The Black Pirate (1926) User Reviews

A wonderfully acrobatic Douglas Fairbanks Snr., entertains!

[A_Roode · 7/10 · 5 September 2006]

Douglas Fairbanks Snr., can quite fairly be given credit for the first movie action star. 'The Black Pirate' has a number of sequences which highlight his magnificent athletic ability. I found myself marveling at the extended sequence where he seizes a merchant ship singlehandedly. What strength and skill, what agility and courage! I loved watching him scale the stern of the ship and was extremely impressed by his cutting open of the sails from top to bottom with a knife. Some of the work was quite funny and you could tell that the filmed footage was being shown in reverse but that doesn't stop the stunts themselves from being extremely entertaining. He's got more guts than me, I'll say that much!

'The Black Pirate' is difficult to evaluate. Do we grade a film based upon:

a) other pirate films b) silent films c) on a general level of enjoyment against all films

As a silent film, and for that matter a two strip Technicolor silent film, 'The Black Pirate' is a landmark for innovation. Fairbanks had misgivings about the use of colour but felt a pirate film MUST be shown in colour. He gets great benefit. There is a great deal of implied violence (duh, a pirate film!) and the bright red colour of blood is almost shocking to see. There's a scene where a captive tries to hide a ring he's wearing by swallowing it. Unfortunately for him he's seen. After a little off camera ... searching... for the ring, a pirate presents a bloodied ring in bloodied hands as he wipes a bloodied dagger on his tunic to the captain. Pretty thrilling stuff for the 1920's. This was also a film where very serious philosophy and training were put to great effect with the fencing. You can see how it out-steps a lot of earlier swordplay films and influenced the style in films that would follow. According to film historian Rudy Behlmer on an excellent commentary track with the Kino DVD, the fencing master hired by Fairbanks became a staple of the industry. Many of the great sword fight movies from the next 25 years were his handiwork -- including 'The Adventures of Robin Hood,' and 'Captain Blood.'

Against other pirate films, 'The Black Pirate' has perhaps more value as a curiosity. Even by the late 1930's and 40's it was being outdistanced by Errol Flynn films like 'Captain Blood' and 'The Seahawk,' Tyrone Power in 'The Black Swan,' or Burt Lancaster in 'The Crimson Pirate.' Today it gets totally wiped off the board by the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' series. Though still fun to watch, these later films are better and more enjoyable.

This is definitely worth tracking down on the Kino DVD if you can find it. Rudy Behlmer has an excellent commentary track that is of great value to people who are interested in early Hollywood and Douglas Fairbanks. I recommend it highly for the student or the general enthusiast based upon that reason. And it is a good movie to! 'The Black Pirate' has a great sense of adventure to it with thrilling stunt work. Silent movie fans shouldn't be disappointed. Fans of pirate movies should give it a try to see what helped popularize the genre.

Everything you want in a pirate movie...

[SinjinSB · 8/10 · 16 March 2003]

I knew little of this film before watching it, but am glad I found it. It's an excellent early film about a group of cutthroats. The thing that surprised me the most was that it was in color. It was filmed using the experimental two-color technicolor process. After watching the "Making of", apparently Douglas fairbanks was a real pioneer in that area and did much research on color film. This was my first Fairbanks film and I was quite impressed with not only his screen presence, but his ability to do impressive stuntwork, including the infamous sliding down a sail on a knife. This film had all the requirements of a pirate movie... Swordplay, torture, murder, robbery, kidnapping, romance, and even walking the plank. As well as the infamous quote, "Dead men tell no tales!". It had a decent score by Mortimer Wilson that was mostly fitting. One scene I found amusing, was when the pirates drew lots for the monkey. If you're a fan of pirate movies, this is a must see. I found it quite enjoyable.

*** (out of 4)

A Silent Masterpiece

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 2 February 2017]

Seeking revenge, an athletic young man joins the pirate band responsible for his father's death.

"The Black Pirate" was the third feature to be filmed in an early two-tone Technicolor process that had been first introduced in the 1922 feature "Toll of the Sea". This reproduces a limited but pleasing range of colors. "Ben-Hur", filmed around the same time, contains two-tone sequences but is shot primarily in black-and-white with tinting and toning in many scenes.

This is really a defining film in the career of Douglas Fairbanks. I mean, really, it is closing in 100 years later and he is still remembered as a swashbuckler. This is the very definition of a swashbuckler film. And the color! I couldn't say much about the two-color process, but I think this looks phenomenal.

Dated, but great fun with the astonishing Douglas Fairbanks

[robertguttman · 25 February 2002]

I first heard about this film from my father, who once told me that he saw it as a boy when it first came out and was completely blown away by it. I only recently had the opportunity to see it myself, and I can appreciate his point. Of course it's absurd to compare the production values of an antique movie such as this to modern films, but just see it and try to imagine how it must have seemed to audiences at the Roxy back in 1926!

Needless to say, this elaborate, full-color production is merely a showcase for the incomparable Douglas Fairbanks. Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Sean Connery and Harrison Ford pale to insignificance beside Fairbank's bravura on-screen personality. Fairbanks virtually invented the "action-adventure" movie, and films like "The Black Pirate" make it clear why he was the biggest movie star of his time.

In addition, bear in mind that there were no stunt men or blue-screen special effects back then. Fairbanks actually DID all those amazing stunts himself! The only latter-day Hollywood star who would (and did) dare to do his own stunts was the equally incomparable Burt Lancaster.

Don't expect modern acting or sensibilities in The Black Pirate, the movie itself is typical 1920s melodrama. The sets are pretty hokey and the plot is absurd. However, just ignore all that while you sit back and enjoy Douglas Fairbanks delivering one of the most spectacular performances ever captured on screen.

"Dead men tell no tales."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 22 October 2006]

I generally have some reservations about tuning in to a silent film, but once I do, they usually turn out pretty well. "The Black Pirate" was no exception, my first encounter with the legendary silent action-adventure hero Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.). His swashbuckling feats of dynamic swordplay and athletic scaling of ship's rigging were genuine sit up and take notice moments, especially since he was doing all of his own stunt work. It wouldn't be too far off to say he does it all here, including the obligatory 'walk the plank' as a result of trying to help a captive Princess escape her pirate captors.

One downside of my experience of this film based on other reviewers - the print I saw was in black and white. Even so, there was enough going on to maintain one's interest, not the least of which was all the cutthroat pirate chicanery. I was surprised how the film intimated how a poor crewman was slit open to retrieve a ring he swallowed to prevent it's becoming booty. That was a nasty piece of business.

The one scene that played out amazingly well both visually and the way it was choreographed was the underwater swim by the seamen who arrived by longboat to help Fairbanks' character defeat the pirates. One thing though, once on board the Merchantman, didn't it seem like there was a whole lot more of them than could have arrived in the first place?

One curiosity, the pirate crew liked the idea of holding the Merchantman ransom for fifty thousand pieces-of-eight, suggested by Fairbanks' character. However if you freeze the frame on the first part of the ransom note to the Governor, the amount demanded in Roman numerals is XXVII (assuming that what looks like a 'C' is actually a parenthesis). That would only represent twenty seven, as the word 'thousand' is written out.

As much fun as the film is, if you're really paying attention, a couple of plot points just don't make much sense. After Fairbanks defeats the Pirate Captain (Anders Randolf) in a sword fight challenge, the Captain falls on a sword and dies. Just like that, the rest of the pirate crew have no trouble accepting Fairbanks as part of their crew. So much for loyalty! Another occurs at the end of the film when Fairbanks and The Princess (Billie Dove) declare their love and announce their wedding. MacTavish (Donald Crisp) suggests digging up the earlier buried treasure for a wedding gift. I don't think so.

But let's not get too critical. This is a neatly done sea tale with a lot of well paced action and drama. A surprise in reviewing the cast list reveals Mary Pickford as a stand-in for Billie Dove in the 'final embrace' scene at the end of the story. There really doesn't seem to be any reason for that, other than a chance for Mr. Fairbanks to get Mrs. Fairbanks into the picture. Trivia fans take note.

Great Fairbanks, Wonderful Color, Fair Direction

[CJBx7 · 7/10 · 13 May 2015]

THE BLACK PIRATE (1926) tells the story of a mysterious figure (Douglas Fairbanks) who survives a pirate raid. Sworn to avenge his dead father, he takes command of the pirates responsible, and secretly strives to free the princess whom they have kidnapped. A power-hungry lieutenant who tries to incite the men against him complicates his plans. Directed by Albert Parker.

The script is quite interesting, following The Black Pirate's skillful command of his pirate band, as well as his resourcefulness and ingenuity. The scenario offers plenty of action – pirate raids, duels, underwater photography – as well as a little bit of rather unlikely romance that always seems to pop up in films like these.

Perhaps the greatest cinematographic interest is provided by the film's use of two-strip Technicolor. There are some lovely sweeping shots of the ocean and the ships at sea. The film could benefit from more dynamic editing and variety between close-ups and long shots during the other scenes, though. The camera work feels very restrained for much of the film's running time, as if the crew were aiming to evoke the tableaux style of earlier films. In my opinion this diluted the impact of the action scenes and caused the film to feel somewhat detached. The direction of the movie was competent rather than brilliant, and greater use of the cinematographic resources available at the time would have given the film more impact. After all, this was made in 1926, after such pioneering classics as THE LAST LAUGH and BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN. However, there were very dynamic moments as well, mostly due to the stunt work.

THE BLACK PIRATE boasts fine performances, particularly by the charismatic and athletic Fairbanks, as well as by Sam de Grasse, the lieutenant who chafes under The Black Pirate's leadership. There's a scene where the Black Pirate takes over a ship by himself, and the athleticism shown by Fairbanks is astounding. Billie Dove plays a fairly typical damsel in distress type as the Princess.

Overall, THE BLACK PIRATE is entertaining, but it could have packed more of a punch with more imaginative direction. However, the color cinematography is generally lovely to look at, and Fairbanks gives a splendid performance. SCORE: 7/10

Entertaining stuff that provides audience amusement thanks to the great Douglas Fairbanks playing an agile pirate

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 31 January 2014]

Fun silent pirate movie , plenty of action , thrills , exciting sword-play , luxurious costumes , athletic feats , fabulous scenarios ; all meld together under Albert Parker's right direction . This exciting swashbuckling deals with the love story of a bold Buccaneer (Douglas Fairbanks) and a gorgeous princess (Billie Dove) and a subsequent vengeance . As a shipwrecked mariner vows vendetta on the pirates who destroyed his father's ship .As he writes on his father's tomb : ¨My father I solemnly vow¨. Seeking revenge, the athletic young man joins the pirate band led by a nasty captain (Randolf) responsible for his father's death . As Fairbanks uses all kind of shrewdness in order to penetrate a well-defended ship and take the command .

Amusing pirate movie , plenty of emotion , astounding adventures , realistic miniature work , evocative cinematography in black and white and luxurious costumes ; this is the quintaessential pirate movie . This classic story of romantic adventure come to life enriched by fabulous scenarios and adapted rightly to the screen . Overwhelming battle ships , sword-play and full of villainy , romance , swashbuckler and heroism . The picture is fast-moving , exciting and thrilling right up to the climatic confrontation between Douglas Fairbanks and his villain enemies . Big budgeted film by United Artists Pictures , using appropriate ship shots and miniature sets when possible . ¨Black pirate¨ results to be Douglas Fairbanks's swashbuckling best and has achieved a classic status . Charming Douglas Fairbanks steals the show when he bounds and leaps , flies and run ; in addition he is the screenwriter of this rollicking adventure . Fairbanks executes athletic feats , moving sword-play and spectacular acrobatics similarly he demonstrated in other classics such as The Mark of Zorro (1920), Robin Hood (1922), Three musketeers , Don Q Son of Zorro , The gaucho , The iron mask , The Taming of the Shrew , Don Juan , Mr Robinson , among others . Douglas performed most of the stunts in his films himself. He was an excellent athlete and used his physical abilities to his best advantage. Douglas was king of Hollywood by that time and he formed his own production company ; during a Liberty Bond tour with Charles Chaplin he fell in love with Mary Pickford with whom he, Chaplin and Griffith had formed United Artists in 1919. In fact, there is a cameo appearance by Mary Pickford as Princess Isobel in Final Embrace . Furthermore , there appears Nino Cochise, grandson of the famous Apache chief Cochise as an extra in this movie , it was his second extra job in Hollywood, his first one being in Douglas Fairbanks' Robin Hood . The crew of Douglas Fairbanks' longboat in the climactic chase and battle were members of the crew of the USS Arizona .

Bright black and white cinematography , though also available in color .This silent version was accompanied with an appropriate piano musical score . The motion picture was professionally realized by Albert Parker who directed some vehicles for Douglas Fairbanks . However , Donald Crisp -who plays a secondary role- was the original director, but after a few days of filming had a falling-out with star Douglas Fairbanks and was replaced by Parker.

Douglas Fairbanks Swashes His Buckle In Grand Fashion

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 4 September 2000]

A nobleman vows vengeance on the cutthroats responsible for his father's death. Becoming THE BLACK PIRATE, he joins their scurvy crew and quickly becomes their leader. But his plans for revenge become more complicated when he meets his first captive - a beautiful Spanish princess.

Roistering, robust & richly detailed, this was one of Douglas Fairbanks' greatest films. With enough excitement to satisfy any lover of adventure, one needs only read the film's prologue to get an idea of its delights: 'A page from the History and Lives of the most Bloodthirsty PIRATES who ever infested THE SOUTHERN SEAS. Being an account of BUCCANEERS & the Spanish MAIN, the Jolly Roger, Golden Galleons, bleached skulls, BURIED TREASURE, the Plank, dirks & cutlasses, SCUTTLED SHIPS, marooning, DESPERATE DEEDS, DESPERATE MEN, and - even on this dark soil - ROMANCE.' Aside from the bleached skulls, everything else is there as promised

Fairbanks is a joy to behold, exulting in his physical prowess, becoming a legend of the screen before the delighted eyes of the viewer. Can any other swashbuckler top the flair or élan of the sequence where Doug captures a merchantman single-handed, climbing up the forecastle & sliding down the slit sails on his dagger, light as any sprite? No one else would have even dared.

As the princess, Billie Dove is beautiful, but has very little to do except look frightened. Donald Crisp, in a change of pace role, is very enjoyable as a gruff one-armed Scots pirate who befriends Fairbanks. Anders Randolf & Sam De Grasse are the black-hearted pirate captain & lieutenant whom Doug must contend with and they are nasty indeed.

A milestone in cinematic history, this was one of the first movies to be filmed entirely in Technicolor. In its restored version, it is very pleasant to the eyes, its antique hues perfectly complementing the richly textured art design, costumes & sets.

For those interested in such things, there are explanations for the various special effects (the underwater attack, for instance), but the reader will need to look elsewhere for them. Sometimes too many facts can spoil the illusion of daydreams so necessary for the enjoyment of silent cinema. Find this fabulous film & dream on.

Too bad about the bleached skulls, though...

Terrific, early color, swashbuckling fun...a Johnny Depp ancestor

[secondtake · 7/10 · 16 October 2010]

The Black Pirate (1926)

If Warner Bros. put out this film, it would be dark and terrifying. All the gritty awful moments, like a pirate casually sticking the sword into his victim, would be unwatchable. And it would have been in cold black and white.

But this is a Douglas Fairbanks film, and in his world, which he controlled in this movie completely (his own Elton Corporation funded it), everything must be cheery. Even when the cast is made of the lowest kind of pirate. "The Black Pirate" is almost a satire right from the title, and it's shot in two-color Technicolor which gives it a rather nice, low-key tinted appearance, and of course our black pirate is not black in skin or in spirit. As his antics and smiles win over this motley crew, it has to be something like a comedy, except for its other sense of high drama and heroism.

Optimism always wins, so you know at the start how it ends. What you don't know is what clever tricks, and physical feats, and twists of plot, will be called to arms to get there. Fairbanks from the 21st Century has become a kind of caricature, something the great comics avoided. Watch a Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton comedy, and the leads are never characters to laugh at, but here, in the theater I just watched this in, there was a kind of appreciative mockery in the laughter, like, "Here he goes again." And he does "go again" up the rigging and down sails and in underwater heroics.

If you haven't seen a Fairbanks, movie, this is a good one to start with. It never slows down, and you really can appreciate the fun, the pure fun, that Fairbanks the actor and producer guaranteed his pre-Depression audiences.

about as good a pirate movie as you can make without sound

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 7 May 2006]

This was an excellent pirate movie and was better than many sound pirate films. However, it's really hard to rate the movie---compared to other silent pirate films, it might just be the best. But, compared to THE SEA HAWK, CAPTAIN BLOOD or THE BLACK SWAN (all wonderful sound pirate films from the 30s and 40s), it isn't as good a film.

So what does the movie do that worked so well for me? First, being a Douglas Fairbanks film, it had wonderful stunts and impeccable production values--something he was known for in his silent films. Second, this film had excellent sets and was the best film money could buy in its day. In fact, it was such a lavish production that it was supposedly the first full-length film made in 2-color Technicolor--an early and somewhat crude way of producing a color movie. Because the film was dyed with green-blue and orange-red dyes, the film mostly looks reddish-green--definitely NOT true color. But, it doesn't look that bad--certainly much better than the horrid colorized films destroyed in the 1980s. Plus, if it hadn't been for films like this, the infinitely better 3-color system might never have been developed by Technicolor. And, finally, the plot is pretty good for a silent film--not the most complex when compared to later films, it's not nearly as simplistic as most other silents.

This video was produced by KINO FILMS. Some of their silent films in the past were less than wonderful (especially some of their Buster Keaton videotapes), but this videotape is top quality and has nice extras at the end of the tape. Some cheaper prints apparently are only black and white, not color. Nice job for the restoration, KINO! However, despite what the video box said, it was apparently NOT the first full-length two-color Technicolor film. I recently saw a restored print from TOLL OF THE SEA (1922) and it was in fact made using this process four years earlier than THE BLACK PIRATE.

Featuring a Spray of Tadpoles . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 5 February 2016]

. . . otherwise known as Oompah Loompah Frogmen & the Princess Who Must Not Be Named, as well as the Nobility of ARNOLDO and 2 pirate Leaders each Dumber THAN the Next + What It looks like when SPARTACUS Scuttles his ship & why NOT include the Ride of Paul Revere and a Dying Dad and a Treasure Grotto and a Human Elevator or HOW ABOUT shredded sails or pointy alarm clocks or lumbering sun dials AND DON'T FORGET TO SEE a man carve a sticky NOTE to himself without the aid of PAPER or STICKUM not to mention THE GIRL who will not give it up to just ANYONE with an ancient Crony Godmother CAN you solve the riddle of just HOW many arms does the steward have if woodchucks could chuck would Douglas Fairbanks have been so quick to build Pickfair if he had an OPTION on Fordbanks first you MAY wonder why Pirates would blow UP merchant ships within swimming distance of their TREASURE ISLAND the prize for MIMICRY regarding the endless subtitle for THE BLACK PIRATE as seen here

Pirate yarns don't get much better than this.

[Space_Mafune · 9/10 · 4 March 2008]

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. stars in this exciting, action-packed swashbuckling pirate adventure yarn, as a young man seeking revenge on a band of pirates after they ransacked and destroyed his ship, killing his father. In trying to achieve his goal, he tricks the pirates into thinking he wants to join their band. Will this ruse work?

This delivers all the thrills and cutthroat pirate action anyone could ever hope for and even more. It has all the elements one looks for and wants from today's big blockbusters: impressive stunts mostly performed by Fairbanks himself, sword fights, pirate treachery, explosions, daring underwater scenes, a damsel in distress, the works. There's a few plot holes and questionable plot twists here and there but it all holds up incredibly well after all these years although in today's world lead actress Billie Dove would have been given more to do. That's a minor nitpick at best. If you like pirate yarns, check this out. Believe me, they just don't get much better than this.

Aarrr!

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 7 October 2009]

What with this being a silent film there isn't an 'Ah-harr!' in sight (or within earshot), but this pirate film has pretty much everything else in terms of the usual paraphernalia. We have sword fights, plundering and looting, walking of the plank, buried treasure, a damsel in distress, a lusty hero, a black-hearted pirate captain and a fair amount of energetic fighting in the foc'sles.

Douglas Fairbanks is the lusty hero in question here and, while he doesn't skip around gaily as he does in Robin Hood he's still a little, shall we say unconventional, for an action hero. We first meet him after his ship has been plundered by a scurvy bunch of dogs (and no mistake). He and his father are the sole survivors from the ship, but dad croaks the moment they wash ashore on a desert island. Doug's so angry about this that he shakes his fist at the sea then sets about carving a notice to the world that he will avenge his father. Quite who he expects to see his words on a desert island is a little vague, but it was obviously something he needed to get off his chest.

The captain of the pirates leads a small party onto the desert island to bury their booty. Doug offers to take on the strongest of them, which just happens to be the captain, so that they will let them be in their gang, and a swordfight follows. It's a shame that the captain had to be killed off so early because I quite liked him. He was certainly more interesting than Doug, with far better dress sense. When we first met him he had a cutlass between his teeth, the way a pirate should, and when he spied a prisoner surreptitiously swallowing a ring he had one of his mates cut the poor soul open to retrieve it. Here was a man who got things done, no doubt about it – although he did have a worrying fondness for offing members of his own crew.

Having killed their captain Doug next gets the crew of the pirate ship on his side by taking a vessel single-handed in what is an improbable but quite enjoyable section of the film. Aboard this captured ship is a comely wench whose fate looks sealed when the crew start drawing lots for who gets first dibs. Earlier, we saw them doing the same thing over who got ownership of a cute capuchin monkey, so we're left in no doubt here as to the social status of the fairer sex in Silent Pirate World. Doug takes a shine to this damsel in distress (which, considering his outfit, is something of a relief) and hatches a cunning plan to save her from a fate worse than death.

Although The Black Pirate is quite slow-moving by today's standards it's still reasonably entertaining for those with patience. The performances are somewhat broad, but the skulduggery that is constantly afoot is diverting enough to stop that from being a major problem. The set design is quite impressive, with a lot of care clearly taken over getting the ship's interior just right. In fact, the set looks even more impressive than those from some much later films. Fairbanks was certainly an athletic leading man but, other than that, what it was about him that made him such a massive star is something of a mystery to me.

David Jeffers for SIFFblog.com

[rdjeffers · 3 July 2007]

It beats selling soap!

Douglas Fairbanks stood alone at the top in 1920. He was the original action hero, and a bona fide movie star. His smiling face appeared on newspapers from coast to coast. The happy-go-lucky upstart of filmdom, clean-cut American destined for danger, was a proved commodity. Why then would he fuss with his formula to produce a costume drama? The Mollycoddle (1920) was the story of a citified dude in the Wild West who foils a gang of diamond smugglers. It was standard fare for 'Doug'. The Mark of Zorro (1920) was a radical departure, starring Fairbanks as a mysterious masked avenger, and the first in a string of films still considered the model for action-adventure. Next came D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (1921) and an epidemic broomstick dueling schoolboys.

Fairbanks' exploration of storybook legends coincided with the development of feature films, and what was seen as an obligation to increase their length and complexity. In order to produce longer films he diluted his stories, slowing the pace by spreading the action over more time and an increasingly complex production design. The Mollycoddle was a reasonable 86 minutes. The Son of Zorro increased to 107, The Three Musketeers (1921) to 119, Robin Hood (1922) to 133 and The Thief of Bagdad (1924) to a whopping 155 minutes!

All were great films, better than great, but they suffered progressively from momentum-killing longevity. William K. Everson described the cost of this elaborate expansion as a loss of "the essentially Fairbanksian qualities, enthusiasm, pace, wit, good humor, and the ability to make points quickly and pungently." Don Q Son of Zorro (1925) while still a bit long at 111 minutes showed a degree of moderation, and played very fast.

The Black Pirate (1926)

Thursday, July 5, 3:30 & 7:00 p.m., The Lynwood, Bainbridge Island

The Black Pirate (1926) was lightning in a bottle, set on the high seas with relentless action, energetic humor and the absence of a pointlessly convoluted plot, held to a sensible 88 minutes. Fairbanks developed fantastic stunts while dazzling his audience with two-strip Technicolor throughout the film. The notable absence of women (much to the delight of Fairbanks' target audience there were only two) was largely due to a storyline occupied by bloodthirsty cutthroats, noble mariners and 'Doug', somewhere in the middle. Billie Dove was cast as the love interest and obligatory damsel in distress, Princess Isobel, based on Fairbanks' belief that she photograph well in color. Donald Crisp was memorable as MacTavish, a one-armed Scottish buccaneer and first mate of sorts, while Fairbanks' mascot Charles Stevens played the powder man, who gleefully encircled captive sailors with a trail of black powder before blowing them up with their ship.

The essence of fairytale Hollywood, The Black Pirate was filmed at Fairbanks/Pickford Studios while Mary was making Sparrows (1926). The story is told that Pickford forbade her husband from kissing another woman, including any actress in any of his films. The final scene of The Black Pirate called for Fairbanks to kiss the Princess. Mary was suitably costumed and facing away from the camera, performed the clincher herself. Another well known story, fact or fable, tells of Fairbanks dashing across the lot to unleash a verbal attack on director William Beaudine after hearing he had placed Mary mere feet from the snapping jaws and razor sharp teeth of ferocious alligators. Other sources claim photographer Charles Rosher employed a 'masked' shot to achieve the effect, with the actors and animals separated by a considerable distance. The animals were also tied down, but 'Doug's' tirade is a far better story.

Fun and Historically Important Swashbuckler

[max4movie · 7/10 · 2 February 2020]

Full review on my blog max4movies: The Black Pirate is a silent adventure movie about a man who infiltrates a pirate crew to bring justice to the men who killed his father. It features great set pieces and boasts generally high production values, however, apart from the frantic finale, there are only few action sequences. The performances and the stunt work are often great, which is why the movie is very entertaining. Apart from being one of the earliest color movies with a broad release, the movie is still very influential (e.g., the sliding down the sails scene). The plot is rather conventional, and the ending clichéd, but considering its age and impact, The Black Pirate is still very entertaining and fun throughout.

The Black Pirate (1926)

[fntstcplnt · 7/10 · 28 April 2020]

Directed by Albert Packer. Starring Douglas Fairbanks, Billie Dove, Sam De Grasse, Donald Crisp, Anders Randolf, Tempe Pigott, E. J. Ratcliffe.

Vigorous silent swashbuckler with Fairbanks as a nobleman who becomes a pirate in order to exact revenge on the scalawags that sunk his ship and killed his father. Humdrum direction, and the romance with a hostage "princess" (Dove) is a bit feeble, but the production is brimming with graceful and acrobatic stunts, derring-do and sword fights, plank-walking and booty-hoarding (even drawing lots for a prize monkey), plus the famous scene of Fairbanks "sliding" down sails while singlehandedly seizing a ship! Fine, frivolous fun, with a scale rarely matched by its descendants. One of the earliest movies to be filmed in two-strip Technicolor, though some prints are in tinted black & white.

73/100

The Black Pirate

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 12 September 2022]

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.

Don't Mess with Doug

[wes-connors · 8/10 · 11 April 2008]

In this "page from the history and lives of the most bloodthirsty pirates who ever infested the southern seas," the title cards explain, "it was the custom of these pirates to subdue their prey, loot the ship, bind their captives, and blow them up." That's exactly what happens to seafarer Douglas Fairbanks and his father, as the film begins. But, you don't mess with Doug. Mr. Fairbanks survives the attack, and infiltrates the offending ship (as "The Black Pirate"), vowing revenge, particularly due to the death of his father. Fairbanks also finds romance on ship, with kidnapped princess Billie Dove (as Isobel), whom he saves from gang rape.

Colorful entertainment, from Fairbanks and company. Notable for the early feature-length color photography, by Henry Sharp; and, for Fairbanks' typically robust performance. Mrs. Fairbanks (aka Mary Pickford) stands in for the kissing long shot, near the film's end. Donald Crisp and Sam De Grasse are among the entertaining supporting players. In hindsight, the use of color probably hampered the production somewhat, as it looks more restrictive than other Fairbanks films of the 1920s. Still, it's a classic.

An earliest Nicer Pirate Film against the tide. Douglas Fairbanks- An ancestor to great On-Screen Pirates like Errol Flynn and Johnny Depp.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 7/10 · 20 July 2021]

The Black Pirate (1926) : Brief Review -

An earliest Nicer Pirate Film against the tide. Douglas Fairbanks- An ancestor to great On-Screen Pirates like Errol Flynn and Johnny Depp. Michael Curtiz's 'Captain Blood' is the First Pirate Classic ever and also the Greatest pirate film ever for me, you can agree or just ignore. The fact that The Black Pirate came almost a decade before surely leaves me worried about dishonoring it for going against the tide. Whether it is Captain Blood or modern Classic 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' (2003), both the films followed those notorious rules of pirate while this film went against the tide with the protagonist of the story. However, the cumulative results were still satisfying but not enough for a Classic tag compared to those two classics i just mentioned. Thankfully, Douglas Fairbanks portrays a great pirate even though he's not the one (i heted that part actually), his body language, tricks used to fool others everything is best for the time. One just can't deny the factual value and heroism of this film and his character when you look at it as a 1926's Flick. They made the best possible version for their time, but today it definitely stands behind Captain Blood and POTC. Maybe having not gone against the characteristics and basics of a pirate would have helped the film and it would have brought more conviction and quirky patterns for sure. Nevertheless, it makes solid heroic tale set in typical revenge and romance drama zone. Some scenes in the film are really amazing even when i consider its visual appeal for today's audience. Overall, it's a fantastic watch for superb performance of Fairbanks and his acrobatics and couple of amazing grand style sequences of Pirates world. I wish it had understood the main Motive and meaning of 'Pirate' word and we might have experienced the First Pirate Classic in World Cinema and that too in Silent era.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

First seen on Silents Please

[GJValent · 10/10 · 30 June 2008]

I saw The Black Pirate during the first season(?) of Silents Please, before the Ernie Kovacs hosted episodes. Of course, it was a truncated 20 or so black and white minutes of a 90 minute color film. Still, the two scenes that stuck in my mind were the 'sword ride down the sail', and the underwater swimming sequence. I saw this episode once, and at 9 or 10 years old, didn't pay much attention to the actors. Once after that, I asked my father if that was the, 'pirate from the silent movie', while we were watching something with Gilbert Roland. My father had no idea what I was talking about. Now, sometime in the 1990s, I caught a cable documentary about silent films, (there are ****loads of docs about them), and one featured a short color sequence of The Black Pirate. OMG, I saw that 40 years ago ! Now I knew the flick, the star, the format. A quick Google and I ordered a Kino video, (pre DVD), of The Black Pirate. Everything I remembered was there, and, a LOT more. Like 70 minutes more, and, in COLOR. I don't know how big a hit this was, but, it should have been the Titanic of its day. A fast moving story, lots of action, sex(sort of), violence, revenge, and COLOR ! Also, you only had to sit still for 90 minutes instead of 4 hours. Anyway, Doug shows again why he was the King of Hollywood. Great stunts, good looking, able to do ANYTHING. BTW, the additional features on the video/DVD show you how he was able to do anything. If you haven't seen it, this 'footnote' to the history of 'silent, color film', is a must see/have.

Doug Walks The Plank

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 5 July 2011]

One of Douglas Fairbanks best known roles is The Black Pirate in which he's not so blackhearted after all, but instead the son of a duke who was treacherously killed by the pirates Fairbanks joins and upon whom he plans to wreak vengeance.

Along the way Doug meets and falls for a genuine princess as well in the person of Billie Dove. She too has fallen into their hands, but a quick thinking Doug persuades his new companions that they could do far better holding her for a nice ransom.

The Black Pirate is primarily known for the spectacular stunts that Doug was still doing as his fans expected him. He was 43 when he made The Black Pirate, but was a man who kept himself in remarkably good shape even at that age. After the coming of sound, middle age would descend on Fairbanks rapidly. The most famous stunt of all was repeated several times in the film with Fairbanks descending down a length of sail by sticking his cutlass in it and going down like an elevator. Errol Flynn tried the same thing in Against All Flags and broke an ankle in the process.

Fans might recognize Donald Crisp who was also directing the film originally as one of the pirates. The screenplay was written by Fairbanks himself under a pseudonym. Some artistic differences got Crisp replaced, but still in the film as an actor.

The film holds up remarkably well as do all of Douglas Fairbanks silent films, the action is infectious and engrossing as is the larger than life personality of Douglas Fairbanks.

A Lavish & Entertaining Fairbanks Spectacle

[Snow Leopard · 28 July 2004]

It would be hard to find a role more suitable for Douglas Fairbanks than "The Black Pirate", and when you add the lavish sets and costumes, plus an early form of color photography, it makes for an enjoyable and entertaining spectacle. The story has plenty of action and excitement, but it also includes some good character development that adds to the interest of the story itself.

The story follows Fairbanks's character through a series of events that give him a good variety of material and scenery to work with. From the opening shipwreck scene, to his meeting with the pirates, to the tense series of confrontations that follow, his scenes range from heroic to sympathetic, from impressing the crew to facing desperate predicaments, and much in between. While there are the occasional nods to stock cinema conventions, in general it is a satisfying story. Although the Black Pirate is the center of attention, the supporting cast members also all do a good job when they get the chance.

It is also quite interesting to see one of the earliest attempts to film a feature-length picture in color. It's hard to tell how good it might have looked in its original form, since in some stretches the color is now noticeably drab - but at other times the color is surprisingly good-looking. The color provides just one more reason that this is one of the more popular movies of the silent era.

One of the Douglas Fairbanks classics

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 16 May 2014]

Douglas Fairbanks is a contender for the greatest silent-film star, and of all the films I've seen of his they've never been less than entertaining, having seen The Mark of Zorro, The Thief of Baghdad, The Three Musketeers, The Iron Mask, Robin Hood and this. All are great, with my favourites being The Thief of Baghdad, The Mark of Zorro and this, The Black Pirate. As with all of Fairbanks' films, the film looks great and holds up well, the sets are suitably lavish and The Black Pirate really does look as though it was shot with care. The pacing is snappy without being rushed though with time to breathe for the more dramatic parts, and the direction shows a sure hand and an imaginative touch. The story is simple and quite standard but is still a huge amount of rollicking fun, both in drama and adventure. That is helped further by the impeccable stunts that are equally so in execution, then again that was hardly going to be a disappointment considering that all of Douglas Fairbanks' films have great stunts, and also some very imaginative set pieces and touches. Especially good were the underwater swim, beautifully shot and daringly choreographed, and the knife-blade descent down a billowing sail, which thrilled audiences then and still thrills now. The acting is good, with the exception of beautiful Billie Dove, who looks lost and doesn't have a lot to do. Anders Randolf and Sam De Grasse are appropriately sinister villains who come close to stealing the show in places(Randolf is particularly great, truly hissable), and Donald Crisp is characteristically excellent even in a cast against type role here. But it is Fairbanks' film, the very meaning of a bravura performance, whether in his charismatic acting to his dazzlingly athletic stunts, Fairbanks fans will be in awe guaranteed. To conclude, a great film and one of Douglas Fairbanks' best. 9/10 Bethany Cox