The Princess and the Pirate (1944)

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Sy Bartlett (story)
Allen Boretz (adaptation)

Release Date:

20 April 1945 (Portugal)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Princess Margaret is travelling incognito to elope with her true love instead of marrying the man her father has betrothed her to...

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Princess | Chase | Pirate | 18th Century

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Bob Hope	...	Sylvester the Great
Virginia Mayo	...	Princess Margaret
Walter Brennan	...	Featherhead
Walter Slezak	...	La Roche
Victor McLaglen	...	Captain Barrett / The Hook
Marc Lawrence	...	Pedro
Hugo Haas	...	Owner of the 'Bucket of Blood'
Maude Eburne	...	Landlady of the 'Boar's Head Inn'
Adia Kuznetzoff	...	Don José Ramon Sebastian Rurales
Brandon Hurst	...	Mr. Pelly
Tom Kennedy	...	Alonzo
Stanley Andrews	...	Captain of the 'Mary Ann'
Robert Warwick	...	The King

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (alternate rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

Samuel Goldwyn paid Paramount $133,500 to borrow Bob Hope for twelve weeks. During that time, Hope made this film and They Got Me Covered (1943).

Goofs:

Continuity: When The Hook's ship is attacking The Mary Ann, it is flying the Skull & Crossbones. Soon after that it is seen being raised.

Quotes:

Sylvester: I'll chop off his liver! Say, that might be pretty good, chopped liver.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "EastEnders: (2009-08-27)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Kiss Me in the Moonlight

A Bit Player From Paramount

The Princess and the Pirate finds Virginia Mayo taken prisoner by the infamous pirate the Hook played by Victor McLaglen. She's a princess who's run away to marry a commoner, a reverse on what had happened in the United Kingdom a few years back. Unfortunately the only help she can find is a ham actor who's running away from bad notices and bill collectors and he's none other than Bob Hope.

Hope did two films for Samuel Goldwyn and Goldwyn paid dear to Paramount for his services. Right after this film, success though it was, the price for Hope's services convinced Goldwyn he'd better sign a comedy star of his own as he had in the Thirties with Eddie Cantor. That was why Danny Kaye was brought over from New York to start his Hollywood career in Goldwyn's next film.

But The Princess and the Pirate turned out to be one of the biggest successes for both Sam Goldwyn and Bob Hope. Hope is really at the top of his game in this one. Virginia Mayo makes a perfect foil for Hope, it's a pity she didn't do more films with him. Walter Brennan plays an addled old pirate who's not quite as dumb as he lets everyone think he is and he and McLaglen compete with Hope for laughs.

The only one who looks like he's enjoying himself, but playing it very straight is crooked island governor Walter Slezak. He's got a working arrangement with McLaglen, but the two of them aren't above a little double cross.

Of course this is a Bob Hope movie and Hope manages to blunder his way through to survival. But as we learn he loses Mayo right at the end to a visiting bit player from Paramount.

Hope did make good on his word, he never did do another film for Goldwyn again. I guess he wanted to go out on a high note and The Princess and the Pirate is as high a comic note as Bob Hope ever struck in any of his films. Not to be missed by his legion of fans.