Master of Ballantrae [VHS]

Master of Ballantrae [VHS]
by William Keighley

Master of Ballantrae [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Anthony Steel, Beatrice Campbell, Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, Yvonne Furneaux
Director: William Keighley
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 89 minutes
Release Date: 1994-07-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video

VHS Movie Reviews of Master of Ballantrae [VHS]

Movie Review: Jamie Durie, the Master of Ballantrae, is not a man to let close to your wife, your daughter or your gold
Summary: 4 Stars

The Master of Ballantrae just might have worked as a sprawling period swashbuckler if...the Master of Ballantrae, the eldest son of the laird of Clan Durie who fights for Bonnie Prince Charlie and loses, hadn't been such a self-centered clod who let his love of gold, wenches and adventure get in the way of honor, wisdom and trust, and if...Errol Flynn had been ten years younger. At 44, he looks 54, and often a puffy and tired 54 at that. If he were younger, he might have convinced us that the selfish and impetuous Jamie Durie would sometime soon in the movie find something honorable to do that would make us root for the romantic and dashing fellow. Looking in his mid-fifties, however, Flynn resembles an aging, petulant rake, and we know it's unlikely that there is any chance of a charming good guy emerging from the husk.

Robert Lewis Stevenson doesn't help. His Master is unredeemably and emotionally selfish, even though a dab hand with a sword, at piracy, with the ladies and with holding a grudge. No man in his right mind would place anyone he loves in the self-centered path of Jamie Durie. Flynn doesn't have much of a chance. It's clear Flynn's rapscallion, romantic, swashbuckling days have long gone by.

The story of the Master of Ballantrae bears some resemblance to Stevenson's novel. A toss of a coin determines that Jamie, the Master, will fight for the Stuart restoration when Charlie Stuart arrives from France to try to wrest the throne away from the Hanoverian King George II. As the elder brother, Jamie will inherit the Durie title and estates. The year is 1745. Jamie's younger brother, Henry (Anthony Steele), will support George. This way, whichever side wins, Clan Durie will have backed the winner. Henry is everything Jamie is not. He's conscientious, honorable and dull. And when Charlie loses, Jamie has to hightail it out of Scotland. Penniless, more or less, he encounters another rogue, Colonel Francis Burke (Roger Livesey, in a rollicking performance, and made up to look more of a drunk than Flynn), and off they go on the adventures of wenching and piracy, fighting and guffawing that make up most of the movie. Jamie never forgets, however, that he has a score to settle with Henry, for by now, thanks to jealousy and treachery, Henry has become the Master of Ballantrae and the heir to Clan Durie. If Jamie can't have the title, then when he sneaks back to Scotland he wants the woman who goes with the title, plus a good deal of money. He's more than willing to kill Henry to get all this.

Much of the movie was photographed in Scotland and looks great. Jack Cardiff gets the credit. The screenplay is often a bawdy, rag tag braggadocio of ripe dialogue credited to Herb Meadow with additional dialogue by Harold Medford. There is a rousing sea attack, some full-bodiced wenches in Tortuga, a fine, mannered dandy of a French pirate captain and a rouser of a Flynn sword fight. Unfortunately, it's obvious to one who looks closely that Flynn's fencing double is getting more screen time that Flynn during the fight. Even so, the story is something of a downer, the tale of a man who could never have enough, who kept close his resentments, who never forgot and who never learned. Well, maybe he learned a little at the end...if he listened to his great, true and only friend, Burke: "Not much time to remember all the girls you've known, all the laughter you've heard, all the gold you've spent, and all the plans you had to spend more. The places we've not seen, Jamie! The things that lie about the world! The fun of it!" Perhaps, but the happy end is about as abrupt and startling as suddenly opening a boiled haggis.

Roger Livesey, a fine British actor, would have overshadowed Flynn, in my opinion, if he hadn't carefully modulated bits and pieces of his performance. Burke is a dangerous rogue, but, unlike Jamie Durie, he's likable. To see Livesey at his very best, watch him in those three classic movies he starred in for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, I Know Where I'm Going and A Matter of Life and Death.

If we want to remember Errol Flynn in his sad decline, let it be in that unremembered Western shot cheaply in 1950 and not promoted by the studio, Rocky Mountain. Flynn's prematurely aged face brings authenticity to a Confederate officer who, with his small group of men, decides to act with honor and to accept the consequences. Flynn could act when it suited him.

The DVD color transfer is adequate, but only a first-rate restoration will do justice to all that gorgeous scenery.

Movie Review: STILL AS DASHING AS EVER
Summary: 5 Stars

THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE was made late in Errol Flynn's career. This 1953 release remains beautiful technicolor escapist fare. Roger Livesey, with a rich brogue, provides perfect support. As is the custom with the Flynn swashbucklers, this one provides adventure, romance, comedy and top-notch photography. The legion of Flynn's fans won't be disappointed with this one ... nor will those seeking 90 minutes of swordplay, pirating, romance and excitement.

Movie Review: Downside
Summary: 3 Stars

As a huge Flynn fan I had never seen this film before. It certainly is not one of the best Flynn films, but it is a decent action adventure. Flynn is older and heavier looking, but still has the spark of a great leading man. The film itself is not faithful to the book, but it covers an awful lot of ground in 89 minutes. The color is very rich for a 50 year old film. The location scenes are beautiful. The stage sets are a little cheesey, but they do not take away from the overall film. If you are a Flynn fan, then this is a must buy for you. Pirates, swordplay, romance and more swordplay, everything you could want from a Flynn movie.

Movie Review: An Underrated Flynn Adventure
Summary: 3 Stars

"The Master of Ballantrae" (1953) was an appropriate finale to Errol Flynn's 18-year career at Warner Brothers. Reunited with "Adventures of Robin Hood" co-director William Keighley, the aging star adds plenty of zest to this Robert Louis Stevenson adaptation. Jack Cardiff's on-location Technicolor photography is a tremendous asset. No classic, but far superior to the actor's latter-day vehicles.

Movie Review: HIGHLANDER ROGUE PIRATE - NOBODY DOES IT BETTER THAN FLYNN
Summary: 4 Stars

Robert Louis Stevenson's swashbuckling tale is given the royal Hollywood treatment as Errol Flynn plays Ballantrae Castle's Jamie Durisdeer. A courageous Highlander turned pirate to gain riches for his beloved home. A costume adventure that leaps out at you with it's breathtaking color and rousing score. Flynn is not as young here as he appeared in earlier outings such as, "The Sea Hawk" and "Captain Blood," but he's as entertaining as ever and top notch in his sword fighting scenes. Flynn is to wed his true love, however, his brother, played by Anthony Steel, is in love with her too. As the story progresses, Flynn gets betrayed to the British, and believes it was his own brother that did it. Beatrice Campbell and Yvonne Furneaux play Flynn's love interests. Once again Warner Bros. has done an exceptional job transferring the film to dvd, it looks amazing. I highly recommend this movie, as well as the "Errol Flynn Signature Collection" box set, which contains five great movies and a documentary of Flynn's career. The swashbuckler's "Captain Blood" and "The Sea Hawk" are included here, plus a fine period piece, "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex," co-starring the legendary Bette Davis. I also recommend the 1952 Stewart Granger adventure, "Scaramouche," En garde!

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Summary of Master of Ballantrae [VHS]

Shot in Britain, the Scottish Highlands, and a quasi-Caribbean corner of Italy, The Master of Ballantrae has a goofy charm reminiscent of certain Michael Powell movies--a comparison encouraged by Jack Cardiff's magic-hour Technicolor and an exuberant costar turn for Roger Livesey. Something of an autumnal swashbuckler for Errol Flynn, it's also the last film for William Keighley, the starting director on Adventures of Robin Hood 15 years earlier. The Robert Louis Stevenson tale hop-skip-jumps through Bonnie Prince Charlie's bid to reclaim Scotland, the ensuing English crackdown, a bloody falling-out between brothers (Flynn and Anthony Steel), two overlapping romantic triangles, two assumed deaths (same guy), piracy on the high seas, yo-ho-ho in Tortuga, then back to Ballantrae for several showdowns--all in 89 minutes. Call it picaresque or just cockeyed, this amiable entertainment deserves rescuing from oblivion. Likewise the post-pretty-boy Flynn, whose jaded bonhomie plays into the quirky mix. --Richard T. Jameson

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