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Preservation funded by The Cecil B. DeMille Foundation

The Buccaneer (1938)

The Buccaneer (1938)
April 19, 2009 - 2:00 pm

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille

One of the rarest of Cecil B. DeMille's sound films, The Buccaneer mines a little tapped vein of American history—the War of 1812—for a rousing bit of homegrown spectacle. Fredric March stars with devilish swagger as Jean Lafitte, the French pirate transformed into an American folk hero for his exploits at the Battle of New Orleans—all for the love of an American aristocrat (Margot Grahame), as DeMille tells it. Alongside March, Hollywood newcomer Hungarian actress Franciska Gaal stars as Gretchen, a shipwrecked waif plucked from the sea by Lafitte, while Akim Tamiroff steals the show as Lafitte's lovably brusque cannoneer.

Paramount Pictures. Based on a novel by Lyle Saxon. Screenwriter: Edwin Justus Mayer, Harold Lamb, C. Gardner Sullivan. Cinematographer: Victor Milner. Editor: Anne Bauchens. Cast: Fredric March, Franciska Gaal, Akim Tamiroff, Margot Grahame, Walter Brennan.

35mm, 124 min.

Preceded by:

Preservation funded by The Cecil B. DeMille Foundation

Gretchen Comes Across (1938)

A short promotional featurette for Cecil B. DeMille's The Buccaneer.

Cast: Cecil B. DeMille, Franciska Gaal, William H. Pine.

35mm, 11 min.

Preservation funded by The Stanford Theatre Foundation

Barcarolle (1934)

A Technicolor travelogue subject featuring views of Venice, set to the classical music piece with symphonic orchestra under the direction of Rosario Bourdon.

35mm, 6 min.