| The Crimson Pirate | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Siodmak |
| Written by | Roland Kibbee Waldo Salt (1st draft)[1] |
| Produced by | Norman Deming Harold Hecht Burt Lancaster |
| Starring | Burt Lancaster Nick Cravat Eva Bartok Leslie Bradley Torin Thatcher James Hayter |
| Cinematography | Otto Heller |
| Edited by | Jack Harris |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.75 million[3] |
| Box office | $2.5 million (US)[4] |
The Crimson Pirate is a 1952Technicolorcomedy-adventure film fromWarner Bros. produced by Norman Deming andHarold Hecht, directed byRobert Siodmak, and starringBurt Lancaster, who also co-produced with Deming and Hecht. Co-starring in the film areNick Cravat,Eva Bartok,Leslie Bradley,Torin Thatcher, andJames Hayter. The film was shot inIschia, theBay of Naples andTeddington Studios. It makes the most of Lancaster's skills as a professional acrobat and his lifelong partnership with Cravat. Critics compared Lancaster favorably withDouglas Fairbanks Sr.
The Crimson Pirate is set late in the 18th century, on the fictionalCaribbean islands of San Pero and Cobra. A rebellion is underway on Cobra, led by the mysterious "El Libre". Pirate Captain Vallo captures the King's ship carrying His Majesty's envoy, Baron Gruda, on his way to crush the rebellion and destroy El Libre. Vallo proposes that they join forces to earn a fortune for the Captain and his buccaneer crew by infiltrating the rebels and betraying them for the reward. However, things do not go as planned after Vallo meets El Libre's beautiful daughter.
Late in the 18th century,Caribbeanpirate Captain Vallo (Burt Lancaster) and his crew capture afrigate of the King's navy. The ship is carrying Baron Gruda, a special envoy of the King on his way to the island of Cobra to crush a rebellion led by a man known asEl Libre. Baron Gruda and Vallo come to an agreement: Vallo will release the Baron and his crew, but keep the frigate. In return, they will captureEl Libre and bring him to the Baron for a sizable reward.
Vallo and his crew sail to Cobra, where the captain and his lieutenant, Ojo, go ashore and meet with the island's rebels, led by Pablo Murphy andEl Libre's daughter Consuelo. Vallo and Ojo learn thatEl Libre has been captured and is in prison on the island of San Pero. After sailing to San Pero, Vallo impersonates the Baron and orders the prisoners released into his custody.
Consuelo is distraught to hear that Vallo intends on selling her,El Libre, and the professor to Baron Gruda. Consuelo now begs Vallo to come with them, but he refuses. Vallo's first mate, Humble Bellows, overhears this exchange, and turns against his captain for breaking his word. Vallo letsEl Libre and Consuelo leave, but the King's guards are waiting, andEl Libre is killed and Consuelo is captured. The pirates mutiny against Vallo, and Humble Bellows is elected their new captain.
Baron Gruda takes the pirates prisoner and forces Consuelo to agree to marry the governor of Cobra. Vallo intends to rescue Consuelo, but the professor convinces him to first enlist the island's cooperation. In order to defeat the well trained and well armed troops on Cobra, the professor has the rebels build a variety of futuristic weapons, such as tanks, Gatling guns, flamethrowers, a hot air balloon, and a submarine. On the day of the wedding, the people overthrow the governor and his guards. A massive land and sea battle ensues, ending with the pirate ship destroyed, the Navy ship captured, the Baron killed, and the lovers reunited. The film ends with Valla and Consuelo passionately kissing in themaintop as the pirates celebrate on the captured ship below.
The original screenplay byWaldo Salt was rejected by the producers, fearing Salt'sCommunist ties. Christopher Lee, in his autobiography, claims that director 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 inThe Killers andThe Spiral Staircase, took stock of the material in forty-eight hours and turned it into a comedy. It was like aBoy's Own Paper adventure, except that Eva Bartok was in it.
— Christopher Lee, Tall, Dark and Gruesome[5]
A. H. Weiler ofThe New York Times described the film as "a slam-bang, action-filled Technicolored lampoon ... Any viewer with a drop of red blood in his veins and with fond memories of theDouglas Fairbanks Sr. school of derring-do should be happy to go on this last cruise of the crimson pirate."[6]Variety called it "104 minutes of high-action entertainment."[7] Edwin Schallert of theLos Angeles Times called it "a good, gaudy, robust sort of feature designed for audience enjoyment, at least that kind of audience which enjoys complete release. It has qualities that Douglas Fairbanks made famous in his time, Lancaster being a worthy successor to that mantle."[8]Harrison's Reports wrote, "A very good swashbuckling pirate adventure comedy-melodrama, photographed in Technicolor. Its tongue-in-cheek treatment pokes fun at pictures of this type, and for that reason it should be enjoyed, not only by the action fans, but also by others who are willing to accept it for the good-natured spoof that it is."[9]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "The jokes are as unsophisticated as the adventure, and the combination of violence and slapstick makes for quite good fun. Burt Lancaster, fighting, swinging from ropes, chased and chasing, and throwing in a little female impersonation, has the acrobatic energy of a Fairbanks and keeps the film going with considerable good humour."[10]
Burt Lancaster and his old partner Nick Cravat made nine films together, the most popular beingThe Crimson Pirate andThe Flame and the Arrow (1950). He kept Cravat on his payroll for life, as both a trainer as well as a co-star. Because Cravat's character in both films is mute, the belief persisted that in real life he was mute. Actually, Cravat was given no dialog lines because of his thick Brooklyn accent.[1]
According toThe Radio Times, the Disneyland ride "Pirates of the Caribbean" was inspired byThe Crimson Pirate.[11]
In the 1970s Lancaster attempted to make a sequel. He hiredGeorge MacDonald Fraser and laterJon Cleary to write scripts, but no film resulted from their efforts.[12]
