Swashbuckler films are an action-adventure subgenre often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, often set in Renaissance Western Europe with appropriately lavish costumes. Morality is often clear-cut, heroic characters are clearly heroic and even villains tend to have a code of honour (although this is not always the case). There is often a damsel in distress and a romantic element.
Right from the advent of cinema, the...
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Swashbuckler films are an action-adventure subgenre often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, often set in Renaissance Western Europe with appropriately lavish costumes. Morality is often clear-cut, heroic characters are clearly heroic and even villains tend to have a code of honour (although this is not always the case). There is often a damsel in distress and a romantic element.
Right from the advent of cinema, the silent era was packed with Swashbucklers. The most famous of those were the films of Douglas Fairbanks, which defined the genre. The stories came from romantic costume novels, particularly those of Alexandre Dumas, père and Rafael Sabatini. Last but not least, triumphant, thrilling music was an important part of the formula.
There were three great cycles of swashbuckler films. The Douglas Fairbanks period of 1920-1929, the Errol Flynn period of 1935-1941 and the a period in the 1950s heralded by films such as Ivanhoe, The Master of Ballantrae...
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