El pirata negro

Ricardo Montalban is a pirate with a thick Mexican accent called "Gordon". That ought to tell you enough about what's going to happen for the next ninety minutes, but it's still not a bad effort. He's actually quite an honourable pirate who has a bit of a thing for the governor's daughter "Manuela" (Giulia Rubini) but she's also the target of the devious "Romero" (Vincent Price) who is scheming to replace her father (Mario Feliciani). Sound familiar? Well, yes there's nothing remotely original about this - except, maybe, in the dialogue. When did you ever hear "hitherto" or "blackguard" coming from the mouth of a swashbuckler? It's actually quite incongruously fun some of the time. Price is terribly wooden in a role the likes of which he played several times to no great effect, but Montalban looks like he's having fun; Rubini makes for quite an alluring damsel in and out of distress and then there's José Jaspe with his (not very) menacing eyepatch egging everyone on nicely. Nothing new nor memorable, no, but I quite enjoyed this daft caper.

I came across this movie while searching for another, but since I like Ricardo Montalban, I thought I'd check it out. While it won't make my fav films list, it was pretty good and entertaining enough not to make you feel like you wasted your time watching.

Ricardo gives a good performance as Captain Gordon, who goes from Cuban nobleman to slave (as punishment for a crime he supposedly committed) to ship's captain, fighting to abolish the slave trade and rescue those imprisoned on slave trader ships, like the one owned by Captain Tortuga (Jose Jaspe), whom he's had run-ins with before.

On San Salvador, he hides his pirate identity and acts his true role as a Cuban aristocrat, winning the heart of Manuela (Giulia Rubini), the daughter of the Governor (Mario Feliciani). Manuela has a rival for his affections in Luani (Liani Orfei), a girl from his home base island, who stows away on his ship. Manuela, in turn, is pursued by Romero (Vincent Price), her father's right-hand man, who has his own plans for both her and San Salvador.

There's enough action, adventure and romance to keep you interested, for the less than 90 minutes it takes to watch, so give it a shot.

Being into a lot of Italian movies, and thinking that pirate films have often been overlooked, I leaped at the chance to see what looked to be a "spaghetti" pirate film, with a good sounding plot and a cast containing the almighty Vincent Price.

Gordon the Black Pirate follows the adventures of an escaped-slave-turned-pirate (played by Richard Montalban), who has made it his mission to waylay as many slave ships as possible, liberating the cargo. Along the way he uncovers a slave trading ring, falls in love with a governors daughter and faces his arch enemy.

Despite the libertarian nature of Gordon's struggle I wasn't that comfortable with the film's patronizing and inaccurate portrayal of slaves and slavery. None of the slaves seem to have much personality beyond humble gratitude, being little more than plot devices to give a moral backing to Gordon's actions. Also, the makers seem to think the 17th century Caribbean was filled with liberal, humane governors and aristocrats trying to stamp out slavery, and that the slave trade was some kind of black market, which couldn't be much further from reality.

Maybe I was expecting a bit too much from what is basically a good old fashioned "dashing hero, hissable villain" adventure movie. And in that respect, it wasn't too bad. There is plenty of swashbuckling pirate fun, and the final battle scene was pretty cool too, with hundreds of pirates swarming the governors fort. But there was some seriously bad acting from all but the two lead roles (even Vincent Price isn't his usual villainous self), and some really bizarre editing (some scenes practically end in mid sentence). If you don't let those things bother you, it's a fairly fun film, but if you expected lost classic you'll probably be disappointed.

The presence of two Hollywood veterans (dashing hero Ricardo Montalban and sleek villain Vincent Price) only slightly elevates ¬¬this otherwise low-brow pirate romp. The handling is thoroughly routine (coming from this journeyman director, one could hardly have expected more!) and the plot complications (involving action, romance and intrigue) exceedingly predictable. This does not mean that the film is not (mildly) enjoyable while it is on – yet what pleasure the viewing may have elicited from this swashbuckler fan was dissipated by the panning-and-scanning of the original Widescreen ratio…which was so severe that, at one point, it seemed like Montalban was giving mobilization orders to the heroine's maid rather than his underling (who had been completely cropped out of the shot)! Incidentally, the print I acquired sported a different title to the (admittedly meaningless) one it is known by in the U.S., namely GORDON, THE BLACK PIRATE (that is to say, a literal translation of the Italian one); watching it, I was reminded of the similar, likewise middling and contemporaneous Steve Reeves vehicle MORGAN, THE PIRATE.

Montalban gets to do a fair amount of acrobatics throughout (even ripping off Douglas Fairbanks' legendary adoption of a dagger to slide down the sails!): in fact, the very first scene finds him engaged, bare-chested, in a duel with a rebellious patch-eyed associate who subsequently becomes his sworn enemy and even ingratiates himself with dastardly and ambitious Governor's Secretary Price (the real force behind the human trafficking going on in the area) – when the hero dons the guise of a Cuban slave trader to try and upset the villain's schemes, his old nemesis gets back at him by blowing Gordon's cover! Price, then, has plans not only to oust his superior from power but on his daughter as well; she, on the other hand, unsurprisingly falls for The Black Pirate (by the way, there were at least 2 other "Euro-Cult" efforts by this name, not forgetting the 1926 Silent classic from which that afore-mentioned Fairbanks stunt was borrowed to begin with, as is the swimming en masse precipitating the raid on an enemy ship!)…but the heroine has competition from feisty, earthy Liana Orfei (something of a genre stalwart, this is her most sizeable part of a recently-viewed trio), yet is it the latter who sacrifices herself when realizing Gordon actually prefers the upper-class girl. By the way, Price's own fate is curiously left hanging (i.e. not properly resolved) at the climax!

Adventures of an escaped-slave-turned-pirate who has made it his mission to waylay as many slave ships as possible, liberating the cargo. Along the way he uncovers a slave trading ring, falls in love with a governors daughter and faces his arch enemy.

Ricardo Montalban fits the role of the black pirate, the saviour of slaves, like a glove. His voice, mannerisms and style are spot on. He's totally believable in the role and oozes charisma. He plays quite a likeable and kind character. Pity he didn't make more swashbucklers. Matching him in the screen presence stakes is Vincent Price as the governor's assistant - and the man behind the slave trade - and of course, he's slippery as always and has big plans. Both these actors, the energetic swordplay as well as the cinematography uplifts this film from the average. It moves briskly like the flick of an epee. Some of dialogue is amusing ("is your knuckles are so sensitive that you can't knock on the door?"). There are a couple of beauties too - Liana Orfei and Giulia Rubini.