westcott	Lady Diana
Fortunio Bonanova	Don Serafino
Aubrey Mather	Lord Chalmers
Una O'Connor	Duenna
Raymond Burr	Captain Alvarez
Tim Huntley	Catherine's Husband,Catherine's Husband
David Leonard	Innkeeper
Leon Belasco	Don De Cordoba
Nora Eddington	Lady in Coach
Abdullah Abbas	Townsman
Rama Bai	Girl at Inn
George Barrows	Duke de Lorca's Guard
Monte Blue	Turnkey
Albert Cavens	Spanish Soldier
Sanders Clark	Officer
Pedro de Cordoba	Pachecho
David Cota	Carlos
Penny Edwards	Girl on Street
Karen Knight	Girl at Inn
Kate Drain Lawson	Innkeeper's Wife
Linda Lombard	Girl at Inn
Caren Marsh	Girl at Inn
Nita Mathews	Court Lady
Harry Hays Morgan	Head Usher
Karen Randle	Girl at Inn
Frances Rey	Girl at Inn
Alan Hale Jr.	Leporello
Jeanne Shepherd	Donna Carlotta
Max Steiner	Composer

Technical Credits

George Oppenheimer

Harry Kurnitz

William Faulkner

Robert Florey

Vincent Sherman	Director
George Oppenheimer	Screenwriter
Harry Kurnitz	Screenwriter
Jerry Wald	Producer
William Faulkner	Screenwriter
Robert Florey	Screenwriter
John Crouse	Special Effects
Paul Baxley	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

Accompanied by trusted sidekick Alan Hale and an appropriately lush Max Steiner score, Errol Flynn returns to what he did best, full-blooded swashbuckling romance. And, happily, with the now accustomed tongue firmly planted in cheek. The same, alas, can not be said for leading lady Viveca Lindfors, whose Queen of Spain is unnecessarily arch, or Robert Douglas who, as the villainous De Lorca, hardly lives up to such glorious 1930s predecessors as Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains. Yet despite these caveats, director Vincent Sherman and the Warner Bros. award-nominated set designers craft an exhilaratingly old-fashioned adventure yarn featuring a Don Juan who is more action than amour. Costume designers Travilla, Leah Rhodes and Marjorie Best earned well-deserved Academy Awards and there are amusing cameos by a young Raymond Burr, as an evil captain of the guard, and future Search for Tomorrow star Mary Stuart, as an unfaithful wife.

All Movie Guide - Hans J. Wollstein