“An epic tale of Sir James Brooke, the British adventurer who became King of Sarawak in the 1840’s and embarked on a lifelong crusade to end piracy and head-hunting – only to face charges of murder and piracy himself.”
Over the course of his life “The White Rajah” fought “pirates and the Sultan’s enemies to win a crown as Rajah of Sarawak, where he ruled a jungle kingdom larger than England.” He led a crusade against piracy, slavery and headhunting and was eventually knighted by Queen Victoria for his bravery.
He later “defied England when the British Empire tried to colonize Sarawak” and “in reprisal, Parliament tried him for murder and piracy himself.”
Errol Flynn’s White Rajah
“In 1936, Errol Flynn decided that he was going to try his hand at screenwriting, co-writing The White Rajah so that he himself could star in the film. Warner Brothers enthusiastically bought the rights to the film, and it should have been a relatively simple endeavor from there. It probably would have been if not for the participation of Lady Sylvia Brooke, the Ranee (Queen) of Sarawak.”
“It was destined to be one of the few big-budget Hollywood extravaganzas of its time. Instead, you’ve probably never heard of it. By the time that Warner Brothers gave up on making the film, they had already spent thirty years and a ridiculous amount of money trying to make it happen, all without seeing a single day of filming.
Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Josie Ho
— Tim
