The Crimson Pirate
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Written by Roland Kibbee
1952/USA
Hecht-Lancaster Productions
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Vallo: [narrating] Remember, in a pirate ship, in pirate waters, in a pirate world, ask no questions. Believe only what you see. No, believe half of what you see.[/box]
This starts as a fun pirate adventure/spoof and ends with a fantasy worthy of Terry Gilliam. Mainly it’s a good chance to see Burt Lancaster show off his acrobatic skills.
Captain Vallo aka The Crimson Pirate (Lancaster) is the scourge of the Spanish Main. He captures a British warship carrying Baron Gruda who is on a mission to stamp out an independence movement on a Caribbean island led by El Libre. Vello comes up with the idea of selling the ship’s store of arms to El Libre then doubling his money by collecting a ransom for turning over El Libre to Gruda.
When he reaches the island, Vello is soon captured by the rebels. He has many adventures escaping them and is helped by El Libre’s beautiful daughter Consuelo. His love for Consuelo causes him to give up his plan to sell El Libre to the British. This does not set well with his own crew who believe it violates the pirate’s code. Vello has more adventures as he escapes from the British and from a mutiny by his crew. At the end, he is aided by a scientist who says he has learned the secrets of explosives, an air ship and an underwater ship.
It certainly looks like Lancaster had fun making this movie and to a certain extent it is infectious. My husband, who apparently is looking for a little more realism in his pirate movies, thought the ending was stupid. I didn’t mind. Good for an afternoon popcorn movie.
Trailer
