Main Cast: Robert Stack, Marisa Pavan, Charles Coburn, Jean-Pierre Aumont, MacDonald Carey
Release Year: 1959
Country: US
Run Time: 126 minutes
Plot
Robert Stack stars in this sea-faring historical epic as John Paul Jones, the first great hero of the American Navy. While originally a loyal soldier of the King's army, Jones in time becomes a fervent supporter of the American Revolutionaries, and he volunteers to lead the colonists' ragtag fleet to impressive victories against the British Navy; during a battle against the British ship Serapis, Jones utters the deathless words "I have not yet begun to fight." While his brave and intelligent leadership helps win America its freedom, his appeals to Benjamin Franklin (Charles Coburn) and the other leaders of Congress to strengthen the United States Navy fall on deaf ears; Jones is eventually branded a troublemaker, and in time, he is ordered to Russia, where he is to help guide the fleet of Catherine The Great (Bette Davis). Jones leads the Russian Navy to stunning victories in the Black Sea, reestablishing his reputation as one of the great military minds of his day. John Paul Jones also features a rousing score by the great film composer Max Steiner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
To list the historical inaccuracies in John Paul Jones would take longer than the film's running time, but then fidelity to historical record has never been a strong point of Hollywood biopics. Unfortunately, as with so many other erroneous filmed biographies, the fake situations created for Jones do not enhance the film's dramatic power, the presumed reason for their existence in the first place. The complications are trumped up and never feel genuine, and the characterizations are on the thin side. Director John Farrow does very well when his hero is allowed to be heroic; the battles and sea scenes have a life and vivacity that is sorely missing when the film concentrates on the "private life" of the title character. As Jones, Robert Stack is a trifle stiff, but he does have a certain power and command that work very well for the character; he carries the picture, which is more important than offering a great performance. As the main woman in his life, Marisa Pavan is a disappointment; she looks wonderful but her acting is dull and uninteresting. In smaller historical roles, Charles Coburn and $Jean-Pierre Aumont make lively contributions, and Bette Davis' cameo as Catherine the Great is enjoyable. If Farrow could have found a way to make the "life" as entertaining as the battles, Jones might have been a good film, rather than a merely decent one. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Bette Davis - Catherine II the Great; Peter Cushing - Capt. Pearson; Susana Canales - Marie Antoinette; Georges Riviere - Russian Chamberlain; Bruce Cabot - Gunner Lowne; Basil Sydney - Sir William Young; Archie Duncan - Duncan MacBean; Robert Ayres; Phil Brown; Bob Cunningham; Felix de Pomes - French Chamberlain; Reed de Rouen; David Farrar - John Wilkes; Mia Farrow; Thomas Gomez - Esek Hopkins; Mitchell Kowal; Judson Laire; Frank Latimore - Lt. Richard Dale; Pepe Nieto; Macdonald Parke - Arthur Lee; Eric Pohlmann - George III; Ford Rainey - Lt. Simpson; Christopher Rhodes; Georges Rigaud; Bruce Seton; Rupert Davies; Jose Nieto; Paul Curran; John Crawford - George Washington; Nicholas Brady; Alfred Brown; John Phillips; Erin O'Brien - Dorothea Danders
Credit
Franz Bachelin - Art Director, Hector Zaraspe - Choreography, Phyllis Dalton - Costume Designer, John Farrow - Director, Edna Warren - Editor, Max Steiner - Composer (Music Score), Neville Smallwood - Makeup, Michel Kelber - Cinematographer, Samuel Bronston - Producer, Roscoe S. Cline - Special Effects, John Farrow - Screenwriter, Jesse Lasky, Jr. - Screenwriter, Clements Ripley - Short Story Author
John Paul Jones, bassist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, took this stage name at the suggestion of a friend, Andrew Loog Oldham, who had seen the film's poster (his birth name was John Baldwin).
