Video Details
In the tradition of Zorro and Batman, star Louis Hayward is Count Amalfi by day--debonair playboy and confidant to Queen Carolina (Binnie Barnes)--and the mysterious Captain Sirocco by night--heroic leader of rebellious pirates. Using his insider's position, Sirocco hopes for a triumphant revolution over the forces of tyranny, but only if he can keep his secret identity hidden. One of Edgar Ulmer's most lavishly produced features, this swashbuckling adventure is packed with action and intrigue, set to a sumptuous musical score by the incomparable Nino Rota. The fourth volume in the highly acclaimed collection of genre classics by low-budget auteur Edgar G. Ulmer, this deluxe collector's edition also features a never-before-seen, never-broadcast TV pilot for a "Swiss Family Robinson" series that Ulmer directed in full color in 1958.

Review
Released in 1949, Edgar G. Ulmer's The Pirates of Capri is a tepid rehashing of two of the 1930s best adventure films, Michael Curtiz's Captain Blood and Alexander Korda's The Scarlet Pimpernel. As a filmmaker, Ulmer's strengths were in expressionistic horror (The Black Cat) and film noir (Detour). Here his talents are unsuited for the material. While Ulmer was too good a technician to fail completely, The Pirates of Capri's costumed action sequences lack the flair and dynamic energy of the work of Curtiz, nor is he in Korda's class in making a modest budget look opulent. Lead actor Louis Hayward was, by this time, a not-particularly fresh veteran of second-tier swashbuckler films. With Errol Flynn's career in decline and limited by health problems, Hayward found frequent work. In 1950, Hayward would get a chance with Fortunes of Captain Blood to re-create Flynn's star-making role. Films of this sort sustained Hayward until his career transitioned into television. His performance in The Pirates of Capri is like much of his other work in this period, competent and professional, but without distinction. That description sums up the film overall, too. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide

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Most helpful customer reviews   2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Louis Hayward as Captain Sirocco is superb!, Oct 2 2000 By  Edward C. Barile (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews    I saw this movie about 45 years ago, when I was a kid. Finally we are able once again to enjoy the ultimate in swashbuckling heros and his display of the most dramatic sword fighting ever! We have here Captain Sirocco, a masked swarshbuckling swordsman who simultaneously precipitates a revolution against a tyrannical chief of police and saves the queen (played by Binnie Barnes), who happens to be the sister of Marie Antoinette. Hayward, is a foppish sisified dandy dressed in glitter and powdered wig, who is the queen's poet. He is also a bold, fierce zorro - like hero loved by the poor who is helping them to throw off the yoke of tyranny imposed by the royalty and enforced by evil chief of police who has also sheltered the queen from knowing the awful truth about the condition of the poor and their rage at their pitiful lives. He has also murdered Sirocco's brother. The beautiful Mariella Lotti, (introduced in this movie) plays Hayward's betrothed who is supposed to marry the fop but is in love with the dashing hero, both of who are the same man with a secret identity. Louis Hayward's swordsmanship is amazing. He is by far the best screen actor of his time for this kind of role. He blows away Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, et al, who can't hold a candle to his sense of timing, his flamboyance and flash. If you like the gusto with which Antonio Banderas played Zorro recently, you will love Hayward. True, the story is so so, but the sound track and the way Hayward completely commands this movie makes it a one of a kind fun movie. WHy, you might even take up fencing when you see it. Here is hoping that the rest of this great actor's work is made available to us... Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers:  › See all customer reviews...		Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

• Genres > Action & Adventure > Kids & Teens
• Genres > Action & Adventure > Swashbucklers
• Genres > Art House & International > By Country > Italy
• Genres > Art House & International > European Cinema > Italy
• Genres > Kids & Family > Adventure

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Swashbuckler


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