Week Four: The Black Pirate (1926)

Director: Albert Parker

Producer: Douglas Fairbanks

Writer: Jack Cunningham

Cinematography: Henry Sharp, Arthur Ball, and George Cave
Music: Mortimer Wilson

Starring: Douglas Fairbanks (The Black Pirate/Arnoldo), Billie Dove (Isobel), Sam De Grasse (Pirate Lieutenant), Donald Crisp (MacTavish), Anders Randolf (Pirate Captain), Tempe Pigott (Duenna)

You can watch The Black Pirate for completely free on YouTube

Before You Watch the Movie

(First make sure you have read the introduction to this series)

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. was one of the biggest, most important stars of the silent era, so much so that he was dubbed the “King of Hollywood.” He had been making films for five years, mostly comedies, when in 1920 Fairbanks starred in The Mark of Zorro, birthing not only his everlasting place in movie history but also the action-adventure film genre. Fairbanks was films’ first true action star and his performances established for all time the template of the athletic, smiling, carefree hero that would be the standard in action-adventure throughout Hollywood’s golden period and the primary influence for every swashbuckling style adventure stars in media, from Indiana Jones and Aladdin to Jack Sparrow and Nathan Drake. In the twenties, Fairbanks ran the gamut of classic adventure characters (Zorro twice, d’Artagnan twice, Robin Hood, the Thief of Bagdad, as well as pirates, and gauchos) giving the first presentations of the character’s classic film iconography.

The Black Pirate is a prime example of Hollywood’s predilection to focus on the legend over fact. Pirates weren’t really like they are portrayed on the screen, but the classic image is far more interesting and what people wanted to see. Even if you make the argument that in 1926 fact and fiction were far more blurred, just look at the recent Pirates of the Caribbean films; no one can argue that the truth about pirates was widely known when these movies were made and yet they follow the more interesting fiction even more blatantly. The Black Pirate hits all the classic pirate beats:

The Black Pirate contains a multitude of pirate iconography, from the powder trail...

...to pet monkeys...

...dividing of loot...

...buried treasure...

...treasure maps...

...secret chambers...

...walking the plank...

...pirate phrases...

...and even pirate-y talk.

What also may be surprising to those not versed in silent film history is the fact that The Black Pirate was filmed in Technicolor. It is important to note that at this time Technicolor was more limited than the version used in the thirties and beyond. The first feature-length film using three what most now think of as Technicolor was The Cat and the Fiddle, released in 1934. That version of Technicolor was three-strip Technicolor, in which images are filmed on three separate strips of film, one filtered red and the others blue and green, they combined to make the color you see on the screen. Two-strip Technicolor, which The Black Pirate was filmed with, didn’t have the blue strip and therefore looks more muted and has a lesser range of color. Despite not being the full version, two-strip Technicolor has a unique beauty to it none-the-less.

Using Technicolor gave Fairbanks, director Albert Parker, and art director Carl Oscar Borg a chance to closely imitate one of the most important influences, both literary and visual, on pirate archetypes: Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates...

Once again, you can watch The Black Pirate from completely free on YouTube

After You Watch the Movie (Spoilers Below)

All of Fairbanks’ films established the action-adventure formula very clearly and The Black Pirate is no different. These films walk a tightrope when it comes to the protagonist, providing the correct balance of interesting and noble. Pirates are obviously the most interesting part of their own stories, they get to do all the exciting things and are subtly anti-authority to boot. That authority, usually some colonial government, is not nearly as appealing and any story centering on a character hunting down pirates wouldn’t have a very sympathetic hero. On the other hand, pirates are also obviously criminals who rape, pillage, murder, and steal, not exactly the archetype for a sympathetic hero. So then some narrative devices must be used in order to make the protagonist both interesting and appealing. The Black Pirate accomplishes that by having its protagonist only taking on the guise of a pirate in a noble cause, finding justice for his murdered father. This same principle can be applied to many classic heroes, such as Robin Hood or Zorro, as well as comic book characters like Batman. These are characters who take on a role and break the law for the greater good, potentially sacrificing their noble standing for a cause.

Arnoldo remains a sympathetic hero because has a noble cause... 

...bringing his father's killers to justice.

The classic swashbuckling action hero isn’t only just in their motivations and actions, they are also more advanced in both athletic ability and intelligence. The Black Pirate fights not just with his brawn but also his brain, a combination that allows him to stand up to and best several other, regular men at the same time. He is quicker, smarter, and stronger even though other characters may be bigger, the hero is imbued with a special sort of strength, perhaps birthed from the nobility of their cause. This clear superiority inspires both loyalty and admiration in his followers.

Even going up against a bigger opponent, the hero has an advantage...

...using his wits as much as his brawn...

...to outsmart and defeat his enemy.

Likewise, the hero can use his intelligence to achieve great individual accomplishments...

...simultaneously avoiding killing innocents... 

...while also winning the admiration of the pirates.

Fairbanks was an ideal blueprint for this type of hero because of his persona on an off the screen. In the movies, Fairbanks was a physical marvel, a fountain of energy and enthusiasm who did his own stunts and made sure that audiences knew it. Off camera, Fairbanks was a savvy businessman who was one of the first to see the benefit of being his own producer who could control not only the artistic content of his films but also the distribution rights.

Fairbanks did his own stunts, including the oft-imitated cutting-the-sail move.

Every hero must have his villain and in this case that is the Pirate Lieutenant, who’s level of potential threat to the Black Pirate is made clear by the fact that he doesn’t even get a name. Still, this early version of the action movie antagonist has some important traits that will be repeated often in future films. Firstly, he is cunning, outsmarting the hero at times though never getting the last laugh of course. Also, the villain isn’t just an opponent to the hero in pirate-y matters, he is also a rival when it comes to the love of the heroine. Almost all this love is unrequited and in the case of the Pirate Lieutenant, borders on rape more so than love. The villain is often a threat physically to both the hero and his lady, raising the stakes for the former as he must protect the latter. In the end, the Pirate Lieutenant proves to neither outsmart our hero or outfight him. Characterizations are often lacking in these early action films and The Black Pirate is no different. In coming decades villains would be fleshed out more and become an even more credible threat to the hero.

Antagonists not only provide a physical threat to the hero...

...but often are also a threat to their lady-love, either romantically or physically.

Likewise, the role of the heroine would also evolve. Isobel is mostly just a damsel in distress, though she does get one moment of action, slipping the Black Pirate the knife, for the most part, she is passive. With each era of film, female characters in action films would be given more and more to do and more agency in their own fates leading to today’s cinema in which women are often equal or superior to the supposed hero of the story. Contemporary films like Mad Max: Fury Road and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation give us heroines who outshine the stories main hero and in some ways relegate them to the backseat and are better for it. 

Isobel is a typically passive early action film heroine...

...though she does get one crucial moment of action...

...that ends up saving Arnoldo.

In early films like The Black Pirate, the heroine's arc is usually based on their progression from antagonistic to the hero to in love. When Isobel and the Black Pirate meet, he is her captor and a criminal. However, she is quickly won over by his nobility and the rightness of his cause. This will become a common refrain in future action-adventure movies, though fortunately it is handled with a bit more nuance.

A standard romance plot in film, a relationship that starts out antagonistic...

...soon turns to love.

In addition to the villain and fair lady, every hero also needs his supporting cast of allies. The Black Pirate, like many classic action-adventure films, focuses on a singular hero who is the focus of the story but not a lone wolf either. The hero is provided with sidekicks who help along the way as well as proving a bit of much needed comic relief.

Sidekicks provide both support for the hero and comic relief for the audience.

Fairbanks dominated the box office throughout the twenties, but like so many silent stars he struggled with the transition to sound. Additionally, his health was failing him which hurt his image on the screen. Less than ten years after the release of The Black Pirate, Fairbanks had made his final film. Fairbanks was as influential and successful off the screen as he was on, founding the independent studio United Artists in 1919 that sought to give creative control to the filmmakers over the studios heads and Mr. Moneybags that so often dictated the direction of a film. UA was founded in combination with fellow cinematic pioneers Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and Mary Pickford, the latter of whom married Fairbanks in 1920, forming Hollywood’s first power couple.    

See Also

The Mark of Zorro (1920)

Fairbank’s big breakthrough and arguably the first action-adventure film.
Watch it for free on YouTube

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

His more impressive and visually satisfying film, though it contains plenty of swashbuckling moments The Thief of Bagdad is also a fantasy loaded with groundbreaking visual effects.
Watch it for free on YouTube

The Gaucho (1927)

Fairbank’s most interesting film, a sort-of post-modern take on his previous characters and personas, The Gaucho is darker and more intense than any other of his movies.

Let me know what you think either here or on Twitter @bottlesofsmoke