StanleyWheeler

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale--a couple perhaps. Let me begin with the movie and finish with the book. Both tales involved scoundrels, rogues, and the good guys who had to deal with them.

Here's the easy one; the lesser of the two tales, but an entertaining one nonetheless:

If you're looking for swashbuckling fun on the high seas, you need look no further than this little gem filled with pirate stereotypes and, arrrrhguably the greatest of them all, Blackbeard himself.

Robert Newton's portrayal of Edward Teach is more fun than a barrel of puppies with eye-patches and peg legs. If you don't think that's fun, you'll be swinging from the yarrrhdarrrhm before morning, matey. Of course Teach is a terrible scoundrel and murderer. He brooks no foolishness from his crew, but being his partner or ally may be more dangerous than being his enemy.

Newton provided one my favorite scenes in the movie when he tried to persuade his pirate first mate, Ben, that he wasn't trying to make away with the treasure for himself, but was getting it for both of them. Ben was played by the excellent actor William Bendix.

He's the guy in the middle, between the other pirate caricatures. Speaking of caricatures, one of the best from the film is this guy:

Gilly, played by Skelton Knaggs, oozes fawning evil and treachery. He reminded me of a leering orc, or grinning goblin.

And I'm guessing he stood tall at about 4'11" (but IMDB puts him at 5'5"). Wikipedia tells how he died at age 43. Can you guess what killed him?

If the cutlass fabricated from fun pirate stereotypes, swashbuckling action, murder and larceny (but especially larceny--watch the show and you'll get that joke) can't bend you to watch this movie, I have two loaded pistols with which to persuade you. The first of those is Linda Darnell. Has the camera ever loved anyone more?

She plays Edwina Mansfield, daughter of the pirate Edward Mansfield. She's planning to marry the equally piratical Henry Morgan who's played by someone I'll get to when I fire the other gun. She falls for Akuta Maynard who's out to reveal Morgan's evil ways and he wants to use Edwina's letters to do it. 

She has absconded with some treasure. Teach plies Edwina's lady-in-waiting (and you can guess the answer to what she's a lady-in-waiting for as given by the William Bendix character in the film) with rum and more rum to get her to spill her guts about the treasure. I forget her name in the film, but you know her.

Yes! It's:

Irene Ryan...but enough of that. I would much rather see Linda Darnell.

As you might suspect, Maynard and Mansfield end up together and Teach ends up like one of his treasure chests only significantly wetter.

Finally, the piece de resistance, the blast from the muzzle of the of second pistol: There's a hidden treasure in this movie--it's a Star Trek connection triple play.

First, there's Keith Andes as Maynard --better know to me from his role as Akuta in "The Apple"

And then there's Torin Hatcher as Henry Morgan--better know to me as Marplon from "The Return of the Archons"

And finally, the movie has Anthony Caruso as a pirate whose name I didn't catch--better known to me as Bela Okmyx from "A Pieceof the Action"

You can find out more about Caruso here--where I found the picture.

https://mikestakeonthemovies.com/2015/11/24/anthony-caruso-more-than-the-henchman/


As for the second tale, I find that I have more to say about it than I can reasonably include here and I don't want to give it short shrift as it is one of the best novels ever written--it's certainly one of my favorites. So I'll post it another time by itself.

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As for my writing on Book 3 of the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series, I've completed chapter one. I had to go back and adjust for time, considering that what's happening there is happening at the same time as what was happening in the final chapters of Power to Hurt--but this is across the pond--I had to consider the time difference as well as the time it took for the events in the chapter to unfold. Nevertheless, the chapter still ends with a literal blast.

If you've picked up Threading the Rude Eye and Power to Hurt, post those positive reviews on Amazon and goodreads. Only you can prevent the death of a great series. The more reviews, the more sales, the more excited I get to write, the faster I complete it--every body wins.

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I read a couple short stories this week. I got each for free at different times. I won't mention the titles or authors because both were disappointing and probably don't reflect the true talent of the writers. I'll try to review something more substantial that they've written before I pass my own judgment on their works.