The Adventures of Don Juan (United States, 1948)


Figure 1.--Don Juan (Errol Flynn) is a dashing swordsman and actually serves as an instructor of fencing at the Spanish court. One scene shows the Don conducting a fencing class for boys at the court. They are shown in the school uniform, tan sleeveless tunics over white shirts with billowing sleeves, brown striped trunk hose, and matching brown tights.

One of Errol Flynn's most popular swashbucklers, "The Adventures of Don Juan" (1948) has costuming that is unusually sumptuous and was rewarded at the time by a special award. The director was Vincent Sherman and the stirring musical score was composed by Max Steiner. Errol Flynn plays Don Juan and Alan Hale his sidekick called Leperello. The film is another Hollywood historical travesty. The plot greatly distorts the legend of the Spanish nobleman, Don Juan, who was a notorious seducer of women and who, according to Mozart's famous opera, "Don Giovanni", ended up in the flames of hell. In the Warner Bros. film, Don Juan is turned into a charming but essentially harmless lover of other men's wives and a patriot of Spain who saves his queen, the wife of Philip III (played by Viveca Lindfors), from the evil machinations of the Duke de Lorca (played by Robert Douglas), who attempts to take over the government of Spain and rule the country with the King and Queen as merely a front. The great American novelist William Faulkner actually contributed to the writing of the script although he is not credited. Faukner was attracted to Warner Brothers by the money, but the episode did not work out for him. He was frustrated because, unlike his books, he could not control the final product. Don Juan (Errol Flynn) is a dashing swordsman and actually serves as an instructor of fencing at the Spanish court. One scene shows the Don conducting a fencing class for boys at the court. They are shown in the school uniform, tan sleeveless tunics over white shirts with billowing sleeves, brown striped trunk hose, and matching brown tights. There is also a class of fencing students who are a bit older, perhaps 18 or 19. They wear the same uniform. Although very beautiful, the costuming is not entirely accurate, but the trunk hose and tights (long stockings in the 16th century) do illustrate a popular style of male dress worn by both boys and men of the period.








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Created: 3:40 AM 4/2/2007
Last updated: 3:40 AM 4/2/2007