The Black Pirate

CinemaSerf 6/6/2022 5:29:35PM 8.4

Still at the top his game, Douglas Fairbanks is the eponymous character - but with a bit of an unlikely backstory. He and his father were lucky to survive a pirate attack on their ship, his dad perishes shortly afterwards and our hero decides to avenge himself on these reprobates by infiltrating and rising through their ranks. His cunning plan is sailing along nicely until they capture the beautiful Princess "Isobel" (Billie Dove) to whom he takes an immediate shine and has to shield from the worst (and potentially violent) excesses of his lascivious shipmates. It's got just about every pirate adventure theme going - walking the plank, buried treasure, duplicitous plotting - and enough swash and buckle to last a lifetime. Albert Parker keeps the pace rollicking along with a deliciously ghastly contribution from Sam de Grasse and an early(ish) outing for Donald Crisp ("MacTavish") with John Wallace doing his best "Long John Silver" impersonation too. The romance is managed within the storyline, it adds a gentle richness to the mixture without cluttering up what is essentially a sumptuous high seas adventure yarn with some super seaborne colour photography, pyrotechnics and style.