CinemaSerf
Sep 9, 2022
6/10
John Payne ("Dick Lindsay/Robert McAllister") is conscripted by pirate captain "Barclay" (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) to impersonate the nephew of his nemesis "McAllister" (Francis L. Sullivan). He must infiltrate his impregnable fortress headquarters so that he can enable it to be taken. Once there, though, he meets the feisty daughter "Christine" (Arlene Dahl) and after a rocky start they start to bond... This is a pretty predictable, if colourful, pirate yarn. Sullivan has a bit of oomph to his character, but Hardwicke is just way too static, Payne a poor man's Louis Hayward and Dahl has none of the charisma of, say, Maureen O'Hara. If you like the genre (I do) then this passes 90-odd minutes, well enough - but it's little better than a standard afternoon feature with precious little action until the end, which itself is really rather disappointing..