4 out of 5

Director: George Sherman, Frederick De Cordova

New to the pirate genre, this two-movie set turned out to be an excellent and thoroughly entertaining introduction. While Maureen O’Hara and Errol Flynn were, of course, recognizable sights and names, I can admit to not having seen their skills before. In “Against All Flags” I instantly understood the appeal of Flynn to both men and women – combining that 50s thin-mustached suaveness with a believable gruffness, and similarly was astonished by how beautiful O’Hara was and how… mostly… respectfully her role was treated in the movie. (Forgive me for that cluttered sentence.) The battles were a little underwhelming, but the plot is lain out in a pretty interesting manner with some truly funny bits and surprisingly dirty double-entendre dialogue. It gets a little sloppy toward the end and despite giving O’Hara a strong character, the film can’t escape the old trope of “a woman needs a good man,” but fun nonetheless. …And put to shame by Phillip Friend and “Buccaneer’s Girl.” Man, this one took a few steps to get going, but Friend is dastardly charming and Ms. De Carlo balances the perfect mix of sassy and sexy. The action scenes are also much better staged than “Flags,” with everything seeming amped-up a needed notch and surprisingly well choreographed with all the extras. So it’s good to watch these in the order presented – the easy breezy fun of “Flags” to the quick-witted and exciting romp of “Girl.”