VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Console best movie i've ever seen.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

JoeytheBrit 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.

rdjeffers 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 IslandThe 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.

khedges1 I saw this with live orchestral accompaniment at the local high school. We cheered and booed the dashing hero and dastardly villain and had a fantastic time. They were amazingly professional and should take this on tour at old theaters with orchestra pits. Go ArMack! If your local symphony orchestra does this as a silent movie show, the movie is good enough to enjoy even if the music isn't as great as ours was.This is definitely the sort of thing that inspired The Princess Bride, one of my all-time favorites. Lots of swashbuckling adventure, romance, and humor. The plot worked a lot better than most movies I see (or don't bother seeing) these days, and it was very well paced. I was surprised how few dialog cards they needed to use, too.I thought the color looked kind of washed out, but maybe that was the computer projector they were using. I'd love to see a 35-mm print on a big screen.If you're looking for a movie to perform live accompaniment with, this is an excellent choice.

Snow Leopard 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.