The Crimson Pirate (1952)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Robert Siodmak

Writer:

Roland Kibbee (written by)

Release Date:

27 September 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

MAN OF NINE LIVES AND 1000 SURPRISES! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Burt Lancaster plays a pirate with a taste for intrigue and acrobatics who involves himself in the goings...

Plot Keywords:

Caribbean | Pirate | Scientist | Gun Violence | Marine

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	Capt. Vallo (The Crimson Pirate)
Nick Cravat	...	Ojo
Eva Bartok	...	Consuelo
Torin Thatcher	...	Humble Bellows
James Hayter	...	Prof. Prudence
Leslie Bradley	...	Baron Jose Gruda
Margot Grahame	...	Bianca
Noel Purcell	...	Pablo Murphy
Frederick Leister	...	Sebastian
Eliot Makeham	...	Governor
Frank Pettingell	...	Colonel
Dana Wynter	...	La Signorita (as Dagmar Wynter)
Christopher Lee	...	Joseph (attache)
Ewan Roberts	...	Claw Paw
John Chandos	...	Stub Ear

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #15427) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Bay of Naples, Naples, Campania, Italy

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

In his autobiography, Christopher Lee claimed that Robert Siodmak changed the original screenplay: "The script started life as serious, nay solemn, but Robert Siodmak, the director, with all the sure touch of real tension behind him in The Killers and The Spiral Staircase, took stock of the material in forty-eight hours and turned it into a comedy."

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: While fleeing from the soldiers to establish themselves as rebels, after the hidden trampoline jump from one building to another, the light source in the last window obviously changes.

Quotes:

Humble Bellows: There goes a good pirate, Stub Ear, to sell his wares like a fish peddler. Meaning no disrespect to the skipper, of course.
Stub Ear: And us, with a price on our heads, hove to in one of His Majesty's ports like sitting ducks.
Poison Paul: But if the skipper pulls us through again, we'll be the ducks what laid the golden eggs.
Humble Bellows: Ye be thinking of geese, if you'll pardon the correction, Poison Paul. Geese... on a wild goose chase.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

Burt never smiled brighter

Movies do not come any more swashbuckling than this one. Hey, we have pirates, the Caribbean, villains, heroes, damsels in distress, sword fights, sea battles, inventions, acrobatics aplenty. And all delivered with Burt's legendary smile. It is not a genre spoof, but it does not take itself seriously either.

Watching this film one can perhaps understand why some people took a while to accept Burt Lancaster as a real actor. Not that his acting in this film is bad, but the excellent acrobatic skills we come to admire betray a different background.

Enormous fun.