The Buccaneer (1938)

It's the 1812 war and the pirate Jean Lafitte (Fredric March) offers the services of he and his men to the Americans. But he is betrayed and in desperation, he seeks out General Andrew Jackson (Hugh Sothern). At his worst, the films of Cecil B. DeMille can be a ponderous lot. His loopiness can make some of his biblical epics like SAMSON AND DELILAH and the 1956 TEN COMMANDMENTS great fun but when played straight like THE BUCCANEER, it's a laborious watch. Even the battle scenes are heavy going. As Lafitte, March is the most unpirate like buccaneer the screen has ever seen. A good half hour could have been cut out of this bloat. The film's leading lady is Franciska Gaal, a Hungarian cabaret singer who did a few films, and she's the film's most irritating element. With Akim Tamiroff (the best thing about the film), Margot Grahame (THE INFORMER), Walter Brennan, Beulah Bondi, Spring Byington, Douglass Dumbrille and Anthony Quinn who would go on to direct the somewhat superior 1958 remake.