''Yankee Buccaneer'' is a 1952 American

technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by

Frederick de Cordova Frederick Timmins de Cordova (October 27, 1910 – September 15, 2001) was an American stage, motion picture and television director and producer. He is best known for his work on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life De Cordov ...

and starring

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting ...

as a US Navy officer fighting pirates, and

Scott Brady Scott Brady (born Gerard Kenneth Tierney; September 13, 1924 – April 16, 1985) was an American film and television actor best known for his roles in Western films and as a ubiquitous television presence. He played the title role in the televi ...

and Suzan Ball. Distributed by

Universal-International Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American film production and distribution company headquartered at the Universal Studios complex in Universal City, ...

and produced by

Howard Christie Howard Christie (September 16, 1912 – March 25, 1992) was an American Producer (film), producer of films and television. Early life and education Christie was born in Orinda, California and graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1929. ...

, it was shot in

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

and was released on September 16. The story is set in the early 19th century and tells of Commander David Porter and his men going undercover as pirates to fight piracy.

Plot

In 1823, brash naval officer David Farragut (

) boards the ''Essex'' and informs its commander, David Porter (

), that the Navy is commandeering the ship for a top-secret mission. Although the crew is overdue for shore leave, Porter, a cold, efficient leader, lies to them in order to coerce them to volunteer for the dangerous assignment. Farragut soon reunites with his old shipmate, Chief Petty Officer Link ( George Mathews), who tries to convince him that Porter, who years earlier trained Farragut harshly in an attempt to teach him patience and discipline, is not as heartless as he appears. This starts to show itself when Porter later reconciles with Farragut about their past and agree to be civil with one another. Once the ship is at sea, Porter and Farragut open their orders and are dismayed to discover their mission: to disguise themselves as pirates, with no ties to or protection from the United States, in order to track down pirates raiding the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. One night soon after, Farragut is in charge of the ship when a storm hits. Link becomes trapped beneath a keg of rum from which he has tried to sneak a drink and Farragut is forced to break the ship's rudder to rescue him. Porter discovers the damage, but even when he threatens to court-martial Farragut, the officer refuses to inform on Link. Within days, the supplies begin to run out, one of the crew contracts

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...

, and Porter steers the rudderless ''Essex'' to the West Indies for repairs and supplies. Farragut grows frustrated with the slow drift and, although Porter forbids anyone to enter the shark-infested waters, he tries to repair the rudder himself. When a shark attacks and Farragut's rope catches on a barnacle, he is barely rescued in time, and Porter chastises him again. Six days later, the men finally reach land and Porter orders Farragut and Link to gather supplies. Link is drunk and reported missing from his duty, and when Farragut searches the island's jungle for him, he is captured by natives. They bring Farragut to Portuguese countess Margarita La Raguna ( Suzan Ball), who is in hiding. She insists at gunpoint that he take her back to the ship, but once there, she hides the pistol, causing Porter to scoff at Farragut's claim that he was forced to bring her. Margarita reveals that she and her countrymen now live in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and wish to use their gold to establish a trade route between Brazil and England. However, the newly reinstated Portuguese king has demanded that his subjects and their riches return to Portugal and abducted her ship while it was en route to England. Her father was killed and the sailing instructions for the Brazilian fleet were stolen, and she needs passage to Brazil to warn the fleet. Porter, as captivated by Margarita's beauty as is Farragut, agrees to take her on board, and as the days pass, the two men vie for her attention. One day, a Portuguese ship appears. Porter waits until the last possible moment to fly the pirate flag but is shocked when the Portuguese captain, Poulini, responds in a friendly manner. However, Margarita is furious to learn they are pirates because the Caribbean pirates, led by Scarjack, are working together with the Portuguese and the corrupt island governor, Count Domingo Del Prado, to steal her people's gold. Porter decides to return Margarita to the islands for her protection, and when she begs Farragut to try to change the captain's mind, Farragut agrees and gives her his medallion as a good luck piece. As they near the island, Margarita overhears Porter and Farragut discussing their camouflage strategy and, assuming they are in league with Del Prado, jumps off the ship and swims ashore. She is immediately captured, as is Farragut when he takes a crew to the island for more supplies. Brought before Del Prado, Margarita denounces Farragut as a pirate and throws down his medallion. Immediately recognizing it as American, Del Prado imprisons them all and tortures Farragut to reveal the ship's plans. Back on the ship, Link urges Porter to rescue Farragut, and although he risks being court-martialed for defying his orders, Porter finally agrees. The whole crew infiltrates the island and, disguised as Del Prado's soldiers, attack the dungeon. After freeing Farragut and Margarita, Porter overpowers Del Prado in a sword fight and brings him back to the ship. They make him walk the plank until he returns the Brazilian sailing instructions to Margarita. Porter then sets course for America and agrees with Link that Farragut, who is wrapped in an embrace with Margarita, has finally become a man.

Cast

as Commander David Porter *

as Lieutenant David Farragut * Suzan Ball as Countess Margarita La Raguna *

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the Merchant Navy (Un ...

as Count Domingo Del Prado * George Mathews as Link *

Rodolfo Acosta Rodolfo Pérez Acosta (July 29, 1920 – November 7, 1974) was a Mexican-American character actor who became known for his roles as Mexican outlaws or American Indians in Hollywood western films. He was sometimes credited as Rudolph Acosta ...

as Poulini *

David Janssen David Janssen (born David Harold Meyer; March 27, 1931 – February 13, 1980) was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Richard Kimble in the television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–1967). Janssen a ...

as Beckett * Joseph Vitale as Scarjack *

Michael Ansara Michael George Ansara (; April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013) was an American actor. A Syrian-American, he was often cast in Arabic and American Indian roles. His work in both film and television spanned several genres including historical epic ...

as Lieutenant Romero * James Parnell as Redell *

Jay Silverheels Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was a First Nations in Canada, First Nations and Mohawk people, Mohawk actor and athlete, descended from three Iroquois nations. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the ...

as Lead warrior

Production

Filming took first place in February 1952. Left over sets from this film were used for ''

Against All Flags ''Against All Flags'' is a 1952 American pirate film directed by George Sherman, with uncredited assist from Douglas Sirk. It features Errol Flynn as Lt. Brian Hawke, Maureen O'Hara as Prudence "Spitfire" Stevens, and Anthony Quinn as Roche Brazi ...

'', which was released later in the year in December 1952.

Home media

Universal first released the film on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on May 8, 2007 as part of the ''Pirates of the Golden Age'' Movie Collection, a 2-disc set featuring three other films (''

'', ''

Buccaneer's Girl ''Buccaneer's Girl'' is a 1950 American Technicolor romantic adventure film directed by Frederick de Cordova starring Yvonne De Carlo and Philip Friend. Plot Deborah McCoy, a New Orleans singer, is on a ship that is captured by the forces of t ...

'', and '' Double Crossbones''). This film was re-released on August 28, 2014 as a stand-alone DVD as part of the ''Universal Studios''.

References

External links

* * {{TCMDb title, 96358
Review of film
at ''Variety'' 1952 films Pirate films American swashbuckler films 1952 adventure films Universal Pictures films Films set in the 1820s Films directed by Frederick de Cordova 1950s English-language films 1950s American films American historical adventure films 1950s historical adventure films English-language historical adventure films