The Black Pirate (1926)
It's the story of a virtuous man turned pirate in order to save the one he loves; he must achieve this through great ingenuity and diplomacy. Our villainous pirates have an insatiable lust for treasure and take a woman hostage in their pursuits. Ultimately, the pirates must face the British Navy and a fantastic battle ensues.
But it is not Pirates of the Caribbean the review has described above, rather The Black Pirate, an early swashbuckler film that strikingly adheres to a template of pirate cinema that has now been observed for more than a century.
The early portion of the story is appropriately simple and leads to some truly satisfying moments. The Black Pirate challenges the captain of the crew, meaning to usurp him; what follows is a fascinating sword-fighting sequence featuring dual-wielding by both parties. Both swords are used to equal effect rather than one serving as mere ornament. This was an early deployment of the time-honored tradition of swordplay as central to swashbuckler cinema.
Another fantastic sequence comes when the Black Pirate, to inspire trust amongst the other pirates and earn his place as leader, assures them he can take a ship single-handedly. And he does so in inventive fashion, disabling the rudder, climbing the stern, using counterweights to reach and destroy the sails, and riding a knife downward as he cuts them. This culminates with the Black Pirate holding the ship at gunpoint while the rest of the pirate crew arrive to seize the ship. These sorts of antics have often been repeated, such as in the aforementioned Pirates of the Caribbean.
Other technical marvels stand out, chief among them being a shot which tracks our hero as he moves through the ship. Somewhere near the base of the vessel, he jumps into the air while surrounded by his comrades. As if crowd surfing, hands and arms appear from the mass of people to bear his weight, moving him upward as he ascends deck after deck. Even a century ago, this sort of visual spectacle was a hallmark of the genre.
The Black Pirate is not above reproach, though. The love story is particularly contrived and difficult to attach to as it is not based on any sense of familiarity or earned affection. Similarly, the movie's effort to legitimize the Black Pirate through noble birth seems like a lazy last-minute addition to add credibility to the idea of romance between him and our damsel in distress.
The film capitalizes on its pirate premise to deliver some truly unique visuals and stunts. Unfortunately, last-minute declarations of love and nobility undercut some of its other efforts. Nonetheless, The Black Pirate is a worthy entry in swashbuckler cinema and proves that recent efforts have been reaching quite far back in their search for inspiration.