The Black Pirate (1926)

Seeking revenge, an athletic young man joins the pirate band responsible for his father's death.

Director:

Albert Parker

Writers:

Douglas Fairbanks (story), Jack Cunningham (adapted by)

Stars:

Billie Dove, Tempe Pigott, Donald Crisp

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Billie Dove	...	Princess Isobel (as Miss Billie Dove)
Tempe Pigott	...	Duenna (as Miss Tempe Pigett)
Donald Crisp	...	MacTavish (as Mr. Donald Crisp)
Sam De Grasse	...	Pirate Lieutenant (as Mr. Sam de Grasse)
Anders Randolf	...	Pirate Captain (as Mr. Anders Randolf)
Charles Stevens	...	Powder Man (as Mr.Charles Stevens)
John Wallace	...	Peg-Leg Pirate (as Mr. John Wallace)
Fred Becker	...	Pirate (as Mr. Fred Becker)
Charles Belcher	...	Chief Passenger - Nobleman (as Mr. Charles Belcher)
E.J. Ratcliffe	...	The Governor (as Mr. D. J. Ratcliffe)
Douglas Fairbanks	...	The Duke of Arnoldo / The Black Pirate (as Mr. Douglas Fairbanks)

Storyline

A nobleman vows to avenge the death of his father at the hands of pirates. To this end he infiltrates the pirate band. Acting in character he is instrumental in the capture of a ship, but things are complicated when he finds that there is a young woman on board whom he wishes to protect from the threat of rape.

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Plot Keywords:

pirate | revenge | knife | falling into water | castaway | 

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Taglines:

The Love Story of a Bold Buccaneer

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Genres:

Adventure | Action

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

8 March 1926 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Black Buccaneer

Filming Locations:

Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elton Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 94 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The double-thick Technicolor prints (two strips of dyed film, cemented together) presented numerous screening problems for untrained projectionists. If screened improperly, they would warp, scratch, etc. and due to the expense of printing in Technicolor at this time (since there were no optical printers, or any easier way of printing such technology in those days) forced the Fairbanks studio to issue a black-and-white version as well.

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Goofs

At about 31 minutes into the film, there are several shots of the "Black Pirate" aiming two swivel cannons at the viewer, interspersed with reaction shots of other actors. The first shot shows him in front of a whitish background (eg an overcast sky), the second such shot (a few seconds later) has a pitch black background. All such shots after that have the white background.

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Connections

Referenced in Waterworld (1995)

User Reviews

about as good a pirate movie as you can make without sound

This was an excellent pirate movie and was better than many sound pirate films. However, it's really hard to rate the movie---compared to other silent pirate films, it might just be the best. But, compared to THE SEA HAWK, CAPTAIN BLOOD or THE BLACK SWAN (all wonderful sound pirate films from the 30s and 40s), it isn't as good a film.

So what does the movie do that worked so well for me? First, being a Douglas Fairbanks film, it had wonderful stunts and impeccable production values--something he was known for in his silent films. Second, this film had excellent sets and was the best film money could buy in its day. In fact, it was such a lavish production that it was supposedly the first full-length film made in 2-color Technicolor--an early and somewhat crude way of producing a color movie. Because the film was dyed with green-blue and orange-red dyes, the film mostly looks reddish-green--definitely NOT true color. But, it doesn't look that bad--certainly much better than the horrid colorized films destroyed in the 1980s. Plus, if it hadn't been for films like this, the infinitely better 3-color system might never have been developed by Technicolor. And, finally, the plot is pretty good for a silent film--not the most complex when compared to later films, it's not nearly as simplistic as most other silents.

This video was produced by KINO FILMS. Some of their silent films in the past were less than wonderful (especially some of their Buster Keaton videotapes), but this videotape is top quality and has nice extras at the end of the tape. Some cheaper prints apparently are only black and white, not color. Nice job for the restoration, KINO! However, despite what the video box said, it was apparently NOT the first full-length two-color Technicolor film. I recently saw a restored print from TOLL OF THE SEA (1922) and it was in fact made using this process four years earlier than THE BLACK PIRATE.