The Pirate (1948)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Yes, this is another old MGM musical with Gene Kelly and Judy Garland, which is more an excuse for singing and dancing rather than plot. Problem is, the singing and dancing (especially by Gene Kelly) is good, but too sparse compared to the rest of the movie's running time, and worse yet, the musical scenes are almost peripheral to the movie's story line itself.The plot actually had potential. Judy Garland is a young adult raised by her aunt, who has arranged for her to marry her small town's wealthy, but fat and seemingly dull mayor. The marriage is for financial reasons, and Garland isn't impressed by her fiancé. In fact, Garland has her mind in a fantasy world, dreaming of leaving her sheltered existence and travailing the world, even being taken away by the legendary pirate Macoco. Gene Kelly is the head of a group of strolling entertainers who learns about Garland's fantasies and wants Garland for himself. But then comes a shocking plot twist which, if the producers had properly developed it, could have added real tension and depth to the movie. Instead, the movie ends up drifting toward an unsatisfactory conclusion.You might enjoy this if all you want to see is Gene Kelly singing and dancing. But there are far better musicals out there that you can see instead.

At the beginning of The Pirate we learn Manuela (Judy Garland) has a life of servitude ahead of her while she yearns for a life of adventure. She desires to be taken away by the legendary Mack the Black, swooning over dreams of stolen treasure, maidens captive, of villages destroyed; kind of twisted don't you think? Regardless I don't think anyone can project an innocent yearning for adventure better than Judy Garland. The Pirate was a different role for Garland; more exotic, less girl next door and more grown up. For once she plays the object of desire and I find she pulls this off perfectly as although I've never found Garland to be a woman of sexual appeal, I do find her one of great beauty (why she was ever referred to as an ugly duckling is beyond me). At heart however Manuela is still very much a Judy Garland character, a down to Earth girl with aspirations for greater things.The title of The Pirate could come off as misleading. Gene Kelly isn't a pirate but rather a performer named Serafin masquerading as one. No the pirate of The Pirate is Mack the Black, whom in a odd turn of events is actually the man Manuela is going to wed in an arranged marriage known as Don Pedro, the mayor of a small Caribbean town who has put his life of crime behind him and kept it a secret. The Pirate is enhanced on second viewing knowing the true identity of Don Pedro as he speaks of his dislike of travelling on the sea and telling Manuela home is the perfect spot; remind you of another Judy Garland film? There is even a moment in which Manuela frantically tells Auntie Inez (Gladys Cooper) she wants to go home which feels like Wizard of Oz redux. The second half of the pirate is one huge comic, screwball like farce which doesn't fully work for me; it's amusing but not so much laugh out loud making me prefer the first half to the second. The Pirate shows Gene Kelly had the ability to be a natural swashbuckler while his introductory sequence in which he gives a lengthy monologue promoting his acting troupe has to be one of his most entertaining non-musical moments on screen. However what really makes his role in The Pirate stand out among his other films is the oozing sexuality he projects on screen; more than any other film he did. Serafin is a real Don Juan with his Gable like moustache as well as with his tightly fit pirate attire and the wipe he is seen sporting in the film (plus that cigarette trick, what a play-a!) His introductory song Nina is one steamy number with Kelly flirting and dancing with oodles of women (just look at that state his hair is in by the end of the number) while the topical setting just enhances the eroticism. The Pirate is another movie in the "how did they get away with that club". You can censor all you want but you can't tell someone to simply stop projecting natural sexuality. Although Judy and Gene do display affection for each other at points in the film, the romantic element of The Pirate comes off to me as secondary. Serafin pursues Manuela for reasons other than love as he can tell she is going into a life she doesn't want due to his ability to know an entire woman through their body language. This gives his character another element and shows he isn't totally shallow and just out to get laid; he wants to prevent Manuela from going down a path she doesn't want to and expose the adventuress that she is as well as her hidden performing talents. By the end it's evident they share a more of a professional association than a romantic one, nor is there even a final kiss between the two.Mack the Black is the musical highlight of the film and an interesting change of pace seeing Judy Garland doing a more racy number. Mack the Black was the replacement for a number titled Voodoo of which the negatives where burned at Louis B Mayer's instance over the number's reportedly scandalous content. Would it be considered shocking by today's standards, was it even that shocking to begin with? - One can only imagine. As the audio still survives, the song itself is one of the darker, more eerie songs in the MGM library but doesn't strike me particularly memorable. Perhaps going with Mack the Black was the right decision after all. Be a Clown on the other hand is notably the basis for the song Make 'em Laugh from Singin' In the Rain and plagiarised it may be, Make 'em Laugh is a far superior rendition in my view. The ballet sequence in The Pirate however is a treat with a real sense of three dimensional depth. The sequence with its many explosions and Gene Kelly's masculine athleticism makes for one of the more primal musical numbers in film history.The production values of The Pirate aren't quite up to MGM's usual standard with clear dividing lines on the sky backgrounds, visible wires holding Gene Kelly on the tight rope and even a very visible thread attached to Judy's hat as its hoisted away by the wind. Come on MGM, you can do better than that. Ultimately The Pirate is not my favourite MGM musical but is unique enough to make it worthwhile.

I saw this when I was a teenager and absolutely hated it. It took me several decades before I gave it another chance. Now it is hypnotizing. The whole thing has a very dreamlike quality. I think what made it unappealing when I was younger is it is basically burlesque. It seemed corny. But as we get older our attitudes about what is funny become different. I remember my mother in hysterics over "Hee Haw!" and I was embarrassed. Last time I saw it I was howling. The look of the film is as if you are watching a stage production. They are not trying to create any reality. There are moments that are absolutely hilarious and in its own way rather sophisticated. The performers are at their peaks. The score is what is disappointing. Cole Porter wasn't the composer for this sort of work. But "Be a Clown" is a terrific number (in both parts of it) and Judy is sexy in "Mack the Black." I never thought I would like this movie. Now it is something I look forward to. I have never seen anything else quite like it and what greater praise can you give a movie.

Johnny Depp probably thinks he has the market cornered on people who have connected to both pirates (with his umpteen flicks based on the Disneyland ride) and Oz (with the latest remake of the movie about the Wizard's realm). However, Judy Garland again plays an orphan just-beyond-waif-years in THE PIRATE, nine years after she visited Oz as Dorothy Gale. The tropical island location where this story takes place is as much of a Never-Never Land as the one Peter Pan dominated. People here are constantly reinventing themselves, and everyone is free to "Be a Clown," as the show-stopping number of this musical suggests. Cole Porter is heard at his best here, and Gene Kelly as an ever-resourceful entertainer willing to risk his life for the woman he loves has seldom been better. Judy Garland often shines brightest when playing a character whose pride constantly is stepping on the toes of her possible happiness, and THE PIRATE epitomizes this sort of dilemma. Walter Slezak has perhaps the toughest role here, as the eventual patsy tricked into losing everything for the sake of HIS pride, and he pulls off the dual role of the mayor and the REAL pirate with great aplomb.