Caribbean (1952) User Reviews

The days of pirates, but no swashbuckling in this light adventures drama

[SimonJack · 5/10 · 15 September 2021]

"Caribbean" is a pirate story set in 1728, with an unusual plot and no real swashbuckling. Most of the short scenes with the pirate ship, Niobe, are of a distant three-master on the open water. The sails seem to be full but the ship isn't moving through the water and is listing heavily to the port side. Very weird and amateurish production. It's a Technicolor movie made by Pine-Thomas Productions at the Paramount Studios.

The plot is just interesting enough to keep one watching it, with a cast of some well-known actors of the day. But the story and screenplay drag on and on. It has a stagy feeling of scenes on the ship and on the island. The main cast are fairly good, but the rest - including those playing the Caribbean island natives seem wooden and hesitant.

John Payne has the lead as Dick Lindsay, with Arlene Dahl as a somewhat object of his affections late into the film. The best names, and acting, are by Francis L. Sullivan as Andrew MacAllister, Willard Park as Shively, Cedric Hardwicke as Captain Francis Barclay and Dennis Hoey as Burford. Hardwick's Barclay seems a bit overly dramatic and cultured for a pirate role, even with his background in the film. No one could play the nasty, mean, heartless characters that Sullivan could, and his MacAllister here is as unlikeable as one can get.

Anyone expecting a swashbuckler will be disappointed. And, there isn't that much action or adventure at all. It's mostly a fictional picture of a small island kingdom of sorts, where a tyrannical master (Sullivan's MacAllister) has enslaved the islanders. And a tale of revenge by a former colleague whose life and family were ruined by MacAllister. The ending has a very interesting twist - sort of bittersweet.

Here are some lines from this film.

Robert MacAllister, "I was beginning to wonder if I'd be forced to dine with the crew tonight." Captain Francis Barclay, "My crew doesn't dine - it gorges, Mr. MacAllister."

Captain Francis Barclay, "Suppose I offer you your freedom and a hundred thousand pieces of eight?" Dick Lindsay, "That's a lot of supposing. What would I have to do?" Captain Barclay, "As you're told." Lindsay, "For how long?" Barclay, "That depends on you - unless, of course, you got killed in the line of duty." Lindsay, "And if I refuse?" Barclay, "You'll probably get killed out of the line of duty." Lindsay, "When do I begin?" Barclay, "It may surprise you to know, Mr. Lindsay, that you began when we first met."

Elizabeth, head maid, "When two stones meet, they make fire. When right man and woman meet, same thing."

Trite script, hokey direction but OH, those production values!

[Bob-45 · 6/10 · 30 March 2012]

However grim the subject (in this case, the slave trade), a little sense of humor can take off the edge. Unfortunately, "Caribbean" doesn't offer that much needed sense of humor. John Payne makes a surprisingly bland hero, much in contrast to his wonderful turn in Tripoli. Arlene Dahl, gorgeously decorative, really hokes this one up. One can only imagine what Maureen O'Hara or Rhonda could have done with the part. Even the key supporting players fail to impress, with the exception of the extraordinary Cedric Hardwicke, and actor who probably never gave a bad role. One could only imagine how could "Caribbean" could have been with everyone else performing to Hardwicke's fine standards.

The script is episodic and badly paced. The duologue is so forgettable, it might as well have been a silent movie with "matinee cards". Nonetheless, one cannot help but marvel at the gorgeous production values of this superb use of Technicolor, miniatures and costumes. In fact, the beast way to see "Caribbean" is silent, with some really good orchestral music off YouTube. The plot is so predictable and obvious, you wouldn't miss the duologue and you would be spared a musical score more appropriate for a 20s silent film. You'd also miss repeated use of the "N" word, which has become so derogatory, schools have tried to censor it from Mark Twain.

Nonetheless, on the strength of Hardwicke's performance and aforementioned production values, I give "Caribbean" a "6".

A number of things going for it

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 31 May 2016]

CARIBBEAN is a 1952 Paramount production starring John Payne and Arlene Dahl. It is much better than any Technicolor swashbuckler melodrama has a right to be. The performances are very good. John Payne is a handsome, dependable lead across a variety of genres but we don't usually think of him in the way that we think of Clark Gable or other much-lauded actors.

Payne does some of his best work here. He presents us with a very honest, sensitive and touching portrayal of a prisoner caught between two madmen waging war on an unnamed island. What makes the story even more interesting is that Payne's character falls for a young woman who is the daughter of both men.

As for Miss Dahl, she gives what I think is her best performance in any film. She's beautiful, feisty and vulnerable. At the end, she is caught in a scene of domestic violence and the story ends without her knowing the truth about her two fathers. Most actresses would have a tough time with this sort of story, but not Dahl...she excels.

Back to the two dads for a minute. One of them is played by Cedric Hardwicke. He did a variety of roles in his long stage and screen career. So he comes to CARIBBEAN with vast amounts of experience. He could chew the scenery with the part he's playing, but he keeps it all very dignified. He takes what is basically a cold-blooded killer and makes us sympathize with him. I have never liked a villain so much in a movie as I did with him here. That's a testament to Hardwicke's gifts as a dramatic interpreter of this material.

The other paternal figure in the story is portrayed by robust Francis L. Sullivan. He could have turned his character into a total nincompoop, but he infuses just the right amount of edginess and civility. Even when he is ordering two prisoners to fight each other to the death with knives before a crowd of spectators, he behaves as if it were an everyday event (maybe it was for him).

The film has quite a number of things going for it. The direction is precise throughout, the Technicolor visuals are well photographed and there is a great subplot involving the slaves on the island that seems very much ahead of its time. But it's the passion exhibited by its two stars that really makes CARIBBEAN a favorite cinematic destination.

Not exactly a pirate movie

[susansweb · 4/10 · 10 September 2002]

This movie also leaves a lot of loose ends. It's hard to believe that Arlene Dahl would fall so quickly for John Payne. Also, Payne's former life is quickly forgotten. This movie must have been made for kids because it was preposterous to this adult. Payne is a serviceable actor but he doesn't have the charisma for this kind of role. He is rather solemn-faced and this role demands a little more levity. Forget this and look for an Errol Flynn movie instead.

Ahoy matey, Thar's corn on yon Island

[BILLYBOY-10 · 4/10 · 15 February 2011]

Pirate Sir Cedrick Hardwick is seeking revenge on fatso who ruined him and took his young daughter 21 years ago so he outfits John Payne to impersonate fatso's nephew and ingratiate himself with him so Hardwick can invade his island fortress and run him through and reclaim his daughter, the feisty redhead Arlene Dahl.

Payne does so and in the meantime Dahl falls for him even tho she knows him to be her first cousin. Oh well, its the days of yore and what the heck, first cousin or no, she's got the hots. The native slaves on the island are in an uproar as well, so Payne helps them to revolt, Harwick lands and does in fatso but then Dahl does in Hardwick; she doesn't know Hardwick is her real father and Hardwick makes Payne promise to never tell her and so Dahl and Payne walk off into THE END.

This movie has terrible direction and even worse editing, but it is in living Technicolor and fatso has great duds so its OK. And it's not really a high seas pirate movie, it's more like a soapy drama taking place during pirate times with pirate ships and cannons and rubber swords.

Romance Novel View of the 18th century British West Indies

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 15 December 2012]

It's sad that the plot from Caribbean seems to be taken from a romance novel. Sad because at the time and place of this film, just a few years before the civil rights revolution, a film about a slave revolt would have been considered a classic had it not been attached to such a hokey plot.

John Payne plays a hunter who sees pirate Cedric Hardwicke bury a treasure and gets caught doing it. Normally that would mean Payne's quick demise, but Hardwicke has a use for him. The ship's surgeon gives Payne a facial scar needed to pass as the nephew of his mortal enemy Francis L. Sullivan who was once Hardwicke's partner and who cheated him out of his share and even had him sold into Spanish slavery and took Hardwicke's daughter to raise as his own and she grew up to be Arlene Dahl.

Now pirate Hardwicke who looks like he makes a good living at the pirate trade is still out to get his ex-partner and Payne is to be his inside man.

Sullivan looks like he's having a great old time hamming it up as the villain without any appreciable redeeming qualities. Still it's not enough to save the film. Neither are some interesting portrayals by Clarence Muse and Woody Strode as leaders of the slave revolt.

Caribbean is a great romance novel view of the 18th century with Payne and Dahl decked out like romance novel leads. Costumes and scenery are great and even greater in technicolor. But what could have been a great film on slavery in the British West Indies gets the budget treatment with a hokey plot courtesy of Paramount's B picture unit.

Caribbean

[mhrabovsky1-1 · 8/10 · 26 March 2008]

This little ditty is one good little pirate tale.....saw this movie in the early 50s in Detroit and it made the rounds through the 50s and early 60s as a second feature on double bills at the theaters and drive ins....must have seen it about 4 times or so then....John Payne who made his mark in "Miracle on 34th Street" is cast as a hunter named Dick Lindsay in some remote caribbean locale who is hunting ducks when he suddenly comes upon two pirates and a slave who will be digging a hole to bury some pirate loot. Payne is suddenly attacked and taken prisoner on a local pirate captain's boat and sent to the brig....not known to him is the pirate captain (Cedric Hardwicke) is plotting to send an impersonator to another pirate's locale to infiltrate the island and tell Hardwick all of the island's weak points for a future raid.....Francis L. Sullivan, a character actor of the 40s and 50s is the rival pirate captain and slave owner named Andrew McCalister. Payne accepts the job to spy on Sulivan's empire for promise of a large amount of money and freedom.....upon arriving at the island Payne finds the local slaves are badly abused by Sullivan and a foreman/taskmaster named Shively (Willard Parker).... Of course a lovely lady is on the island to tempt Payne, the scorching Arlene Dahl (her and Rhonda Fleming, red headed look alikes)...unbeknowing to Dahl is that she is really the daughter of the rival pirate captain Hardwick....the tale is that Hardwick and Sullivan had a parting of the ways and Sullivan (Andrew McCallister) stole Hardwicke's money, power and position and forced him to be a pirate, all the while taking his infant daughter (Dahl) as his own supposed daughter. Payne appears to be up for this role, usually one that would suit Earl Flynn...in fact this film has a lot of resemblances to Flynn's classic - "Captain Blood"...... On the island Payne must become a bastard part of the McCallister family and plot to overthrow the McCallister empire at the same time. A very good knife fighting duel between Payne and Shively near the end and Payne puts him away....Payne's identify is discovered by the shrewd Andrew McCallister and in the end the pirate captain Barclay (Hardwicke) overtakes the island and puts McCallister, his arch enemy away...in the process Hardwicke is killed and implores Payne at his side never to tell Dahl that she is his real daughter. Arlene Dahl was a staple in these early 50s drama adventures, ala Patricia Medina and also starred with her future husband a year later in the pirate tale "Sangaree" Fernando Lamas....Franicis L. Sullivan played a heavy in "Sangaree" also. All in all this is a very enjoyable pirate/adventure drama.....although Flynn, Fernando Lamas, or maybe Tyrone Power could have handled the role better.

With all thisc overacting, nobody's starving.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 13 January 2024]

So much scenery chewing, and so much phony island to eat up, especially for Francis Sullivan who is a glutton for prop eating as evidenced by his expanded wardrobe and Charles Laughton impression and Arlene Dahl as his island princess. As the evil enemy of pirate king Cedric Hardwicke, he's the epitome of what Pharaoh Hardwicke from "The Ten Commandments" would refer to as "You old wind bag". Having banished Hardwicke years before, he's fought off revenge and raised a daughter, Arlene Dahl, to be as hateful and cruel as him.

When Hardwicke arranges for John Payne to arrive on the island pretending to be a distant relative, Sullivan basically makes him a slave, but overseeing natives who are planning a rebellion. Sullivan's right hand man, Willard Parker, is setting up his own treasonous rebellion, leading to a Shakespearean style of tragic melodrama with an exotic flavor to it all. Of course Dahl starts to reform as she falls for Payne, making her one of the most inconsistent hellcats I've ever seen in a movie.

Still, this is a delightfully campy delight even if the slave beatings and cruelty is horrific to watch. Hardwicke outacts Sullivan convincingly and shows exactly what subtlety is. He's a villain with a code, something he explains to Payne from the start, while Sullivan is a villain of no particular goal other than to dominate. The film is very colorful, but the island sets are very phony looking. This is one of those audacious 50's adventures that is still watchable but easy to laugh at, one of the more lavish looking Pine-Thomas adventures.

Caribbean

[coltras35 · 8/10 · 3 January 2024]

Rival pirate captains battle for control of a treasure-filled island stronghold that rules the Spanish Main in this swashbuckling adventure set in the 1870's.

Pirate Francis Barclay, a former member of the British Admiralty, who was captured and sold into slavery by Andrew McAllister, and forced into piracy captures adventurer Dick Lindsay in the Caribbean but pledges to free him if he'll infiltrate the island stronghold of Andrew MacAllister, who betrayed Barclay long ago and stole his baby daughter, Christine.

John Payne is excellent as Dick Lindsay who is used as a pawn by Cedric Hardwick's character who is very effective - he's very cold and bitter. Revenge is on his mind. Francis L. Sullivan as MacAllister is his nemesis and he's far from being a nice chap. He owns slaves, treats them like crap and is generally an ogre. Arlene Dahl plays MacAllister's "daughter" and she's effective in her role, coming across as a vulnerable person groomed into being heartless by her environment. I. E. Her tyrannical father. Of course, we got Payne to change her ways. Predictably, a romance ensues.

Caribbean is a very good pirate film, just don't expect it to be a swashbuckler like Errol Flynn's work - it has more characterisation, mood and drama with a modicum of action. There's an exciting knife fight and marauding attack at the end.

Typical Paramount adventure movie

[searchanddestroy-1 · 26 February 2023]

Directed by a "home" film maker Edward Ludwig, who, with Lewis R Foster, was specialized in films of this kind, taking place in the South seas, on paradise islands, jungles, deserts, with many natives, serpents, villains, dangers of all kinds, pirates, ships, plenty of action scenes and of course romance intrigues. Here John Payne and Arlene Dahl, also pure "home" actors at Paramount for this kind of films, contribute to add much charm and atmosphere to this colourful adventure movie that will enjoy nostalgia and old times lovers. The topic, plot itself is not that usual,I would say it is elaborate. The John Payne's character finds himself in the middle of a feud between Cedric Hardwicke and Francis Sullivan, more impressive one than the other; a deadly feud Excellent screenplay and also atmosphere, settings - maybe not locations but studio lots - are worth the watching. Great climax. Some elements very close to another Edward Ludwig's film: WAKE OF THE RED WITCH. Treasure hunt in ths South Seas and same kinds of characters.