The Crimson Pirate

Acrobatic Plunder

The Crimson Pirate
USA/UK1952 
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Warner Brothers 
Spanish Blu Ray Zone B

Burt Lancaster as buccaneer Captain Vallo swings from one mast of his ship to the other, yells instructions to his crew and then immediately breaks the fourth wall to talk to the audience, telling them that in the following piratical adventure, they should believe only what they see. Then, he turns and the film is run backwards as he reverse swings back to the original mast... turning to the audience once again he corrects that to... “No. Believe only half of what you see!” Roll credits and some thunderously good music as the greatest pirate film ever made gets underway. 

Yeah, it’s been a long time since I last revisited The Crimson Pirate (which I’ve seen multiple times over the years) and, every time I watch it, I like it even more. I wanted to watch an upgraded Blu Ray print and, like a few films I’ve had to source recently, I had to get a Spanish copy of the film, since they seem to be the only ones to give it a Blu Ray transfer... and what a transfer it is. Even my dad remarked that the colour and clarity of the film was the best he’s ever seen it (and he’s seen it even more times than me). 

The film tells of Burt Lancaster, teamed up with Ojo (pronounced Oho... as in Yo Ho Ho), played by Nick Cravat, his lifelong friend and fellow circus acrobat turned actor. Lancaster kept him on the payroll for life and they starred in nine films together, with him as his personal trainer. And what that means is, all the acrobatic stunts you see the two doing here in the fight and chase scenes... and they do quite a bit... are done by them (and you can certainly see it to... even in the long shots). 

Joining the cast is the female love interest of Eva Bartok as the daughter of a rebel leader that Captain Vallo and his crew aid in the adventure. You may remember her as... SPOILER ALERT... one of the two killers revealed towards the end of Mario Bava’s classic giallo Blood And Black Lace (reviewed here). We also have Thorin Thatcher in the cast as troublesome crew mate Humble Bellows... you may remember him as the evil wizard in The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad (reviewed here). And there’s even another early role for Christopher Lee as a minor villain... although he gets a line or two in this one. He has gone on record that the film was supposed to be a serious affair but when director Siodmak jumped on board, he immediately turned it into the action comedy romp it’s now known as.

Last but, by no means least, is the great James Hayter as Prof. Elihu Prudence, who helps the story no end by inventing and reinventing various devices which help the brave crew in their endeavours. Now, I’ve said to many people that the film The Scorpion King always reminded me a little of The Crimson Pirate and that’s because, along with the sense of fun, you have various gadgets invented by the characters to add a new dimension to the action and... it’s a plot element even more so in this film. 

So the first sign of unusual scientific intervention is when, after Lancaster, Cravat and Hayter are chained to a boat and cast adrift at sea to await certain death by starvation, Hayter’s character capsizes the boat which sinks to the bottom of the sea, catching a pocket of air in the hull, enabling them to breathe while they walk along the bottom of the sea to land. This foreshadows a moment right near the when Hayter, in drag (it’s a plot point, don’t ask), pops out of a submarine he’s invented. 

In addition to this we have the invention of explosives, a hot air balloon, a hand revolving gatling gun made out of a circle full of muskets*, cannons on armoured carts and a mounted flame thrower. All to overthrow the government and strike a blow for freedom (oh, yeah, not much actual pirating goes on in this movie, due to the plot in which the buccaneers become embroiled). 

The acting and personalities are all brilliant, performing the lines of a very sharp and witty screenplay with lots of action and stunts. Not to mention William Alwyn’s absolutely wonderful action score... the stuff where Vallo and Ojo cause trouble with the ‘King’s men’ is especially good. 

And I’ve not much more to say about this one, I think. The Crimson Pirate is said to have inspired the original Pirates Of The Caribbean ride at Disney in the 1950s and, asides from that, this is easily the swashbucklingest pirate movie ever made. I’ve always loved this one and always shall. If you’ve never seen it... what are you waiting for?

*For the grand-daddy of anachronisms in the film though, especially since it was obviously unintentional, check out the luxury cruiser the Queen Elizabeth in the background of one of the shots from on board a galleon. I think they moved in closer to take a look at filming.