I pirati di Capri

PIRATES OF CAPRI (aka: Captain Sirocco) is an intelligently made action movie which is fun to watch, and which benefits from Louis Hayward's remarkable ability to play this kind of role to perfection. Forget Johnny Depp or Jerry Bruckheimer's nonsense; this is the real McCoy.

Good movies like this were commonplace 50 or 60 years ago, but this one benefits from being filmed at authentic-looking locations in Italy -- not Capri or Napoli they say, but the shots of Napoli couldn't be anywhere else, and those in the grottoes of Capri same thing. This was an Italian movie, carefully dubbed in English. Now in DVD.

Incidentally, Louis Hayward, like today's Charleze Theron, are/were both authentic African/Americans. Each was born in the Union of South Africa.

one of so many adventure films from the same period. seductive for story, for acting and for fight scenes. for noble message, references to Zorro and a form of clever simplicity, mixture of love, revenge and justice. it is a must see for the performance of Louis Hayward. and for Binnie Barnes who gives a vulnerable admirable queen Maria Carolina of Naples, more interesting role if you do not ignore the events of her reign. a charming portrait of an interesting period. this is all.

I wasn't expecting much from this period romp but, following an uncertain beginning (actually, the solitary pirate sequence itself), once the scene shifted to the court intrigues, it settled down into being a likable - if highly derivative - Grade 'B' costumer. Ulmer endows the location-shot film with a reasonable amount of style (his trademark shadowy lighting and odd camera angles coming into play most prominently during the busy climax). The plot basically revamps the Zorro saga (with Louis Hayward doubling as aristocratic fop and masked bandit) - thus making it an ideal companion to THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940), which I rewatched via the Fox SE DVD the previous day - but, given the lead character's quest for vengeance and his involvement with a theatrical troupe, it appears that the film was equally inspired by Rafael Sabatini's "Scaramouche"! The film emerges patchy as a whole (with the script failing to be witty, its attempts at comedy relief are especially resistible), but the dramatic scenes - particularly where villain Massimo Serato is concerned - compel some attention, and the derring-do is surprisingly adroit.

This had been released on DVD by All Day Entertainment, as both a stand-alone edition and as part of a collection dedicated to Ulmer. I had been tempted time and again to purchase some of them but eventually settled on just the individual disc of BLUEBEARD (1944) - which was excellent; I did manage to rent THE STRANGE WOMAN (1946) eventually by way of a cheap DVD edition from another label - but that film left no particular impression on me. As for the rest, thankfully, all but one turned up recently on Italian TV in their original language with subtitles: apart from THE PIRATES OF CAPRI, I recently watched DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL (1957) but still need to check out STRANGE ILLUSION (1945)...

The Pirates of Capri is a cheaply made B movie shot on location in Italy. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer who, a few years earlier had made Detour, the quintessential B movie, it is probably better than you might expect, although hampered by a treatment too short on action.

Louis Hayward plays Captain Sirocco, the Zorro-like champion of the downtrodden peasants and defender of the Queen Carolina (Binnie Barnes), the sister of Marie Antoinette, who is kept ignorant of her people's treatment by the evil Baron von Holstein (Rudolph Serato) and who is so fearful of suffering the same fate as her sister that just the mere mention of the word 'people' sends her into something of a tizzy.

Like Zorro, Captain Sirocco leads a double life. Not only is he the fearless do-gooder intent on bringing down the evil Baron, he is also the outrageously foppish Count di Amalfi, a member of the Queen's court who delights in baiting the Baron. Serato makes a fine villain with his sculpted beard and mistrusting gaze, but Hayward's effete portrayal, while no doubt exactly what was required of him, quickly grows tiresome.

Ulmer's direction is interesting throughout, and Anchise Brizzi's cinematography is exceptional for such a low budget feature.

I first caught this movie (english version) on TV when I was about 12. I thought it was terrific! Now, much older and wiser, I've seen it again--terrific it isn't, but it's a nice grade-B costume flick, replete with revolution, a Zorro-like hero, a villainous Baron Scarpia of a police chief, and a dandy duel-to-death at the end. What still makes it fun is its Italian neo-realist visual style and lighting, and even a few touches of the Italian classics of the late '40's (shot of suffering child in raid on the island). It's fun as a no-brainer. I wonder what the Italian version was like? Was it shot in two versions or just dubbed?