The Sea Hawk

Set in the 1580s, The Sea Hawk follows Captain Geoffrey Thorpe, an English privateer who raids Spanish ships and settlements on behalf of Queen Elizabeth I. After seizing a vessel carrying the Spanish ambassador Don José and his niece Doña Maria, Thorpe wins the queen's backing for an expedition against a Spanish treasure fleet, despite opposition at court from the scheming Lord Wolfingham. His feelings for Doña Maria complicate matters as the mission unfolds.

Michael Curtiz directed the film, the twelfth of twenty-five in his chronological filmography, between Dodge City and Santa Fe Trail. Errol Flynn leads as Thorpe, with Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson and Alan Hale among the credited cast of fifty-seven. Warner Bros. Pictures produced it on a budget of two million dollars, and it took a similar amount at the worldwide box office.

Audience response has been steady over the decades: on IMDb it holds 7.6 out of 10 from around 12,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.2 out of 10 from about 161 votes. A film critics' rating of 8.5 out of 10 from seventeen reviews places critical appraisal above both audience scores.