blackpirate

Good old Douglas Fairbanks! The original swashbuckling manly dandy! He was one of the original
Jackie Chan-style action heroes who did all of his own stunts in crazy spectacle pictures like “The
Mark of Zorro.” He’s the kind of guy who can wear tights, put his hands on his hips and laugh
heartily and still get every woman in the room. He also sports a snazzy and suave moustache.

One of his all-time great action films was an adventure called, “The Black Pirate.” I had the
pleasure of seeing a restored print of this film in Los Angeles with a live orchestra playing behind
it. Remember people, this is a silent film, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Get an open mind! This
movie also has the novelty of early Technicolor use, so that scenes have hues to them if not
specific and detailed colors, so technically it’s not black and white.

Anyway, the story is one of insidious vengeance. Fairbanks, as the Black Pirate, is on a ship with
his father when it’s attacked by pirates. They are the only survivors, but his father dies. Now
Fairbanks is ticked off, so he decides that best thing to do is pretend to be a pirate and become the
most badass pirate of all time to eventually lead the group and then crawfish on them and wreak his
mighty revenge!

So, Fairbanks wails on some pirates on a deserted island to prove his manly mettle and they
accept him into the group and off they go. As the Black Pirate, he proves how cool he is once
again by taking over a ship almost by himself. The only problem is, there is a beautiful woman on
board and he doesn’t want the other scurvy dogs raping her, so he takes her into his care. But he
has a rival for the captainship and that dude is dangerous.

“The Black Pirate” is an epic silent picture with massive ship sets, huge action scenes, and great
ship-to-ship takeovers. This film also has a stunt that, to this day, has been mimicked over and
over again in films like “The Goonies.” In the film, Fairbanks leaps from a mast to the mainsail of a
ship and slides down the canvas with a dagger, splitting the sail as he goes. In the theatre, the
whole crowd erupted in applause, and the film was almost 80 years old.

Yeah. It’s that classic and that much fun. Fairbanks lights up the screen and it is easy to see why
he was such a popular star. He’s just a swashbuckling maniac! Thankfully, this movie has escaped
the fate of many silent films and made its way onto home video numerous times for all to see and
appreciate.

“The Black Pirate” is the most dangerous dude on the high seas. He’ll take over your ship, steal
your woman and then, to add insult to injury, deliver justice to your sorry face with a steel cutlass.
Rock on, Fairbanks!