The Buccaneer (1958 film)

The Buccaneer
Original Spanish film poster
Directed by	Anthony Quinn
Produced by	Cecil B. DeMille Henry Wilcoxon
Written by	Jesse Lasky Jr. Bernice Mosk
Starring	Yul Brynner Charles Boyer Charlton Heston
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography	Loyal Griggs
Edited by	Archie Marshek
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	December 1, 1958 (1958-12-01)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5,000,000 (estimate)
Box office	$3.2 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)

The Buccaneer is a 1958 pirate film made by Paramount Pictures starring Yul Brynner as Jean Lafitte, Charles Boyer and Claire Bloom. Charlton Heston played a supporting role as Andrew Jackson, the second time that Heston played Jackson, having portrayed him earlier in the 1953 film The President's Lady. The film was shot in Technicolor and VistaVision, the story takes place during the War of 1812, telling a heavily fictionalized version of how the privateer Lafitte helped in the Battle of New Orleans and how he had to choose between fighting for America or for the side most likely to win, the United Kingdom.

The film is a remake of the 1938 film of the same name which starred Fredric March and Akim Tamiroff (Boyer played Tamiroff's role in the remake). The 1938 version was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, but he was seriously ill by the time the 1958 version was made, so he was only the executive producer of that version, leaving his then son-in-law, Anthony Quinn, to direct. It was the only film that Quinn ever directed. Henry Wilcoxon, DeMille's longtime friend, who made frequent appearances in his films, was the actual producer, and DeMille did not receive screen credit, though students of his films would probably find that his touch is obvious throughout the film. Nevertheless, DeMille was unhappy with the film and tried unsuccessfully to improve it; critical response was generally unfavorable, despite some impressive battle scenes.