TCM Celebrates Hollywood’s Greatest Swashbucklers This September — See the Full Schedule

TCM this September is celebrating the suave swashbucklers of early cinema with stars like Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Douglas Fairbanks, and more on the network all month, starting on Tuesday, September 1 at 8/7c.

With a flashing sword, a rapier wit, and a rakish smile, rescuing damsels from distress while embracing life to the fullest, the heroes we think of as swashbucklers pretty much invented swagger. Even if they didn’t, these icons of literary, cinematic, and TV legend surely perfected the art.

The Three Musketeers. Robin Hood. Zorro. Jack Sparrow. Larger than life, these and other merry men of mischief and misadventure represent a brotherhood like no other. They’re champions of good — if not always virtue — leaping into action with few special effects beyond a dash of unquenchable virility.

Even the word “swashbuckler” conveys an irresistible whiff of bravado, combining the “swash” of a sword with the “buckler” of a small hand-held shield, all the armor one needs to save the day and perhaps earn the devotion of a fair maiden in the bargain. No wonder generation after generation rediscovers the allure of these dashing archetypes of bravery.

With the 2026 Hugh Jackman The Death of Robin Hood out now and a very modern telling for the digital age, How to Rob a Bank, coming out soon, now is a great time to look back at the movies that keep it alive today

The full September TCM Swashbuckler films schedule follows

All times Eastern

Tuesday, September 1 – Beginning at 8 pm  

Everett Collection

TCM celebrates the golden age of Hollywood swashbucklers with a lineup of high-seas action, secret identities and daring heroics, anchored by tonight’s first feature, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), filmed in the early days of Technicolor. Errol Flynn gives the definitive performance of Robin Hood in this film that’s considered the gold standard of the swashbuckler genre, with dazzling colors, witty banter, legendary sword fighting, and an Oscar-winning score. Next up is Captain Blood (1935), in which an Irish doctor (Flynn) turns pirate, leads a rebellion, and fights to win back his freedom alongside his love interest Arabella (Olivia de Havilland). The film, which was nominated for five Oscars, made Flynn and de Havilland superstars and set the tone for classic Hollywood action, adventure and romance. Also featured are The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), in which an English nobleman (Leslie Howard) secretly risks his life to rescue French aristocrats from execution during the French Revolution; The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), another tale of hidden identity featuring a legendary sword duel between Ronald Colman and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; The Prince and the Pauper (1937); The Three Musketeers (1935); and Treasure Island (1934).

8 pm The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
10 pm Captain Blood (1935)
12:15 am The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
2 am The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
4 am The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
6 am The Three Musketeers (1935)
8 am Treasure Island (1934)

Tuesday, September 8 – Beginning at 8 pm

Everett Collection

TCM’s monthlong salute to swashbucklers begins with one of the genre’s most entertaining heroes. In The Mark of Zorro (1940), Tyrone Power plays a seemingly mild-mannered nobleman who secretly becomes the masked swordsman Zorro, while Basil Rathbone makes a formidable opponent. Power returns in The Black Swan (1942), this time joined by Maureen O’Hara for a colorful pirate adventure.

8 pm The Mark of Zorro (1940)
9:45 pm The Black Swan (1942)
11:15 pm The Exile (1947)
1 am The Sea Hawk (1940)
3:15 am The Spanish Main (1945)
5:15 am The Adventures of Don Juan (1948)
7:15 am The Wicked Lady (1946)
9 am The Three Musketeers (1948)
11:30 am The Pirate (1948)

Tuesday, September 15 – Beginning at 8 pm

Everett Collection

Errol Flynn and Maureen O’Hara lead Against All Flags (1952), while Burt Lancaster gets to show off his athletic side in the playful adventure The Crimson Pirate (1952). With the advent of TV in the 1950s, nervous studios began to shy away from costly historical epics, but there were exceptions — none more enjoyable than 1952’s jocular The Crimson Pirate with Lancaster as the most agile of scalawags, often boldly bare-chested and always flashing a dazzling smile as he soars from mast to mast. In one unforgettable scene, he drops down long enough to plant a kiss on a jaded lass who has just declared, “If only there was something to break up the monotony of this voyage.” Never a dull moment in the life of a swashbuckler. The mood turns darker with Fritz Lang‘s Moonfleet (1955), starring Stewart Granger. These films share the genre’s love of action and romance, but each brings a very different style to the adventure.

8 pm Against All Flags (1952)
9:30 pm The Crimson Pirate (1952)
11:30 pm Moonfleet (1955)
1:15 am Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
3:15 am The Master of Ballantrae (1953)
7 am Scaramouche (1952)
9 am Quentin Durward (1955)

Tuesday, September 22 – Beginning at 8 pm

20th Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection

Swashbucklers changed with the times, and this lineup focuses on the genre’s adventurous 1960s and ’70s revival. The Four Musketeers (1975) reunites Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay and Richard Chamberlain for the second half of director Richard Lester’s Musketeers saga. Next, Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn play older versions of the legendary outlaw and Maid Marian in the bittersweet Robin and Marian (1976). Roger Ebert praised this poignant take on the Robin Hood legend for the warmth and emotional depth it brought to Connery and Hepburn’s aging characters, describing the film as being about “the end of youth and high romance.” Other films in the lineup include the TCM premiere of 1976’s Swashbuckler, along with 1960’s Sword of Sherwood Forest and 1962’s Seven Seas to Calais.

Tuesday, September 29 – Beginning at 8 pm  

Everett Collection

This month’s swashbuckling spotlight ends where the genre first flourished, in the silent era. Douglas Fairbanks leads The Three Musketeers (1921) and The Mark of Zorro (1920), using his athleticism to create two of early Hollywood’s most exciting heroes. The lineup continues with silent adventures including The Sea Hawk (1924), The Beloved Rogue (1927), and Scaramouche (1923).

8 pm The Three Musketeers (1921)
10:30 pm The Mark of Zorro (1920)
12:30 am The Sea Hawk (1924)
2:45 am The Beloved Rogue (1927)
4:30 am Scaramouche (1923)
6:45 am The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)

For the full September TCM schedule and highlights, click here.

 For more sword and swashbuckling fun, ReMIND has a full issue dedicated to the men and ladies we swooned over. You can purchase it at the link below.