In 1674, pirate Jamie Waring (Tyrone Power) is captured during a raid on a Jamaican town. The Spanish Don Miguel (Fortunio Bonanova) puts Jamie on the rack to question him about his commander, Captain Henry Morgan (Laird Cregar),, who Jamie maintains is in England about to be hanged for piracy.
Jamie is rescued by his compatriot, Tommy Blue (Thomas Mitchell), but they are stopped from torturing Don Miguel by Lord Denby (George Zucco), the English governor of Jamaica. Jamie does not believe it when Denby tells them that Spain and England have signed a peace treaty, and he decides to hang Denby for sending Morgan to trial.
Jamie also tangles with Denby's high-spirited, beautiful daughter, Lady Margaret Denby (Maureen O'Hara), but before he can carry out his plans, Morgan arrives. At a meeting of the pirates that evening, Morgan explains that he has received a pardon from King Charles II and has been made the new governor of Jamaica. In return, Morgan has promised to rid the Caribbean of pirates and maintain the peace between England and Spain. Morgan tells the men that if they will lay down their arms, they will receive a pardon and one hundred acres of land, but that if they do not, he will hunt them down. Captain Billy Leech (George Sanders) and his second-in-command, Wogan (Anthony Quinn), refuse to join and vow to take their ship, the Black Swan , to Maracaibo.
Morgan takes Jamie and Tommy with him to the Government House in Port Royal, where he is sworn in by the reluctant assembly, which makes clear its animosity. Jamie attempts to romance Margaret, but she states that she prefers her fiancé, Roger Ingram (Edward Ashley). Unknown to Margaret, Ingram has leaked information about an English treasure ship to Leech, and soon after, Leech plunders the ship and gives the captain's share to Ingram.
Determined to capture Leech, Morgan sends Jamie after him, but Leech is able to elude him and plunder more English ships with Ingram's help. When Jamie returns to Port Royal to report his failure, the assembly votes to impeach Morgan, and Ingram states that he and Margaret will sail to England to take the news to the king. Morgan orders Jamie to capture Leech, and Jamie, determined to prevent Margaret's marriage to Ingram, shanghaiis her. They soon run into Leech, and in order to apprehend him, Jamie pretends to join him.
Jamie and Leech sail to Maracaibo, where Morgan, who has had to flee Port Royal due to the outcry over Margaret's abduction, awaits them. Morgan believes that Jamie is in league with Leech, but after a fierce battle between the opposing forces, Jamie kills Leech and convinces Morgan of his loyalty. Morgan still insists that Jamie be hanged because of his treatment of Margaret, but she declares that she accompanied him of her own free will. Soon after, during their return to Jamaica, Margaret lovingly calls Jamie "Jamie Boy" three times, as he had predicted that she would.
A 1942 American swashbuckler Technicolor film directed by Henry King, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, screenplay by Ben Hecht and Seton I. Miller, based on the 1932 novel of the same title by Rafael Sabatini, cinematography by Leon Shamroy, starring Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Laird Cregar, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders, George Zucco, and Anthony Quinn. This was the final film of silent film star Helene Costello.
Leon Shamroy won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color, while Fred Sersen, Roger Heman Sr., George Leverett were nominated for Best Visual Effects and Alfred Newman was nominated for Best Original Score. The reissue was released in black & white.
To help out the war effort, the actors tried hard to keep the number of takes low so as to conserve film. Roughly 30 of the scenes were done in one take.
Although it is supposed to be based on Rafael Sabatini's novel "The Black Swan," in fact, the story is completely original, and the only character retained from the original novel is the historical personage Henry Morgan. The film revolves around Captain Waring (Tyrone Power) and his ship, the "Revenge". The title of this pirate movie relates to the enemy ship "the Black Swan" belonging to Captain Leech. The ship was also used in "That Hamilton Woman" (1941), "The Princess and the Pirate" (1944) and "Captain Kidd" (1945).
O'Hara recalled it was "everything you could want in a lavish pirate picture: a magnificent ship with thundering cannons; a dashing hero battling menacing villains ... sword fights; fabulous costumes ...". She found it exhilarating working with Power, who was renowned for his "wicked sense of humor". O'Hara grew very concerned about one scene in the picture in which she is thrown overboard in her underwear by Power, and sent a warning letter home to Ireland in advance. She refused to take her wedding ring off in one scene which resulted in screen adjustments to make it look like a dinner ring.
The film was praised by critics and seen as one of the period's most enjoyable adventure films.
