The Spanish Main

This article is about the film. For the Caribbean coast, see Spanish Main.

The Spanish Main
Binnie Barnes in the film
Directed by	Frank Borzage
Produced by	Frank Borzage (uncredited) Robert Fellows (executive producer) Stephen Ames (associate producer)
Written by	Aeneas MacKenzie (story) George Worthing Yates Herman J. Mankiewicz
Starring	Maureen O'Hara Paul Henreid Walter Slezak Binnie Barnes
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)	10 September 1945
Running time	100 min.
Language	English

The Spanish Main (1945) is an adventure film starring Paul Henreid, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak and Binnie Barnes, and directed by Frank Borzage. It was RKO's first all-Technicolor film since Becky Sharp ten years before.

Cinematographer George Barnes received an Academy Award nomination for Best Color Cinematography. Though a box office hit upon its first release, the film is largely forgotten today, despite occasional airings on cable stations such as Turner Classic Movies.

Plot

Dutch sea captain Laurent van Horn (Henreid) is shipwrecked off the coast of the Spanish settlement of Cartagena. After being held and sentenced to death, Van Horn and his crew manage to escape. They capture Francisca Alvarado (O'Hara) who has been arranged to marry the corrupt governor (Slezak). Over time Francisca and Van Horn become attracted to each other and must set out to defeat villainous local politicians and treacherous pirates.

The film includes the character Anne Bonny (Barnes), in a fictionalized account of a real-life cross-dressing female pirate.

Principal cast

• Maureen O'Hara as Francisca Alvarado
• Paul Henreid as Capt. Laurent Van Horn
• Walter Slezak as Don Juan Alvarado
• Binnie Barnes as Anne Bonny
• John Emery as Du Billar
• Barton MacLane as Capt. Black

Release

The film was a big hit and made a profit of $1,485,000.

See also

• Women in piracy

External links

• The Spanish Main at the Internet Movie Database