Korngold's work on the music for Michael Curtiz's Captain Blood (1935) was a "second job" of sorts for the composer. He completed the score in the remarkably short span of three weeks—and then, working only at night—since his daytime hours were occupied with the music for Alexander Hall's Give Us this Night (1936).

Despite the rush that attended its creation, Captain Blood's score bears no evidence of anything but the composer's most professional and imaginative effort. The studio provided an orchestrator to assist Korngold, over the classically trained composer's vehement objections. However, the assistant, Hugo Friedhofer, proved himself a skillful craftsman and a valuable asset, and he and Korngold thereafter collaborated on a regular basis.

Captain Blood marks a milestone in Korngold's career, since it is his first fully symphonic film score. When the original 119 minutes of the film was shortened to 95, much of Korngold's music was likewise discarded. Still, the high point of the movie's final print, the duel scene, is accompanied by one of the composer's greatest orchestrations, based on a passage from Liszt's tone poem Prometheus.



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