Best known for The Godfather, Dr. Strangelove and other classics, Sterling Hayden also starred in a few swashbuckler films.
THE GOLDEN HAWK (1952)
In the 1600s, French Privateer Captain Kit Gerardo – played by Sterling Hayden – sets out with his crew from Basse-Terre Island, Guadaloupe in a new ship he won in a duel with a pirate captain. He thus resumes his pursuit of plunder, and revenge on the Spanish pirate who killed his mother – Captain Luis del Toro (John Sutton).
His adventures lead to him meeting the beautiful female pirate Captain Rouge (Rhonda Fleming), who was staking out a ship he has just taken. He gives her a pistol to protect herself from his men while they loot the vessel, but when he gets too fresh with her, she shoots him and swims to safety.
Next, Captain Gerardo preys on several more Spanish ships, ultimately seizing one carrying Blanca (Helena Carter), the intended bride of his archnemesis Captain del Toro. He demands ten thousand gold doubloons from del Toro as ransom for Blanca, who faithlessly romances Gerardo while they wait to hear back from del Toro.
The day of the ransom exchange arrives. Kit and his crew plan to double-cross Luis del Toro, killing him and taking the ransom while keeping Blanca. Del Toro outmaneuvers Gerardo, however, surrounding him with three pirate ships loyal to him. Continue reading
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE (2016) – This horror film was the 1st English-language movie directed by 
THE BLACK PIRATE (1926) – Fairbanks starred as the Duke of Arnoldo aka the Black Pirate in this high seas adventure that captured the feel of 
THE VIDEO DEAD (1987) – This gory low-budget zombie movie plays like an unused segment of Creepshow expanded to feature length. Long before The Ring, this production presented creepy zombies from an old black & white horror flick climbing out of a tv set and slaughtering anyone and everyone.
STRANGE HARVEST (2025) – Halloween Month continues with this review of a movie which got previewed in 2024 before its official release in August 2025. Because Balladeer’s Blog covers everything from mild Silent-Era horror films to extreme horror from recent decades I will post my courtesy warning for Strange Harvest:
However, his murders seemed unrelated until detective work recently found the obscure link connecting them. I will go into details about the grotesque murders below. Oddly, despite the grisly nature of the slayings, Strange Harvest otherwise starts out with a slow burn approach reminiscent of Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist and other films. 
Balladeer’s Blog is here with a look at a score of James Garner films. NOTE: The Great Escape is not included, only because Garner was part of an ensemble cast in that movie. 
MAVERICK (1994) – Though James Garner was technically playing a supporting role to Mel Gibson in this film, Gibson was portraying Bret Maverick, the character Garner had turned into a sensation in the 1950s. Since this movie would not exist without the cultural cache built up by James’ portrayal of both Bret AND “Pappy” Beauregard Maverick (in old age makeup) this definitely counts as a Garner film. Bret, Pappy and Jody Foster as Annabelle Bransford are among the gambler-gunslingers headed east for St. Louis and a Poker Tournament on a riverboat. 
BARBARIANS AT THE GATE (1993) – In this telefilm based on the best-selling non-fiction book, Jim plays F. Ross Johnson, the real-life president of RJR-Nabisco who unleashed one of the most chaotic and frenzied leveraged buyouts in Wall Street history during the “greed is good” 1980s. 
ANNE OF THE INDIES (1951) – Jean Peters stars as female pirate Captain Anne Providence, commander of the ship Sheba Queen. One day she and her crew seize a British ship in the West Indies. 
I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED (1998) – Directed by Aris Iliopulos, this is the film that was made based on that notorious unproduced script written by THE Ed Wood, the master of badfilm behind Glen or Glenda, Plan 9 From Outer Space and more. 
There’s no dialogue, Easter Eggs regarding Wood’s various Golden Turkeys abound and excerpts from the actual screenplay appear on screen at times in case viewers are skeptical that the weirdness they’re witnessing really was in the original script. 
SWORDSMAN OF SIENA (1962) – In the Spanish-controlled Italian states of the 1500s, English mercenary Thomas Stanswood (Stewart Granger) is currently employed by the Italian nobles of Siena. The resented Don Carlos (Riccardo Garrone), Imperial Governor of Siena, is forcing a political marriage between himself and the beautiful Orietta Arconti (Sylva Koscina). 
Meanwhile, Orietta’s younger sister Serenella falls in love with the mercenary and can tell his sympathies really lean toward the rebels, like hers do. Amid action and intrigues in which Thomas saves Orietta from the rebels called the Ten, Serenella gets killed by Don Carlos’ men. 
