The Black Pirate

I knew little of this film before watching it, but am glad I found it. It's an excellent early film about a group of cutthroats. The thing that surprised me the most was that it was in color. It was filmed using the experimental two-color technicolor process. After watching the "Making of", apparently Douglas fairbanks was a real pioneer in that area and did much research on color film. This was my first Fairbanks film and I was quite impressed with not only his screen presence, but his ability to do impressive stuntwork, including the infamous sliding down a sail on a knife. This film had all the requirements of a pirate movie... Swordplay, torture, murder, robbery, kidnapping, romance, and even walking the plank. As well as the infamous quote, "Dead men tell no tales!". It had a decent score by Mortimer Wilson that was mostly fitting. One scene I found amusing, was when the pirates drew lots for the monkey. If you're a fan of pirate movies, this is a must see. I found it quite enjoyable.

*** (out of 4)

I first heard about this film from my father, who once told me that he saw it as a boy when it first came out and was completely blown away by it. I only recently had the opportunity to see it myself, and I can appreciate his point. Of course it's absurd to compare the production values of an antique movie such as this to modern films, but just see it and try to imagine how it must have seemed to audiences at the Roxy back in 1926!

Needless to say, this elaborate, full-color production is merely a showcase for the incomparable Douglas Fairbanks. Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Sean Connery and Harrison Ford pale to insignificance beside Fairbank's bravura on-screen personality. Fairbanks virtually invented the "action-adventure" movie, and films like "The Black Pirate" make it clear why he was the biggest movie star of his time.

In addition, bear in mind that there were no stunt men or blue-screen special effects back then. Fairbanks actually DID all those amazing stunts himself! The only latter-day Hollywood star who would (and did) dare to do his own stunts was the equally incomparable Burt Lancaster.

Don't expect modern acting or sensibilities in The Black Pirate, the movie itself is typical 1920s melodrama. The sets are pretty hokey and the plot is absurd. However, just ignore all that while you sit back and enjoy Douglas Fairbanks delivering one of the most spectacular performances ever captured on screen.

This was an excellent pirate movie and was better than many sound pirate films. However, it's really hard to rate the movie---compared to other silent pirate films, it might just be the best. But, compared to THE SEA HAWK, CAPTAIN BLOOD or THE BLACK SWAN (all wonderful sound pirate films from the 30s and 40s), it isn't as good a film.

So what does the movie do that worked so well for me? First, being a Douglas Fairbanks film, it had wonderful stunts and impeccable production values--something he was known for in his silent films. Second, this film had excellent sets and was the best film money could buy in its day. In fact, it was such a lavish production that it was supposedly the first full-length film made in 2-color Technicolor--an early and somewhat crude way of producing a color movie. Because the film was dyed with green-blue and orange-red dyes, the film mostly looks reddish-green--definitely NOT true color. But, it doesn't look that bad--certainly much better than the horrid colorized films destroyed in the 1980s. Plus, if it hadn't been for films like this, the infinitely better 3-color system might never have been developed by Technicolor. And, finally, the plot is pretty good for a silent film--not the most complex when compared to later films, it's not nearly as simplistic as most other silents.

This video was produced by KINO FILMS. Some of their silent films in the past were less than wonderful (especially some of their Buster Keaton videotapes), but this videotape is top quality and has nice extras at the end of the tape. Some cheaper prints apparently are only black and white, not color. Nice job for the restoration, KINO! However, despite what the video box said, it was apparently NOT the first full-length two-color Technicolor film. I recently saw a restored print from TOLL OF THE SEA (1922) and it was in fact made using this process four years earlier than THE BLACK PIRATE.

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. stars in this exciting, action-packed swashbuckling pirate adventure yarn, as a young man seeking revenge on a band of pirates after they ransacked and destroyed his ship, killing his father. In trying to achieve his goal, he tricks the pirates into thinking he wants to join their band. Will this ruse work?

This delivers all the thrills and cutthroat pirate action anyone could ever hope for and even more. It has all the elements one looks for and wants from today's big blockbusters: impressive stunts mostly performed by Fairbanks himself, sword fights, pirate treachery, explosions, daring underwater scenes, a damsel in distress, the works. There's a few plot holes and questionable plot twists here and there but it all holds up incredibly well after all these years although in today's world lead actress Billie Dove would have been given more to do. That's a minor nitpick at best. If you like pirate yarns, check this out. Believe me, they just don't get much better than this.

It would be hard to find a role more suitable for Douglas Fairbanks than "The Black Pirate", and when you add the lavish sets and costumes, plus an early form of color photography, it makes for an enjoyable and entertaining spectacle. The story has plenty of action and excitement, but it also includes some good character development that adds to the interest of the story itself.

The story follows Fairbanks's character through a series of events that give him a good variety of material and scenery to work with. From the opening shipwreck scene, to his meeting with the pirates, to the tense series of confrontations that follow, his scenes range from heroic to sympathetic, from impressing the crew to facing desperate predicaments, and much in between. While there are the occasional nods to stock cinema conventions, in general it is a satisfying story. Although the Black Pirate is the center of attention, the supporting cast members also all do a good job when they get the chance.

It is also quite interesting to see one of the earliest attempts to film a feature-length picture in color. It's hard to tell how good it might have looked in its original form, since in some stretches the color is now noticeably drab - but at other times the color is surprisingly good-looking. The color provides just one more reason that this is one of the more popular movies of the silent era.