The Black Pirate (1926)

Director:

Albert Parker

Writers:

Douglas Fairbanks (story)
Jack Cunningham (adaptation)

Release Date:

8 March 1926 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Action

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Hidden Treasure | Father Son Relationship | Cavern | Explosion | Monkey

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Billie Dove	...	Princess Isobel
Tempe Pigott	...	Duenna
Donald Crisp	...	MacTavish
Sam De Grasse	...	Pirate Lieutenant
Anders Randolf	...	Pirate Captain
Charles Stevens	...	Powder man
Charles Belcher	...	Chief passenger (Nobleman)
Douglas Fairbanks	...	The Black Pirate

Also Known As:

The Black Buccaneer

Runtime:

88 min | USA:94 min (restored version)

Country:

USA

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA

Company:

Elton Corporation

Trivia:

According to the commentary on the Kino Video DVD, the crew of Douglas Fairbanks' longboat in the climactic chase and battle were members of the crew of the USS Arizona.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Terror Night (1987)

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.