CAPTAIN LIGHTFOOT

US, 1955, 92 Minutes, Colour.
Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush, Jeff Morrow, Kathleen Ryan, Finlay Currie.
Directed by Douglas Sirk.

Captain Lightfoot is Saturday matinee type entertainment portraying the Irish troubles around 1815. It was a star vehicle for Rock Hudson as his career was on the rise. The film was directed by Douglas Sirk, notable for his stylish soap operas. He directed Hudson in more than half-a-dozen films including Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind. The film was attractively photographed in Ireland. While it gives no great insight into the troubles, it does provide a feel for Irish rebellion and antagonism towards the British.

1. An entertaining adventure? Period costume melodrama?

2. The impact of the Irish troubles - the past, the response from an audience aware of the troubles in the present? A feel for Irish history, British and Irish conflict? How much understanding did the film offer?

3. The value of the Irish location photography, colour, wide screen? Period decor and costume? The score and the Irish melodies?

4. The film as an action adventure - highwaymen, fights, the siege of the castle?

5. The film as a Rock Hudson vehicle? As Captain Lightfoot, an Irish hero, the type of heroism of the ordinary man from the village rising to authority within the society and amongst the rebels? How convincing was Rock Hudson as an Irish hero?

6. The impact of the Irish fighting against the British and the landlords - the highway robberies, the money collectors, the British nobility, the gamblers, the authorities in Dublin Castle, the police?

7. The presentation of the society - its credibility: their villagers, their meetings, their plans, the collecting of money? The aims of rebellion? Michael and Tim in this society, Michael and his outspokenness? Regis and his low profile? Aga and her return to the society, getting their help, their misjudging of Regis, the fight and the siege of the castle? The society expressing Irish hatred for the English?

8. The portrait of Captain Thunderbolt - first meeting him as the clergyman, his reliance on Michael, the meeting of Callaghan in the inn, the test of strength with the fight and Michael's naivety? The gambling house as a cover, the getting of money from the nobility for the society's cause? The clashes, especially with Hood? Aga and her causing his imprisonment? His relationship with Lady Anne, with Aga? His escape, the siege of the castle and his saving Michael? The type of the Irish revolutionary?

9. Michael growing in skill under the guidance of Captain Thunderbolt, of Lady Anne? His love for Aga? His work in the gambling house, the clash with Captain Hood and his jealousy of Aga, his duel and his letting Hood go?

10. Hood, his gambling connections, the British and their attitudes towards the Irish?

11. Michael’s device to free Captain Thunderbolt, his capture, torture, being taken to the village, his imprisonment?

12. The presence in the castle, his suspicions of Regis, the escape and the heroism?

13. The character of Regis - the audience suspecting him of complicity? His heroism at the end?

14. The appropriateness of the happy ending for this kind of costume romance? At what entertainment level did the plot work? With what success?