But of course, the main draw is Errol Flynn, bursting on to the screen in his debut (which he only got because Robert Donat's asthma was acting up, apparently).
As is often the case, I find, movies that have the reputation of being action-packed epics of the past, turn out to be rather slow and talky. This one takes what seems like forever before Flynn and his crew are pirates. It starts out, improbably enough, in Bridgewater. I know Bridgewater - it's a hole (or it was when I was growing up not far away), but it's near Taunton, where the famous "hanging judge" Jeffries was based, and he makes an appearance here. Flynn plays Doctor Peter Blood, who, after a career of being a mercenary across Europe, has hung up his sword to be a man of peace. He is awoken by a rebel to ask him to come and tend to a wounded man. His treatment is interrupted (to his amazement and outrage) by the King's men, and after he gives the captain what for, he is dragged off to be hanged alongside them. He continues his speechifying when the group is brought before Judge Jeffries (which, I see, is spelled "Jeffreys" in IMDB) and would have been hung (hanged?) had it not been for the greed of the king (James II) who is informed that he can make money by selling off convicts as slaves to the West Indies. When they get there, the "lucky" ones are bought by Colonel Bishop for his plantation, while the unlucky ones are bought cheap for quickly-fatal work in the mines. Several of the gang are judged plantation-worthy, but Blood is, of course, mouthy and would be consigned to the mines, but the mine-owner is outbid by Bishop's niece, Arabella (de Havilland, naturally) who is intrigued by this character.
He surprises her by not being grateful, because he objects to the idea of being bought. Anyway, he toils away for a bit until the gouty governor of the island grows tired of his ineffectual doctors and Arabella suggests Blood as a replacement. He works wonders and is quickly indispensable. However, he realizes he can exploit the two fired doctors' desperation to his advantage, and asks them to give him the money to buy and equip a boat so that they get their business back again. Finally (after what seems like a very long stretch of the movie without even so much a sniff of piracy), the night of the escape is here! But, alas, the odious Bishop suspects something and has the young man who is a trained navigator tied up and flogged. Then, when he catches Blood tending to his wounds, he has him bound, and is about to flog him when... Spanish pirates attack the port! This provides the opportunity for the escape, and in so doing our heroes take over the Pirate ship and sink all the Spaniards' landing boats on the way back to their ship. Colonel Bishop, not knowing who has taken over the ship, is overjoyed and comes out to congratulate them. This should be a fatal mistake, but while his crew want to hang Bishop, the (already decked out in pirate gear that he's found somewhere) new Captain Blood just has him thrown overboard. They then agree on some Principles, including sharing all booty, what bonus you get for various limbs lost (an occupational hazard, as is well known) and also that there must be no women kept as prisoners on pain of being marooned.
Thus begins the plundering of the Caribbean! But, somewhat surprisingly, an awful lot of piracy is yada-yada'd through - we see a little montage of the taking of ships and are informed that Blood and his men are immediately successful. Meanwhile, Arabella sets off for England and sails within sight of the pirates. Blood considers attacking her ship, but his men are ready for some shore leave and the ship sails on unmolested. While on shore at a port that is tolerant of big-spending brigands, we run into the other big name star in the movie - Basil Rathbone playing rakish French pirate Levasseur. He and Blood forge an alliance, with the stipulation that Frenchy and his crew obey the Principles. They then agree to meet at some other place having done a bit of plundering first. And, wouldn't you know it, Levasseur captures the ship carrying Arabella (and an emissary of the new King William, Lord Willoughby). Levasseur has a weakness for les femmes, and wants to keep Arabella for himself (while waiting for her ransom), but Blood reminds him of the rules and, as Levasseur is not allowed to keep female prisoners, and pays the ransom himself.
But Levasseur won't give her up, and they duel,
with the inevitable result that Rathbone ends up dead in the surf (mirroring his watery exit in Prisoner of Zenda). (Blood had never liked the alliance anyway, so this just accelerated its end.) So, now we have Arabella and Blood reunited, only this time he owns her. Unsurprisingly, she objects to this state of affairs and claims to hate him (although Willoughby isn't fooled). Stung, Blood promises to deliver Arabella and Willoughby to Port Royal, despite knowing that Colonel Bishop should have a fleet of ships waiting there for them. This understandably makes his crew nervous, but they obey him nonetheless, and in fact find French ships attacking the town. Willoughby reveals that he has been sent by William (and, that in fact William is king, and not the hated James - Blood and crew have been out of the loop somewhat) to recruit Blood in the fight against the French. Cue an excellent extended naval battle, which is what we wanted from the film all along. Great effects, and a boarding scene unrivaled in any film I've seen. But what will happen to Blood afterwards? And where was the British fleet? Well you'll have to watch it and see, won't you?
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