Les pirates de Capri

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)...

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?

Like all Ulmer's films, it gives the impression of a somewhat haphazard shooting all the way, the characters being rather superficial and not all of them convincing enough (the chief of police is totally out of place, acting only with artifice,) while the cinematography is overwhelmingly well carried out and the most professional element of the film. To this comes Nino Rota's slightly Pucciniesque music giving everything an extra lustre, and it is all filmed on location in the most romantic surroundings of Naples and Capri, with almost only Italian actors except Hayward and Bonnie Barnes, the queen. The story is the revolution of Naples around 1800 when the old royal house was disposed of, Louis Hayward leading the rebellion as the Queen's favourite but acting also as a masked leader of the rebels, he gives a good show all the way, and there are some comical instances as well. Naturally you wait through the entire film for the final settlement between the tyrannous police chief and Hayward, and of course it takes appropriate place in the finale. The whole set-up and action is like a classical Italian opera by Verdi or Puccini, and Nino Rota's music closely relates to that tradition. It is a great swashbuckler entertainment in the tradition of Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, who couldn't have done it better.

Louis Hayward is at his foppish best in this somewhat derivative swashbuckler as the "Count de Amalfi" (alias "Scirocco") who plays the buffoon at the Neapolitan court of the well meaning, but feeble Queen "Maria Carolina" (Binnie Barnes) who is pretty much under the thumb of her minister "Baron Holstein" (Rudolph Serato) and his savage regime. This isn't just your usual "Zorro" style story, though - the "Scirocco" wants change - he is working with his fellow freedom fighters, but he wants as peaceful transition as possible and that's his challenge... The rest of this is all pretty set-piece, Hawyard is the star with little around him to eclipse his status. Plenty of sword fighting and intrigue does keep it going, though, and although you have certainly seen it all before (and better with Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn), Hayward still makes a decent fist of it - it looks stylish enough, and I quite enjoyed it all.

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.