This movie is one of those films over shadowed when it was released because of the top films of 1939. It is a solid "B" feature, a swash buckling adventure attempt from the Hal Roach studios to make a film like 1938's Robin Hood, using a different setting and black and white film. It succeeds more than one would realize.While the list of stars in this one is not A List, a fair amount of the cast worked for careers in films ranging from Titanic (1953) to The Quiet Man (1952) and others. One of the strengths of this movie is the cast as they really do a great job acting on a solid script.It is quite easy to recognize the Culver City, California western sets which are being used as Australia here. The story of Blokes in Australia and the history of the British sending their prisoners to the Island to get rid of them is pretty accurate, and the minds of a couple of very capable screenwriters put this script together well. The reason the history is covered and feels well is due to Grover Jones work as he very a very adept screen writer. A year later, another of his screen plays based on some real history, Dark Command, Republics only teaming on screen of John Wayne and Roy Rogers proves where things would move on from here.There is one sequence with Kangaroos which is put in to try and give the Australian feel to this. The cast does a good job selling this is actually happening in that country. This film and Raoul Walsh's Dark Command are both films which have Western Casts doing something different. The difference is this one has a much lower budget and a B cast from the Roach studios. This film does hold it's own quite nicely, though it is a bit dated now.Prisoners helping settler's whose freedom is being threatened is a Robin Hood type of plot. In this instance, pretty well done.

Hal Roach who more often than one would think as his reputation has come down today sometimes left the two reel comedies and occasional feature films for Laurel&Hardy and did some big budget stuff. One of his biggest was this 18th century costume drama Captain Fury. It even snagged an Oscar nomination for Art settings.This story which borrows most liberally from the legend of Robin Hood casts Brian Aherne as Irish convict who was fighting for independence in Ireland which activities got him arrested and sent to Australia which as we know was a penal colony in those days.He's indentured to a most cruel and rapacious landowner George Zucco who treats the army of convicts in his charge like slaves. He's our Sir Guy of Gisborne in this tale. It doesn't take long for Aherne to escape with a few good men and take up his rebel ways once again. In the process he wins June Lang away from her puritan father Paul Lukas.Lukas's mittel europa accent is easily explained when one realized that the King of Great Britain had some considerable real estate in the heart of Germany. The Hanover dynasty were first Electors of the Palatine. Lots of settlers from there migrated to all kinds of British colonies so Lukas by no means would have been out of place.His is a strange character, a great example where one can get truly warped overindulging in religious doctrine. He doesn't like Zucco and his cutthroats, but can't get past Aherne's criminal activity.The film also features Victor McLaglen just being his charming self. That's enough for a lot of people to watch the film.Even without McLaglen's oafish ways, Captain Fury is a fine and dashing action/adventure film. I'm sure the parallels with The Adventures Of Robin Hood which came out the year before could not help being noticed by the movie going public.

1939's "Captain Fury" is an undeservedly obscure venture behind the camera for longtime comedy producer Hal Roach, whose few non-Laurel and Hardy features include the famous "One Million B. C." This earlier effort, like "Of Mice and Men" from United Artists, brings together a spirited cast in a lighthearted adventure set in 1840s Australia, where the British banished many prisoners to spend the rest of their days in hard labor. Brian Aherne stars as Captain Michael Fury, among 300 new arrivals set to work the station of evil landowner Arnold Trist (George Zucco), in possession of many whip wielding guards to keep the prisoners in line. During a fracas involving light fingered tough Blackie (Victor McLaglen), Fury makes his escape, and becomes the happy captive of pretty Jeanette Dupre (June Lang), until overhearing Trist's henchmen threatening all the valley settlers to give up their homes or face dire consequences. Convincing the frightened townspeople to give him the chance to fight on their behalf, Fury orchestrates a jailbreak for several comrades, who spend the rest of the film making things difficult for the bad guys. While George Zucco (wearing a black toupee) is as evil as the part warrants, virtually all his henchmen are played for laughs, even Douglass Dumbrille and Charles Middleton (the latter does come to a surprisingly bad end however). Difficult to spot among the many convicts are plug uglies Rondo Hatton and Harry Wilson, while perennial Hal Roach favorite Charlie Hall can be seen as a gossiping townsman (pretty daughter Margaret Roach does well in a rare featured role). Best of all is legendary scene stealer John Carradine, given free reign to shine as one of the good guys, Roger Bradford, whose persistent cough (earning him the nickname 'Coughy') marks him as a terminal case right from the start. Having the time of his life cast against type, Carradine also surprisingly makes it all the way to the end, adding to the exuberant sense of fun by doing a running commentary on the beauties of life, kicking, pummeling, and generally distracting the villains until the final showdown opposite Zucco. In a busy year that included well remembered turns in "Stagecoach," "Jesse James," "The Hound of the Baskervilles," "Five Came Back," "Frontier Marshal," and "Drums Along the Mohawk," this must rank as one of John Carradine's very finest (and least appreciated) film roles.

Although lower-tier Hollywood mogul Hal Roach is deservedly best-known today for nurturing many legendary comedians over the years (especially the greatest comic duo in film history, Laurel and Hardy), his production company also made other types of movies – with the TOPPER movies (2 of which I have recently watched) and the celebrated original version of OF MICE AND MEN (1939; which I have just acquired) being arguably their best 'extracurricular' ventures. To a much lesser degree, Roach was a director himself and the well-crafted and, in hindsight, unjustly forgotten adventure film CAPTAIN FURY is perhaps his finest personal effort; for the record, I have recently also come across the prestigious prehistoric epic ONE MILLION B.C. (1940; starring Victor Mature and Lon Chaney Jnr.) and, on account of my positive experience with the film under review, plan to check it out presently. Anyway, CAPTAIN FURY may not strictly be swashbuckling fare but it is clear that Roach was following the classic Robin Hood/Zorro templates in this story of the titular Irish rebel (Brian Aherne) exiled to an Australian penal colony headed by a brutish landowner (George Zucco) who is also harassing the nearby settlers. Bonding with the fellow inmates – particularly incorrigible, thuggish thief Victor McLaglen and a sickly philosopher John Carradine – Aherne soon escapes to rouse the settlers against their oppressor. The excellent cast rounded up for this action-packed and amiable romp (that, for a 70-year old movie, features at least one extraordinary stunt involving a horse leaping down a waterfall!) is completed by the familiar faces of top-notch character actors like Paul Lukas (as a religious fanatic initially opposed to Aherne for setting sights on his daughter), Douglas Dumbrille (as Zucco's henchman), Charles Middleton, Claud Allister, Lumsden Hare, Mary Gordon, Edgar Norton, Billy Bevan, etc. Like the film itself, Aherne is a largely forgotten actor nowadays – despite having portrayed the legendary figure of King Arthur twice on screen in PRINCE VALIANT (1954) and LANCELOT AND GUINEVERE aka SWORD OF LANCELOT (1963) – but, seeing him cutting such a dashing figure here in the Errol Flynn mould, made me want to check out more of his work…and, indeed, his Oscar-nominated turn as Emperor Maximilian in William Dieterle's star-studded biopic JUAREZ (released just one month prior to CAPTAIN FURY) should be just around the corner! It is always so refreshing to take these nostalgic trips to the lightweight entertainment Hollywood provided during its Golden Age and, as in previous occasions, I have the former sexton friend (and renowned film buff) to thank for introducing me to this rare gem via his personal (and understandably hazy) 16mm print.