While the Captain Blood of the silver screen, portrayed most famously by Errol Flynn, is based on a 1922 novel by Rafael Sabatini, the inspiration for both was an Irish adventurer of the 17th century by the name of Thomas Blood.
A Parliamentarian during the English Civil War, Blood was deprived of his estate in Ireland with the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. Seeking vengeance, he led a plot to seize Dublin Castle from supporters of King Charles II, but the plot was discovered and his accomplices executed. He escaped capture.
Five years later, during the reign of Charles II in 1671, Blood achieved notoriety by attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. Disguised as a priest, he conned the Jewel House keeper into to handing over his pistols and then, with the assistance of three accomplices, forced his way into the Jewel House.
The thieves were caught in the act, however, when the keeper’s son showed up unexpectedly, and an alarm went out to the Tower guard. One accomplice shoved the Royal Orb down his pants while Blood flattened the Crown with a mallet and tried to run off with it. The Tower guards arrested all four, and Blood was brought before the king.
Charles II was so impressed with Blood’s audacity that rather than punishing him he restored the estates in Ireland he had lost at the end of the Civil War and made him a member of his court with an annual pension.
Captain Blood became a celebrity in Britain. When he died in 1680 his body had to be exhumed in order to persuade the public that he was actually dead.
In the Errol Flynn feature, Dr. Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) treats the wounds of a man who had been injured in a rebellion against King James II, for which he is convicted of treason and sold into slavery in the Caribbean colony of Port Royal, Jamaica. He and his fellow prisoners soon escape their cruel island imprisonment and become pirates in the West Indies.
Flynn's performance made him a major Hollywood star along with Olivia de Havilland, making just her fourth screen appearance.
