Until he was well established with his own reputation Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. eschewed playing roles like The Fighting O'Flynn that would draw comparison with his father. In fact his first costume epic was the British Elizabeth Bergner production of Catherine The Great and his was not exactly a swashbuckling role. Later on before World War II with his reputation well established, Jayar as his dad called him did great work in The Prisoner Of Zenda and The Corsican Brothers.
But after the war Fairbanks claimed the Fairbanks swashbuckling legacy with Sinbad The Sailor, The Exile, and The Fighting O'Flynn. Fairbanks also produced The Fighting O'Flynn and did a wonderful job of creating the character of The O'Flynn whose first name like Lieutenant Columbo we are never destined to learn.
As was also well known at the time the younger Fairbanks was the most known Anglophile in America and it would not due to have Fairbanks show the British as the villains, the occupiers of Ireland which they actually were. His rationale for being on the British side was to win the love of Helena Carter, daughter of the British viceroy who at the time though not named here was Lord Charles Cornwallis the guy who surrendered to Washington at Yorktown. But also Fairbanks does not fancy folks like the French and Dutch occupying Ireland either. Remember it was Dutchman William Of Orange who won the Battle of The Boyne and the Dutch were not well loved in Ireland either. And it's a Dutch agent Ludwig Donath who is the main intriguer in the plot.
Donath's fellow conspirator is British Lord Richard Greene who is engaged to marry Carter, but has Patricia Medina on the side. So this guy is a double dealer all around. Fairbanks takes a while to see through him, but of course saves Ireland from the French occupation which other Irishmen in real life like James Wolfe Tone were trying to make happen. The loss of the Irish Parliament was one of the consequences in real life that actually happened.
Fairbanks for me is one of those guys who is so filled with charm and style that I could have watched him on screen as The Fighting O'Flynn for double the running time of this film and begged for more. This man is handy with the ladies, a sword, or even a shillelagh when the situation calls and he has nothing else.
Though the film is full of Irish blarney as they come, The Fighting O'Flynn shows what Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was all about on screen and its delightful entertainment.
