ma-cortes Amusing and entertaining swashbuckler has Don Juán (Errol Flynn in his self-mocking best) saving Queen Margarita (Viveca Lindfords) who secretly loves her champion from her evil First Minister , (the British Robert Douglas) . He , then swashbuckles his way across England and Spain in effort to win her heart . At the end Don Juan finds a worthy fencing adversary in the treacherous Duc of Lorca (actually , Duke of Lerma , favorite of King Felipe III) at an exciting final duel .Errol's last spectacular and overwhelming epic features impressive duels , elegant costuming , impressive production design , marvelous gowns , and loads of action . It is so crammed with fights and action , there hardly seems to be a set-piece that doesn't start or end with a duel , fencing or brawl . This was the major ¨Sword and Swagger¨ film mounted by First National Pictures and Warner Brothers for its superstar of swashbucklers , Errol Flynn . Errol is still nearly at his most agile and deft style . Errol Flynn was 38 when he made this movie , but his wild lifestyle had diminished his health and made him less able to perform his own stunts, as he had in earlier films . Previously , Flynn made his best swashbucklers and played successes as ¨Captain Blood¨ , ¨Adventures of Robin Hood¨, ¨The prince and the pauper¨ , ¨Sea Hawk¨, ¨The private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ , ¨Gentleman Jim¨ . Flynn performed splendidly the mass battle royal at the ending and the ultimate romantic gesture for the queen , he certainly gave his enthusiasts something to remember him by . It was all downhill for Errol after this , as he followed his successive flops as ¨The warriors¨, ¨Against all flags¨, ¨The Master of Ballantree¨ and ¨Adventures captain Fabian . Support cast is pretty well , such as Alan Hale Jr as his squire , Rommy Brent playing the silly King Felipe III and Robert Douglas is too good for his baddie role . And other notorious secondaries in brief apparitions as Robert Warwick , Douglas Kennedy , Barbara Bates , Monte Blue , Raymond Burr , Helen Westcott , Fortunio Bonanova and forthright as well as sympathetic Una O'Connor , as usual . Richly costumed , including luxurious gowns and in glamorous Technicolor by cameraman Elwood Bredell . Breathtaking and luxury set design and art design by Edward Carrere and Harry Platt , though mostly interiors . Thrilling and evocative musical score by the great maestro and prolific Max Steiner . The picture is not a masterpiece , but being made with huge confidence and fair play by Vincent Sherman . Vincent directed all kinds of genres : drama , suspense , Western , biography , such as ¨Cervantes¨, ¨Lone Star¨, ¨Affair in Trinidad¨, ¨The Young Philadelphians , ¨Ice palace¨, ¨All through the night¨ , ¨Underground¨. Being his best films : ¨Mr Skeffington¨and this ¨Adventures of Don Juan¨.

alexanderdavies-99382 "The Adventures of Don Juan" was the final hurrah for Errol Flynn as far as big budget films were concerned. The film didn't perform very well at the American box office and Jack Warner decided that Flynn was no longer worth the money. The filming was constantly delayed due to Errol Flynn not arriving on time for work allegedly, the budget was out of control, he grew depressed over reviews he read about his film, "Escape Me Never." In addition, Flynn's rather hedonistic lifestyle was taking its toil on his body. He had to wear a tighter costume to hide his expanded waist line and most of the action scenes had to be re-shot several times each. Initially, he and the film's director Vincent Sherman got along quite well as Flynn was receptive to the director's instructions and suggestions. However, things soon changed and by the end of filming, 28 days had been lost for one reason or another. Watching "The Adventures of Don Juan," you would never have guessed there were any problems of any kind. Errol Flynn is great as the womanising, care-free adventurer and Alan Hale features one last time as the ever faithful friend. The look on Flynn's face shows a man who had been through a lot and had experienced what life could throw at him. It is with a slight feeling of sadness that things would change so much for Flynn after this film: No more Alan Hale or Olivia De Havilland, no more big budget films or box office success. The film is played as being tongue-in-cheek for the most part and that was the correct decision. For all of Flynn's way of life, even his character wouldn't stoop so low as to betray his own country. The scene where traitor Robert Douglas attempts to buy Don Juan's loyalty and is turned down highlights this. Juan makes it clear that it fills his heart with horror at the very notion of the King's adviser (Douglas) being the ruler of Spain. Robert Douglas is a very good villain but not quite in Basil Rathbone's league. The set design and the photography are first class. I can actually picture Spain as it might have looked back in the day when this film was based. The music is very good as well, it is a real stirring composition. The swordplay scenes really make this film and they usually occur when Flynn is pushed into action. Vincent Sherman was a fine director in his own right and we see evidence of that here in spades. The last masterpiece Errol Flynn made. His career would never be the same again.

TheLittleSongbird The New Adventures of Don Juan is not quite as great as Captain Blood and especially The Adventures of Robin Hood(the latter being one of my favourite films). The film is lacking somewhat in romantic chemistry, which is surprising seeing that Don Juan is often portrayed as a womaniser, and Romney Brent plays Phillip as too much of a fool for my liking. But these quibbles are far outweighed by what is good about The New Adventures of Don Juan, the best assets almost equal to The Adventures of Robin Hood. The New Adventures of Don Juan looks fabulous with huge spectacular sets, lush photography and Technicolour and some of the best ever costumes(no wonder they won an Academy Award) for any film. Max Steiner's vibrant as well as elegiac music score compliments the film perfectly and, while not among the best film scores of all time like Korngold's for The Adventures of Robin Hood is(at least to me), is one of the composer's finest of a positively consistent body of work. The New Adventures of Don Juan boasts some deliciously witty dialogue, some fine sword play and some of the best fencing in film history, the standout of all the action being the truly exciting final duel between Juan and Lorca. And one mustn't miss that leap from the head of the staircase, done by a stunt double but the stunt itself is famous for a reason. The story is always entertaining and swiftly paced, of course a little standard and a little silly but those are ignorable. The characters are very memorable especially the charismatic Juan and the villainous Lorca. Vincent Sherman does a more than competent job directing, he has a good eye for detail and accommodates Flynn nicely, from personal opinion he does do a respectable job with the action. Errol Flynn may be older and been battling physical and health problems behind the scenes but you can't actually tell, he still looks fine and has lost little of the youthful vigour and heartiness that he had a decade plus earlier. The Swedish beauty Viveca Lindfors is every bit the beautiful regal Queen while Robert Douglas is superbly intimidating as Lorca and Alan Hale is appealingly witty. Raymond Burr makes an impression as a henchman. All in all, a near classic. 8/10 Bethany Cox

gkeith_1 Robin Hood, Elizabeth and Essex, They Died With Their Boots On -- add these to this movie, and you have a great combination. Errol Flynn was always so handsome and charming. Wish he could have lived forever. It is so wonderful that his images can be preserved in these excellent films.Yes, Don Juan was the great lover. He also had to be a great politician, what with dealing with kings, courtiers and husbands. If I were a movie director, and could get Errol Flynn to act for me in a leading man role, I know I could get a great performance out of him every time. RIP, Errol. You were the best.12/10