''Buccaneer's Girl'' is a 1950 American Technicolor

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by

Frederick de Cordova Frederick Timmins de Cordova (October 27, 1910 – September 15, 2001) was an American stage, motion picture and television director and producer. He is best known for his work on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life De Cordova ...

starring

Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s, made several recordings, and late ...

and

Philip Friend Philip Wyndham Friend (20 February 1915 in Horsham, Sussex – 1 September 1987 in Chiddingfold, Surrey) was a British film actor, film and television actor. Career Britain Friend went to Bradfield College where he became interested in acting ...

Plot

Deborah McCoy, a

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

singer, is on a ship that is captured by the forces of the pirate captain Fredric Baptiste. Baptiste keeps McCoy captive but she escapes in New Orleans and is hired as a singer by Mme. Brizar, the proprietor of a school for young ladies. Deborah is sent to a party held by Captain Robert Kingston, the head of the Seaman's Fund. Robert is also Baptiste. She discovers that Baptiste uses his piracy activities to subsidise the Fund, which supports local seamen. Robert is engaged to Arlene Villon. The businessman Narbonne discovers Baptiste's ruse and sets a trap for him. Deborah overhears this and joins Baptiste on the open seas. They attack Narbonne's ships. Baptiste is captured by Narbonne but Deborah helps him escape.

Cast

as Deborah McCoy *

as Frederic Baptiste * Robert Douglas as Narbonne * Elsa Lanchester as Mme. Brizar * Andrea King as Arlene Villon *

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...

as Patout *

Jay C. Flippen Jay C. Flippen (March 6, 1899 – February 3, 1971) was an American character actor who often played crusty sergeants, police officers or weary criminals in many films of the 1940s and 1950s. Before his motion-picture career he was a leading va ...

as Jared Hawkins * Henry Daniell as Captain Duval * Douglass Dumbrille as Captain Martos *

Verna Felton Verna Arline Felton (July 20, 1890December 14, 1966) was an American actress, best known for providing many voices in numerous Disney animated films. She also provided the voice for Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law, Pearl Slaghoople in Hanna-Bar ...

as Dowager * John Qualen as Vegetable Man *

Connie Gilchrist Rose Constance Gilchrist (July 17, 1895 – March 3, 1985) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Among her screen credits are her roles in the Hollywood productions '' Cry 'Havoc (1943), ''A Letter to Three Wives'' (1949), ' ...

as Vegetable Woman * Ben Welden as Tom * Dewey Robinson as Kryl * Peggie Castle as Cleo

Production

Yvonne De Carlo in Buccaneer's Girl trailer

The film was originally known as ''Mademoiselle McCoy and the Pirates''. In May 1949 Joseph Hoffman was hired to work on the script. It appears to have always been considered a vehicle for

. Paul Christian was originally announced as her co-star. Christian ended up being replaced by

, who was cast on the basis of his performance in another Universal film, '' Sword in the Desert'' (1949). Robert Douglas was cast as the lead villain in the film, the first of a three-picture contract he made with Universal. Filming began July 1949. The supporting cast included Ethel Ince, widow of John Ince, playing her first role in thirty years. When asked about the film, De Carlo said, "What a dilly! I had six knock down, drag out fights in that one. And I was just recuperating from an operation."

Reception

Yvonne De Carlo later wrote in her memoirs that while touring Argentina, Eva Perón called her to say how much she enjoyed De Carlo's movies, particularly ''Buccaneer's Girl''. De Carlo wrote, "It later dawned on me that she could identify with the character of Deborah McCoy, who capitalized on her position as a prostitute to move up into high society."

References

External links

*
''Buccaneer's Girl''
at TCMDB {{Authority control 1950s English-language films Films directed by Frederick de Cordova 1950 films 1950s historical adventure films American historical adventure films Films scored by Walter Scharf Films set in New Orleans Films set in the 1800s Pirate films Universal Pictures films 1950s American films