great old movie
Added 8/29/2009
I love Gene Kelly and have seen most of his movies. I heard about this one and watched it and was not disapointed. Judy Garland and Gene Kelly were fantastic together in this movie. If you love old movies and musicals this is a must see.
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Classic Musical!
Added 7/17/2009
Gene Kelly and Judy Garland are great in this. It is truly a beautiful musical with unforgettable songs, such as "Be a Clown."
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Luscious Garland in brilliant farce--one of her very best roles.
Added 9/24/2008
Though Gene Kelly is superb as the athletic strolling player Serafin, and is given some of the best dancing opportunities of his career, this is Miss Garland's film all the way. And what a film! How strange that it isn't better known.
In one of their rare moments of scenic largesse, Metro released Garland from the small town confinements of Hardy--ville, and/or the sweet girl who makes it to Broadway with the corn stalks still in her suitcase, and gave her something of genuine wit and sophistication.
For here, she is Manuela Alvarez, of the colonial Virgin Islands, a well born, cloistered 19th century maiden, (presumably convent educated, i.e., Gladys Cooper to Judy, "...we'll take refuge in the church!") whose only psychic escape from her self enclosure consists in fantasizing about the notorious pirate, "Mack the Black Macoco." That she is tricked into believing a dashing actor, Serafin (Kelly) is the real Macoco, while in fact he is none other than her lumpy affianced, Mayor Dom Pedro (Walter Slezak) is the spindle upon which this cinematic yarn spins its glories.
And what phantasmagoric glories they are! This ranks with "Yolanda and the Thief," (sorry "American in Paris" fans) as Mr. Minnelli's most accomplished Technicolor visual achievement. For working with Jack Martin Smith, he concocts a Caribbean sea port a swirl with color and characters--one can almost smell the salt air a waft with spice and languor, and including as well: a quay brimming with turbanned negroe vendors, a village of Salmon and off white stucco walls, and black filagreed wrought iron against a cerulean sky, and bevys of extras dressed in a fortune worth of rainbow colored moire, velvet and brocade flounces, furbellows, snoods, and gauntlets. The shaded interiors are replete with empire furniture, carved ebony, and bamboo blinds and palmettos.
The effect is dreamlike in an operetta sort of way and deliberately so. A storybook come to life but one which successfully combines the conventions of 19th century aristocratic propriety, (in which young women of quality do not walk out without their duennas) against 20th century show biz colloquialisms to great effect, (one thinks here of Mr. Kelly's delightful reference to a review in the "Trinidad Clarion comparing him to David Garrick","No Noose is Good Noose," and "You should try underplaying sometime."
The players are at the top of their form: Mr. Kelly is in full command of his powers here: his partnering with the Nicholas Brothers in "Be a Clown," as well as the "Pirate Ballet" (in which he pivots with a javelin against a cinnabar sky lit with explosions) almost literally take ones breath away.
But it is in "Ninia" that he achieves the most felicitous display of solo Terpsichore, with Robert Alton's choreography, Harry Stradling's fluid boom camera following his cat like moves over up and through the town, and the delightful Cole Porter lyric and melody, culminating in flamenco steps with torrid and tempting MGM contract dancers in and through the striped poles of a circular gazebo.
Of Miss Garland enough cannot be said. No more Betsy Booth! Manuela offers her a chance to broaden her range in a direction in which (sadly) she would never venture again.
Here her exasperated intonations wring humor out of every line and situation, "Oh Casilda I do wish you were a little more spiritual!" or "Do you call it fun to live in a tent? to go hungry ?, to be looked down on by all decent people?!" give full vent to the drollery the script affords. Indeed, she channels her trademarked nervous energy into her character in such a way, that she, (as "Parent's Magazine" noted in its review) gently spoofs some of her earlier film characterizations. Thus we get the Dorothy like: ("I know it, something dreadful is going to happen, something dreadful...") It's a performance that one cannot simply imagine any other actress playing. Thus, she claims the role and makes it her own.
And who can forget the scene where she pretends to believe Serafin is Macoco once she has discovered the deception, "I can see us now, you with your cutlass in one hand and your compass in the other, shouting orders to your pirate crew, and I, I spurring you on to greater and greater achievements, won't that be magnificent?!" to which she pounds her fist against the table with sugar dipped venom.
Musically she is also a delight from start to finish.
Moreover, she has never been seen to such pictorial advantage in the post war period as she is here, gowned by Tom Keogh and Madame Karinska in one of the most arresting (and beaded!) wardrobes she ever wore on screen, and just as importantly, effectively coiffed throughout, (most particularly in the "Love of My Life" sequence where she is adorned with a coral diadem and matching earrings.)
Similarly, her close-ups are meltingly lovely, such as the nightgown clad scene wherein she begs Gladys Cooper to take her to Port Sebastian, "I'll make him a good wife Aunt Inez--really." (what a vision in feminine charm she is here!) or slightly later when, clad in a broad brimmed straw hat she gazes upon the Caribbean, or perhaps best of all, with a conch shell at her ear, and under hypnosis, she whispers of Macoco to dazzled interlocutors.
Supporting players are top of the mark, and it is interesting to see Garland interact with Gladys Cooper and horror veteran George Zucco.
After it was completed, MGM relegated Garland back to formula vaudeville hokum, but thankfully "The Pirate" was already in the can. Musical film scholar Douglas McVay has declared it to be the best musical film of 1948. He's right. See it to find out why.
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Classic Musicals
Added 7/22/2008
I'm a fan of classic musicals, and am thankful so many are available now on DVD. The Pirate is one of my favorites. Thank you.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A wonderful musical with two of the best performers of all time!
Added 4/2/2008
One Christmas about 25 years ago, one of our TV channels decided to show several Judy Garland films over the festive period. I had always loved The Wizard of Oz and Judy Garland's voice, so I decided to watch them all. Around the same time I recall seeing An American In Paris and loved this musical as well and Gene Kelly's performance was amazing. One film that I never managed to see was The Pirate and this has been frustrating me for years because I really wanted to see Garland and Kelly perform together.
As I live in the UK, most of these films are not particularly popular or readily available but the internet has now created far more access to foreign releases and this Christmas I thought I would see if some of those films I saw as a teenager were available on DVD anywhere. Sure enough I found several US released Garland films on Amazon and one of them was The Pirate.
Initialy I was apprehensive because I was hoping for a spectacular musical with wonderful sets, songs and performances but this film never seems to be talked about. I was not dissapointed however as I was soon glued to the TV, stunned by Garland's beauty and voice as well as Kelly's charm and performances and of course some wonderful sets. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of this film though is the bond between Garland and Kelly which is something that cannot be created upon demand, it is something wonderful that happens very very rarely!
One of the biggest surprises for me was the story line because the title is very suggestive of a tale of high seas and lots of swashbuckling. The actual plot however is far more imaginative and binds perfectly with the style of Garland and Kelly to create a most fantastic spectacle.
This must surely be one of the most underated films ever made! For anyone who enjoys musicals, amazing talent and wonderful sets then you must see The Pirate, a true master piece of it's time with two of the era's most loved performers and in my opinion, the best there has ever been!
5 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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Picky, picky, picky...
Added 12/15/2008
People quibble about the quality of these movies as a whole, but you will be more than pleased to see the full versions of the dance numbers that were mostly heavily edited in "That's Entertainment!".
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Classic Musicals? You bet they are.
Added 5/22/2008
This classic colection Vol 2 contains some movies very hard to find otherwise like Thats Dancing. This collection will keep musical fans happy for many an hour. The DVD quality is excellent, its almost like seeing these musicals for the first time. I loved every second.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Four Stars of Three Star Movies
Added 10/6/2007
Watching these films again, in the best restorations ever available, it is fun to reassign their status in the MGM musical pantheon. That Midnight Kiss, the first and now I think the most entertaining of the Mario Lanza musicals, gets new status for me. The Toast of New Orleans is slow to start and features an already plumper Lanza en route to Brandoland! The Belle of New York is a trifle but a trifle is a dessert and it is full of charming moments. Vera Ellen was never presented to better advantage while Fred Astaire, having some fun out of tails, looks more like Buster Keaton than Cary Grant's closest rival for best tailored movie actor. The Pirate is just short of wonderful which is very disappointing. Except for the score and a couple of novelty dances Royal Wedding is a dud. Stanley Donen's lack of experience as a director combined with the bad casting of a competent but not starry Sarah Churchill make you wonder why they didn't cast Margaret Truman in the Jane Powell role and have a truly puzzling historical document. That's Dancing is primarily tedious to a video generation that can see anything it so chooses. Words and Music has Hart (and Rodgers) but lacks truth and heart.
3 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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