Against All Flags

The film was originally written by Aeneas MacKenzie and director Richard Wallace as a vehicle for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who had just made Sinbad the Sailor with Wallace. In January 1950 it was announced Fairbanks would make the film for his own company in April or May in Hollywood once he finished making State Secret in England.[4]

However, the film was not produced and Aeneas MacKenzie sold his original script to Universal in July 1950. Alexis Smith and Yvonne De Carlo were mentioned as possible female leads and Jack Gross was assigned to be the producer.[5][6] The script featured a number of tropes familiar to pirate movies of the time, including a female pirate; it was based on genuine historical characters and situations but very loosely.[7]

William Goetz, head of production, put the project on the shelf until he could find the right star. In August 1951 Errol Flynn signed a one-picture deal with the studio to make the film.[8]

Under his contact with Warner Bros., Flynn was allowed to make one film a year for an outside studio. His contract with Universal meant Flynn was entitled to a percentage of the profits.[9] Filming was delayed so Flynn could make Mara Maru at Warners. During this time the script was rewritten by Joseph Hoffman and Anthony Quinn signed early on as the villain.[10] By November Howard Christie was set as producer, George Sherman as director and Maureen O'Hara the co-star.[11]

Sherman later wrote that Flynn was unsure about the scene where he fenced against a woman. He said "I'm supposed to be the bravest guy on screen? How could I fight a woman?" Sherman had worked with O'Hara before and assured him she was capable of holding her own "with a sword, a gun or her fists if need be" and warned Flynn he needed to be in shape.[12]

Filming began in January 1952. It was mostly done on a stage at the Universal Studios in Los Angeles with some location footage shot at Palos Verdes, California. It was Flynn's last Hollywood swashbuckler, as the further three he starred in were all made in Europe.[13]

Flynn exercised a degree of authority on set as changes in his contract meant that he ordered that the days of shooting end at 4.00pm, by which time he would become inebriated.[14][15]

Maureen O'Hara was wary of working with Flynn after he made an amorous advance on her years before. However she said by the end of filming "he had won me over. I respected him professionally and was quite fond of him personally. Father Time was slowly calming his wicked, wicked ways, and deep within that devilish rogue, I found a kind and fragile soul."[16]

O'Hara said that Flynn "was a pro" who "came to work prepared. He rehearsed hard and practised his fencing sequences very meticulously."[16] O'Hara did admit Flynn drank on set, often smuggling in alcohol by injecting it into oranges and eating the oranges. She said "everything good that we got on film was shot early in the day" and that Flynn would start drinking by morning and be of no use after 4 pm. She had to perform many of her close ups for love scenes opposite a black flag with an "x" on it while a script girl read lines. "It was hard to watch him, very frustrating, but you forgave him because what he had given you earlier in the day had been so terrific."[17]

On 1 February Flynn broke his ankle during filming, with ten more days of filming still to be completed, most of it featuring Flynn. This meant completion of the movie had to be delayed.[15][18] The ship which had been used in the film had been transformed for the film Yankee Buccaneer and had to be converted back.[19][20]

On April 18 Flynn returned to shoot the remaining sequences over two days. Because director George Sherman was working on Willie and Joe Back at the Front by then, the scenes were shot by Douglas Sirk.[21]

Anthony Quinn said that he and O'Hara had an affair making Sinbad the Sailor and every time they worked together again - Against All Flags, The Magnificent Matador - they would resume their affair temporarily.[22]

The cast includes a Black pirate captain played by Emmett Smith which has been described as "a progressive statement on racial equality for its time."[23]

The New York Times said Fynn "is a singular man among men and Maureen O'Hara... who is beautiful putty in his hands."[24]

The Chicago Tribune called it "routine and ridiculous".[25]

Filmink magazine called it "a marvellous return to form" for Flynn, being "colourful, escapist entertainment, with a strong script and top-notch cast. Sure, Errol looks dissolute and seedy but he’s still dashing with a twinkle in his eye, and this is easily one of his best movies from the 1950s."[26]

O'Hara said the film made "a pot of money".[17] According to Variety it earned $1.6 million in gross rentals in North America in 1953.[2] Despite this Flynn did not work again for Universal for a number of years, leaving the US to live in Europe; he was reunited with the studio on Istanbul.[7]