Black Pirate (United Artists) (1926)

Reviews and are Useful. Review The main reason for the tremendous pleasure which Douglas Fairbanks’ pic¬ tures have given in the past is that Doug appeals strongly to that part of a man’s mind that never grows up. In each of his stories he has been just what every small boys dreams of being, and these dreams never quite fade away as the small boys reach manhood. His latest picture “The Black Pirate” which opened at the. last night, catches this spirit to a degree never reached by him before. Pirates!— here’s a word that takes you back to your boyhood days. Buried treasure! Who wouldn’t like to chuck all the petty things of life’s daily grind to go in search of it? Small wonder, then, that Doug’s new picure will act as a magnet for all the small boys from 7 to 70, that it will thrill them and send them away with a feeling that for two hours they have been living the kind of life they’ve always wanted to live. There is much that is beautiful, much that is brave and thrilling and spectacular in “The Black Pirate.” The picture is entirely in natural colors (incidentally, it is the best color job, from a me¬ chanical standpoint that we have ever seen) and you can easily imagine how lovely are the scenes showing the moon rippling over the water, the pirates thronging the decks and clambering up into the rigging and burying their treas¬ ure in the golden sands of the tropical island. As for bravery and thrills, ♦he very thought of a man contending •ingle-handed against two hundred cut¬ throats suggests them. Billie Dove is the heroine, and is the only woman in the picture except Tempe Pigott, who plays a minor role. Miss Dove seems well worth battling for in a spectacular adventure. PERSONALITY OF ONE DYNAMICFILM HERO Dwight Franklin, expert on period costumes and modeling, worked sev¬ eral months as an active adviser to Douglas Fairbanks during the pro¬ duction of “The Black Pirate” in Hollywood. He gives an interesting resume of his study of the star’s dynamic personality, and indicates, between the lines, how Fairbanks manages to get such marvelous re¬ sults from his numerous staff: He says: “On the lot ‘Doug’ was a joy to behold. So direct, sure-footed, pre¬ cise, earnest. Always he was most tolerant of our blunders; his sugges¬ tions were invariably tactful, apt and constructive. Yet he himself con¬ stantly sought our advice, not only on the production itself, but regard¬ ing his performance. If our sugges¬ tions appealed to him as being right they were instantly adopted; if they did not, they were dismissed with a word of explanation that showed us conclusively wherein we were wrong. As everybody who has seen his pic¬ tures might imagine, ‘Doug’s’ energy was amazing and boundless. He would emerge from a sixteen-hour day of toil as fresh, robust and buoyant as when he reached the studio in the morning.” FILM STAR GOT A CRACKED RIB The casualties occurring while “The Black Pirate” was being filmed were the heaviest ever recorded in a Fairbanks production. “Doug” suffered a broken rib; Ted Reed, pro¬ duction manager, a broken shin bone, and Roy Coulson, pirate, had a sword run nearly through the Achilles tendon of his right leg, while Donald Crisp suffered a dis¬ located finger while firing a vintage of 1600 pistol. “It’s no gentle business, this thing of playing pirate,” said Fairbanks. Review Douglas Fairbanks certainly may be said to have made the best of the glam¬ orous, stirring story of “The Black Pi¬ rate” which he introduced to his eager fandom at the . Theatre yes¬ terday. “The Black.Pirate” sails sus- pensefully along in the traditional ro¬ mantic course of the favored and vivid tales of fighting buccaneers and buried treasure. The action, while its star is about, runs swiftly and he is emphati¬ cally about, all the time. Our hero cap¬ tures a vessel single-handed after a series of most remarkable gymnastic feats atop, beneath and generally about the ship, he becomes, practically, cap¬ tain of a pirate crew; along toward the end, in case you haven’t guessed it— he rescues the fair lady after some spec¬ tacular under-water swimming, attend¬ ed by cohorts of deep sea swimmers. Mr. Fairbanks, as a matter of fact, seems in excellent form, and what, after all, could be more suited to his talents than a ship literally loaded down with pirates on mischief bent and a fair lady to be rescued after startling encounters ? Sea pictures always manage to ap¬ pear picturesque, but added to that, “The Black Pirate” is splendidly done from a pictorial point of view. Made entirely in subdued colorings, soothing to the eye, and a relief from the prevailing black and white, the entire film is a series of exquisitely lovely pictures. Technicolor is the process used, and the innovation is, to our mind, notably suc¬ cessful. A large supporting cast aids Mr. Fair¬ banks materially in his mad career, par¬ ticularly outstanding being Donald Crisp as a sympathetic Scotch pirate, Sam de Grasse as villain-in-chief, Anders Randolf as a pirate chief and Billie Dove as the fair lady in distress. A rousing musical score adds much to the production, which was applauded by a capacity first night audience. Film extras as well as stars have their embarrassing moments. While close-ups were being made in a tank at the studio for Douglas Fairbanks’ “The Black Pirate”, Jerry Gerard, a pirate bold, dove off the ship into the tank as per Director A1 Parker’s in¬ structions. But he did not. come out of .the water as per instructions. “Get out of there,” yelled Parker, “you’ll spoil the next shot.” “I can't,” Jerry answered, “Ive lost my pants.” The director had to wait. Review “The Black Pirate”, which opened at the ... Theatre yesterday, is a thrilling, exquisitely photographed film with Douglas Fairbanks in the role of the Black Pirate himself, giving one of the best performances of his long stardom. “Doug” exhibits astounding agility and success seems to make no dif¬ ference whatever to his amazing mus¬ cles. The story is beautifully romantic. It tells of dark-browned and black-hearted pirates who swept the southern seas in the Seventeenth Century. One such crew of blood and gold thirsty buckos capture the ship on which “Doug,” who is really a duke, and his father are passengers. The ship is ran¬ sacked and then, with its human cargo, is blown to bits. . Doug’s father dies and Doug is the sole survivor of the group of peace-loving seafarers. Be¬ side his father’s grave, on a sandy isle, the young duke swears vengeance. He joins the very crew that caused his father’s death. He fights the captain of the pirates and kills him. Here is one of the most exciting scenes in the picture. You are shown a duel with each adversary using two swords. “Doug” then captures a merchantman single-handed. He is elected the leader of the pirates. It is his plan to de¬ liver the cutthroats over to the gover¬ nor’s soldiers and thus avenge his father’s death. On the merchantman captured by “Doug” is a beautiful princess. She is desired by all the pirates. “Doug” falls in love with her. His most hated rival is a burly creature, next to “Doug” in line for leadership of the pirate host. While “Doug” is trying to put the princess ashore, to save her from the pirates, he is seen by the villain, brought on deck and forced to walk the plank. But the end is not yet. The Black Pirate is full of tricks and he is aided by a devo.ted Scotch pirate, played splendidly by Donald Crisp. Billie Dove is lovely as the princess, and the villain is ably depicted by Sam de Grasse. The colored photography is like a series of marvelous oil paintings. The brown of the men’s flesh and the sud¬ den splash of color in a parrot’s feath¬ ers are especially lfoteworthy touches. The picture was photographed by Hen¬ ry Sharp. Several years of preliminary work were required to gather the material, to build the ships and to study the many details necessary to make the picture a true representation of piratical history. The finished product is ample reward for the time spent to make it an out¬ standing picture. Douglas Fairbanks launched the world’s largest rowboat in connec¬ tion with his new photoplay, “The Black Pirate.” The vessel, 100 feet long, was of the galley type, and was propelled by sixty oarsmen, thirty to a side. Crack oarsmen were sought from the Pacific battleship fleet by Albert Par¬ ker, directing this feature. HUSKY EXTRA WINS $100 FROM “DOUG” Douglas Fairbanks misses $100, a forfeit, all because Dave Kashner, appearing in “The Black Pirate”, lift¬ ed an iron stanchion which no one else had ever been able to lift. The stanchion forms part of the star’s athletic equipment at the studio, and three years ago “Doug” fixed a standing offer of $100, to-any man who could lift it off the ground. IDEAL BUCCANEERING IN “BLACK PIRATE” A roistering tale is “The Black Pi¬ rate” at the . The ^ tre ’u a glorious riot of adventure. lo the colorful exploits Douglas Fairbanks and a pirate crew has been added the most perfect Technicolor yet flashed upon the screen. Colored pictures, no doubt about it, are here. “The Black Pirate” proves that it can heighten, in¬ stead of distracting from, the vividness of a thrill. Never did more villainous crew board the peaceful merchantman than that headed by Douglas Fairbanks. With a gay “yo ho” and a muttered curse, he takes us back to the old dark days when buccaneers sailed the Spanish Main. Treasure chests in secret hiding places, sparkling water and gray sky, these are the background for a swash¬ buckling adventure story. Then there are alarums and excursions and gallant, incredible rescues. And there is Doug, too, in a part he must have loved. When he’s not skim¬ ming up the rigging he’s fighting duels, swimming through green-blue waters or taking a vessel single handed. That exploit, of course, is the very essence of Fairbanks. Swarming up the slip¬ pery sides, he is a pirate crew in him¬ self. He does every one of the mag¬ nificent, unbelievable things that little boys dream of. ENTER THE^GAG MAN!” One of the newest things to happen to motion pictures is the gag man. This individual has probably received less publicity than any other connected with films, and in consequence he remains considerable of a mystery to the public. As a rule gag men are solemn-look¬ ing individuals. Those who held sway with Douglas Fairbanks during the making of “The Black Pirate,” which continues to garner much booty at the .Theatre, were in no way ex¬ ceptions to the rule. Most melancholy of them all was Jack Jevne, “the man who never smiles.” Now the province of a gag man is to hover about the set and incubate ideas, —usually funny ideas. He is supposed to suggest bits of business that will help to build up the entertainment value of the photoplay. Wherefore the gag man is usually deep in thought, which probably accounts for his serious ex¬ pression.