The dominator of the seven seas

Sometimes, TCM runs a bunch of movies that have nothing thematically in common other than using a certain word in the title. One example from some months back was a day of films with the number "seven" in the title; this gave me the chance to record at least one version of Seven Keys to Baldpate as well as a completely new to me movie, Seven Seas to Calais.

The movie opens in 1577 in a port city. A man is looking for Francis Drake (Rod Taylor), but it's dangerous business as the man has a map that other people want, and for obvious reasons. The map has the locations of places on the Pacific coast of the Americas where the Spanish have supposedly gone ashore to mine for gold and silver. This is important for geopolitical reasons: England is militantly Protestant under Queen Elizabeth I (Irene Worth), while Spain is one of the guardians of the Catholic faith and has been agitating Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots into trying to start a coup against Elizabeth. Stopping Spain from getting all that New World wealth would really help England.

So Drake, with the help of that man from the opening scene, assembles a crew and heads for parts unknown, at least unknown to the crew who aren't quite happy about that, not that they have much choice. But the English are the virtuous ones here, so of course Drake is able to defeat the Spanish over in the New World and even liberate a bunch of the indigenous before heading back to England where he'll be knighted. This, of course, really pisses off the Spaniards since they know full well how he's been responsible for the depredations against the Spanish shipping crossing the Atlantic, which is part of why they're trying to help Mary.

History tells us that Mary was eventually beheaded in early 1587 for her presumptive part in what's known as the Babington (played by Italian actor Terence Hill) Plot to try to assassinate Elizabeth. Drake here helps foil the plot, although the foiling of it is what's going to lead the Spanish to try something much more dramatic, which is to send an entire armada to attack England and try to destroy the English fleet. Drake commands the English fleet against Spain and of course wins, saving England and enabling them to head across the Atlantic to start their own colonies.

What I didn't realize until starting to write up the review is that Seven Seas to Calais is actually another of those Italian historical action movies that used a popular Hollywood star along with a bunch of Italians and what were presumably funds a Hollywood studio (this one was distributed by MGM) was required to spend in Italy. Rod Taylor is rugged and handsome enough to play Francis Drake. Beyond that, the role isn't particularly demanding in terms of acting range although it does require some physicality. Seven Seas to Calais is also not breaking any new ground in the presentation of history, any more than most Hollywood historical dramas of the era did. Instead, it's simply meant as entertainment; in that regard, it more or less works. Seven Seas to Calais is nothing great by any means, but it's also not terrible.