ROBERT SHAW GETS A BIGGER BOAT AFTER JAWS... IN SWASHBUCKLER

Just over 12 months after the release of Jaws, Robert Shaw set sail with Universal on the high seas yet again, this time switching the Orca for a pirate ship, named The Blarney Cock.

He's no longer Captain Quint, this time he is Captain Ned Lynch in Swashbuckler, also known in the UK as The Scarlet Buccaneer.

My mum was always partial to a pirate film, which meant growing up so was I, whether it was Errol Flynn in Captain Blood or Burt Lancaster in The Crimson Pirate. And this is very much in that same vein, years before Cutthroat Island (from Deep Blue Sea director Renny Harlin) and Pirates of the Caribbean.

We don't see Shaw until almost 10 minutes into the film, a daring rescue mission to save one of their crew from being hanged, and what an introduction. He quite literally swings into action to save him. Stirring boys own adventure stuff.

Not that Shaw wasn't familiar with the ways of a pirate, he'd first shot to fame on television as Captain Dan Tempest in The Buccaneers in the 1950s, which perhaps goes someway to explaining the title change in the UK.

Shaw's open chested for most of the film, he certainly looks younger and fitter than when he played Quint. Those eyes still blue and his face full of smiles, it is hard to even believe he would be gone just two years later.

The film looks sumptuous, shot in the constantly sunny Mexico, and it's got a great cast as well.

Both Robert Shaw and James Earl Jones (in the year before he did Darth Vader voice over duties) look to be having nothing but a fun time, which crosses over to the viewer.

Peter Boyle is hammy as the villain, whilst Beau Bridges is underused and disappears for huge swathes of the film. Geneviève Bujold is the feisty love interest.

It's light, for sure, certainly comedic in tone, and has that same sort of vibe as Richard Lester's The Three Muskateers.

It's genuinely great to see Shaw doing his own swordfighting in a lengthy bar brawl sequence (a prerequisite of any pirate film) and throughout the film, those years in The Buccaneers and treading the boards at the RSC paying their dues. He'd also be handy with a sword in that same year's Robin and Marian, actually helmed by Richard Lester, and co-starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn in the titular roles.

Unfortunately, in Swashbuckler the action kind of just unfolds, there isn't really any tension, but it looks lovely, which is part of its charm as well.

There are some great stunts. Including a wonderful high fall off a cliff, and nicely shot horse chase, but the jaunty theme doesn't help develop any of that tension or excitement. Which is a shame.

There is a brilliant scene with Shaw that I defy any Jaws fan to not break a smile at. He's doing limericks with James Earl Jones, still with his Quint laugh, and still doing rhymes about women losing their virginity. It can't have been accidental.

This is very much an old school pirate film, and echoes a time and filmmaking period earlier than the 1976 it was shot.

It's director was James Goldstone, perhaps best known for directing the original Star Trek episode, Where No Man Has Gone Before, as well as the disaster movies, Rollercoaster and When Time Ran Out.

Swashbuckler, is it buried treasure? It's certainly a hidden one for Shaw and pirate film fans, even if it's not long (John Silver) on actual plot. It's the perfect Sunday afternoon movie.

I'm certainly glad its finally in my Robert Shaw collection, showcasing the huge range he would give us in the 1970s, whether it be The Sting, The Taking of Pelham 123, Jaws, Swashbuckler, The Deep or Force 10 From Navarone. Each time he delivers, which makes you miss his presence on the big screen even more. He's the real missing treasure.

Words by Dean Newman

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