Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Master of Ballantrae

When the political pressures between England and Scotland become too great and it looks like war will break out, a pair of Scottish brothers come up with a plan: One of them will join the rebels and go off and fight the English, while the other stays at home and pretends to be loyal so the family estate will stay intact. What sounds like a good plan to keep the family together soon has brother battling brother as the rebels fail and the siblings are set against each other. Although it has the kind of narration you usually find in historical documentaries, this movie from director William Keighley (The Adventures of Robin Hood) only uses the facts as a way to make sure that star Errol Flynn gets plenty of time to fight bad guys and make the ladies swoon. And he does it with such style and grace that you forget all the minor irritations along the way.

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