Captain Blood (1960 film)

Captain Blood is a 1960 adventure film directed by Carlo Bragaglia and starring Steve Reeves, Pier Angeli, and Fernando Lamas. It is a loose adaptation of the 1922 Rafael Sabatini novel of the same name, but deviates significantly from the original storyline.

The film portrays Peter Blood (Steve Reeves) as a physician wrongly accused of treason and sold into slavery in the Caribbean. Unlike the Sabatini novel where Blood becomes a pirate captain through his own intelligence and leadership, in this version he is forced into piracy by the villainous Captain Levasseur (Fernando Lamas). He eventually rises to command through a duel with Levasseur. The plot revolves around treasure, betrayal, and Blood's desire for revenge and freedom, culminating in a battle against both Levasseur and the Spanish.

The film is notable for its sword fights and action sequences, typical of the peplum genre in which Reeves often starred. However, it is generally considered less faithful and less acclaimed than the earlier, more famous 1935 film adaptation starring Errol Flynn.