Piratería diabólica

By the early 1960's Hollywood movies had lost their magic touch, due to collapse of the big studio systems, death and retirement of key actors, directors, and other personnel. Pandering to teenagers and others of the lowest mentality and morality hastened the end of whatever potential for quality productions was left in Tensil Town. The occasional good one such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) was the fading work of old actors and old directors, a rare oasis in what had become an entertainment desert. American movie makers just couldn't make them like they used to, or at least they wouldn't. It is no wonder then that British pictures, previously regarded as crude, poor cousins of Hollywood productions, enjoyed a height of popularity with American movie audiences during this period.

The leader in providing entertainment-starved Statesiders with entertaining pictures from Albion was Hammer Film Productions, ensconced in a Thames-side country manor upriver from London. Lush sets provided by the palatial manor house and its expansive grounds, talented matte artists, and a special touch with color let Hammer produce handsome, classy looking movies while operating on the cheap. Most of the studio's production were horror thrillers, but the mad geniuses at Hammer, could turn out an old time adventure costumer with the same glossy, high production treatment given the blood-sucking Count and the monster-making Barron.

Rousing, old time swashbuckling adventure is exactly what Devil Ship Pirates dishes up. It starts with an intriguing story line, shot-up privateer galleon from the defeated Spanish Armada in 1588 beaches on the English coast, and its crew of scummy pirates proceeds to terrorize good Queen Bess's good subjects in a nearby village, deceiving them with the lie that the Spanish have won. Christopher Lee, Hammer's master of menace, is terrific, even without fangs, as the ruthless, indomitable captain of the wicked pirates. He dominates this movie as much and is almost as frightening as he ever was as Dracula! John Cairney makes a bland but admirable hero as the one-armed English blacksmith's son willing to resist the pirates. More dashing is Barry Warren as an enigmatic Spanish nobleman and army officer on board with the pirates but ultimately not in tune with their evil plans. Solid support comes from Andrew Keir, Duncan Lamont, Michael Ripper, and Michael Newport, as a very spunky English boy. Suzan Farmer is on hand as the cleavage lass one came to expect from Hammer. Don Sharp's direction is on target, Jimmy Sangster's aforementioned story intelligent, editing and cinematography fluid. As with all Hammer numbers, Eastman Color is made to look almost as good as the highly superior but by this time practically abandoned three-strip Technicolor. No other studio ever did so well with Eastman Color.

The spirited action, which includes lots of well-executed sword play, is almost non-stop. The actors in this picture obviously had many fencing lessons, and Christopher Lee was an artist with a rapier! So much action is crammed into 89 minutes running time, it leaves you feeling as if it were over two hours. And you always know who to root for, as there is no relativist blurring of the line between good and evil here. This element, as was always understood at Hammer and had once been understood in Hollywood, is crucial to making a story entertaining.

Devil Ship Pirates is a top notch, old time, costume adventure entertainment -- perhaps not up with one of Old Hollywood's better Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power swashbucklers, but better than most offered by the shell of its former self Hollywood had become by the 1960's.

As I said in my review for THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER (1962), this is a virtual retread of the script for that film (just as THE TERROR OF THE TONGS [1961] had reworked the central premise of THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY [1960] – all four titles, incidentally, comprise Columbia's recent "Icons Of Adventure" DVD set)…or, perhaps, it was closer to what Jimmy Sangster had originally envisaged before John Gilling got to work on it!

In any case, the two pirate films don't have just the plot in common – but many of the names associated with BLOOD RIVER resume their duties on DEVIL-SHIP, including composer Gary Hughes as well as several Hammer stalwarts (production designer Bernard Robinson, editor James Needs, not to mention co-stars Christopher Lee, Andrew Keir and Michael Ripper, all of whose characters are practically identical!). This doesn't mean that the film is a cheap rip-off of the earlier effort: it can stand well enough on its own merits, and there are even those who prefer DEVIL-SHIP to BLOOD RIVER; as ever, the company managed to give the whole a semblance of expensive production values when it was typically done on a low-budget.

The rest of the cast is generally effective, if not quite as satisfactory as that of BLOOD RIVER – even so, characterization is more fleshed-out this time around: John Cairney does alright by the hero (who, unusually, is a cripple); Suzan Farmer is a lovely heroine (though she gets little to do – but, then, neither did Marla Landi – and in her case, it's Lee who leers at the girl rather than his underlings); Duncan Lamont is imposing as Lee's right-hand man, but his role never really amounts to much; Keir and Ripper were both better served by each's first stab at their respective roles (Ripper, in particular, is here merely to supply the obligatory comic relief). However, we do get a couple of interesting 'new' characters: Farmer's aristocratic father (Ernest Clark) is a sycophant, while Barry Warren – a Spaniard officer detailed with an outfit of pirates-turned-soldiers is an outsider amidst their ranks and, on several occasions, lends a helping hand to the locals in order to defeat them! By the way, the narrative deals with the aftermath of the Spanish Armada's defeat by the British in the late 16th century; a stray vessel, the "Diablo" (hence the film's title), decides to rest furtively on British soil to effect the necessary repairs – however, when they're discovered, the Captain (Lee, of course) decides to risk passing themselves off as conquerors and, in no time at all, has the run of the village!

The groveling Clark is all-too-willing in this respect (to the point of inviting Lee into his own house…but, on objecting to the latter's unsavory attentions towards his daughter, is summarily executed!), while Keir offers opposition – and pays the price for this affront with his life. His son, Cairney, naturally seeks revenge – which he attains, with Warren's help, by sabotaging the ship (Lee having ordered the artisans among the locals to carry out the required maintenance). Incidentally, unlike THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER, this does feature reasonable large-scale action with a sea-battle at the very start and a literally explosive climax. The ultimate assessment, then, is that THE DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES is a pretty good adventure flick…though, when it comes to director Sharp's Hammer output, I still feel he did his best work on the far more typical THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963) – which, if you ask me, is a genuine minor classic of Gothic Horror.

Made in 1964, this action romp (set on land) is one of Hammer's few forays beyond the world of horror.

Christopher Lee is on crisply villainous form as Captain Robeles, whose modest privateer Diablo comes off worse when the Spanish Armada gets a sound shoeing and has to limp into hiding in the marshes near an isolated English village.

To carry out repairs and escape safely, he and his crew hit on the wizard prank of terrorising the villagers into believing the Spanish won the engagement and that they represent the new authority.

It's all done on a shoestring but certainly doesn't look it and boasts all the usual Hammer trademarks of solid if slightly dull hero, heaving bosoms, weak authority figures, cowed locals and a meaty villain.

One of Hammer Studios forays away from the horror genre, the film still has the unmistakable Hammer stamp much in evidence.

Story concerns a fighting ship from the Spanish Armada, which after the defeat takes refuge on a remote stretch of English coastline for repairs. The crew, headed by Christopher Lee, convince the locals that the Spanish were victorious and blockade their village.

Many aspects of Hammers historical horror films are present - the nervous, subdued villagers, the local landowner who gives in to the outside forces, the buxom village wench to be plundered, the young headstrong villager who organises resistance etc. With Lee playing the evil force, the films middle is similar in tone to many a Hammer Dracula film - the pirate ship taking the place of the usual castle, but the effect and implications it has are the same.

As a swashbuckler, 'The Devil-Ship Pirates' doesn't really offer anything of lasting interest - for Hammer fans though there is much to enjoy, with production values above average, and a storyline which satisfies all requirements.

Nice to see Michael Ripper in a surprisingly large role - he must have as many lines in this as every other Hammer film he was in put together.

A damaged Spanish pirate ship, captained by a ruthless Christopher Lee, is forced to land on the English shore and needs local help to get her ship-shape. Hammer are best known for their horror films but the studio often diversified into other genres, here a period swashbuckler. In addition to great costumes and sets we get obvious day for night scenes, plus some questionable continuity (one scene goes from thick fog to blue sky and back to fog with seconds). Hammer's most prolific star Michael Ripper has a major role, as opposed to his usual bit parts. He doesn't make a very convincing Spaniard, with his fake tan and rural English accent. In fact, all of the Spanish pirates amazingly speak fluent English, very impressive for the 16th Century! But this is all part of the charm. Lee is very good as the ship's captain, a nasty character indeed. Hardly a Hammer classic but an enjoyable yarn none the less.