AllMovie

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 P$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.