Herman Guillory, Newsweek Magazine: To them, Lafitte is the Robin Hood of the bayous.
will sacrifice all
Plot
During the War of 1812 against Britain: General Andrew Jackson has only 1,200 men left to defend New Orleans when he learns that a British fleet will arrive with 60 ships and 16,000 men to take the city. In this situation an island near the city becomes strategically important to both parties, but it's inhabited by the last big buccaneer: Jean Lafitte. Although Lafitte never attacks American ships, the governor hates him for selling merchandise without taxes - and is loved by the citizens for the same reason. When the big fight gets nearer, Lafitte is drawn between the fronts. His heart belongs to America, but his people urge him to join the party that's more likely to win.
Keywords: based-on-novel, battle-of-new-orleans, pirate, remake, two-word-title, u.s.-president, war-of-1812
Piercing Drama of La Fitte - Man or Devil ?
Jean Lafitte: [Frowning] Annette, you are the governor's daughter. Think what would happen if you were found here, in the arms of a pirate!::Annette Claiborne: [Breathless] Don't ask me to think, Jean. Kiss me instead!
Jean Lafitte: [Told by the British that a battle is coming and he *better* be on the winning side] Oh, the side I choose will be the winning side!
Plot
Pirate Jean LaFitte declares was on Spain and raids Spanish ships under the Venezuelan flag, but never touches American ships. He fights the Indians and eventually establishes Galveston, on the Gulf of Mexico, where he hoards his loot. When one of LaFitte's pirates, unordered, sinks an American ship, he is hanged. Belle Summers intends to find out whether LaFitte was guilty and while she finds the truth, her servant betrays her, and the American Army moves into Galveston, destroying the pirate's headquarters, LaFitte and Belle escape.
Keywords: 1810s, adventurer, ambush, american-indian, andrew-jackson, battle, battle-of-new-orleans, betrayal, boat, bombardment
Plot
Four key incidents in the public life of Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), seventh President of the United States. We watch him win the Battle of New Orleans in 1812 after an alliance with pirate Jean Lafitte. Later, political enemies slander his wife to coax Jackson into a duel with a crack shot: from her sickbed, she demands he promise not to fight. At his inauguration in 1829, plain folk are invited to celebrate. The film ends with a close look at a crisis early in his presidency: the threat by South Carolina (and his own Vice President, John Calhoun), to secede in a dispute over tariffs. This southern President confounds his allies, choosing the union over parochial economics.
Keywords: american, battle, battlefield, bayonet, bigamy, british, british-army, combat, congress, death-bed-plea
OUR FEDERAL UNION MUST AND SHALL BE PRESERVED! (original one-sheet poster)
Plot
In the War of 1812, the British have sacked Washington and hope to capture New Orleans, where pirate Jean Lafitte romances blueblooded Annette de Remy and openly sells his loot in a pirates' market. But he never attacks American ships. Can the British bribe Lafitte to help them? Can Lafitte persuade American authorities of his loyalty? Will a love triangle between Annette and pretty Dutch girl Gretchen (survivor of a pirates' prize) bring about Lafitte's undoing?
Keywords: american-flag, andrew-jackson, argument, aunt, barataria-bay-louisiana, bare-chested-male, based-on-novel, battle-of-bladensburg, battle-of-new-orleans, bayou
The most thrilling war scenes ever filmed!
The greatest adventure romance in Cecil B De Mille's glorious gallery of screen triumphs!
To the world he was a ruthless adventurer!.. To her the most romantic man that ever lived! Yet she unwittingly destroyed the hero she loved!
....The thundering drama of the beloved rogue who saved a nation that swore to hang him!
Jean Lafitte (ca. 1776 – ca. 1823) was a French pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his elder brother, Pierre, spelled their last name Laffite, but English-language documents of the time used "Lafitte", and this is the commonly seen spelling in the United States, including for places named for him.
Lafitte is believed to have been born either in France or the French colony of Saint-Domingue. By 1805, he operated a warehouse in New Orleans to help disperse the goods smuggled by his brother Pierre Lafitte. After the United States government passed the Embargo Act of 1807, the Lafittes moved their operations to an island in Barataria Bay. By 1810, their new port was very successful; the Lafittes pursued a successful smuggling operation and also started to engage in piracy.
Though Lafitte tried to warn Barataria of a British attack, the American authorities successfully invaded in 1814 and captured most of Lafitte's fleet. In return for a pardon, Lafitte helped General Andrew Jackson defend New Orleans against the British in 1815. The Lafittes then became spies for the Spanish and moved to Galveston Island, which they called Campeche, where they developed the colony.