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) (as Elton Thomas), Jack Cunningham (adapted by)

Stars:

Douglas Fairbanks, Billie Dove, Tempe Pigott

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:

national film registry | pirate | ship | revenge | pirate ship | 

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Taglines:

THE MOST ROMANTIC ROLE DOUG EVER HAD! A Picture of Extreme Beauty, Full of Action, Thrills and Love (Print Ad- The Star, ((Queens, NY)) 20 November 1926)

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Genres:

Adventure | Action

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Certificate:

PG

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)

Gross USA:

$677,647, 31 December 1927

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

Billie Dove had already appeared in one Technicolor film, Wanderer of the Wasteland (1924). Douglas Fairbanks reportedly offered Dove her role without a screen test; he simply called her up and let her know that the part was hers, if she wanted it.

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Goofs

When the men following the Black Pirate are swimming up to the boat at the climax, shadows are clearly visible on a wall when they are shot at an angled view.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood: Pioneers (1980)

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.