The Black Pirate (Review)
Wednesday, 27th April 2011, 10:16

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The Disc

Extra Features

The first thing I did once the film had finished was to put on the commentary by Rudy Behlmer and listen to his audio essay. As is the case with most of his commentaries, this isn't scene specific and will only be of interest to those who don't mind a commentary track being dry and factual rather than jovial and entertaining. Behlmer has a great deal to say about the film, Douglas Fairbanks’ life and career and other related subjects which he covers very well with plenty of details.

The default audio is the original score by Mortimer Wilson but this has a new score by Lee Erwin (which comprises organ rather than orchestral music) which is an interesting alternative without being one that is better than the original, but it is a fascinating interpretation of the on-screen events. They are different pieces of music, both suiting the film well, but I just feel Wilson's composition is more polished and feels more 'natural' with the images.

Shortly after the film was made, in 1930, there was a new 'talkie' version released with the film in black and white and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr providing the narration. This version is also included on the disc but I found it only played for so long before stopping and going back to the 'bonus' menu. Although I had to remember where I was and keep flicking back to the relevant part in the film, I found this to be a fascinating addition but one that shows film sometimes work better without dialogue as there are some quite lengthy gaps and, when Fairbanks, Jr speaks again, I found it quite distracting!

There is also a photo gallery of seven publicity stills and posters that has to be manually navigated but is still worth browsing through..

The Picture

Presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and with the two-strip Technicolor adding to the overall look, it is clear this has undergone a significant restoration process as scratches, heavy grain and other blemishes at minimal and it looks like a film shot much later than 1926. Although it works perfectly well in monochrome, the early Technicolor gives it a warm look and emphasises the colours in the costumes, décor and landscapes.

Predictably enough, the costumes are fairly lavish so Princess Isabel (brilliantly played by Billie Dove) has some great dresses and the main pirates are individually dressed so it is quite easy to tell who's who even when they are in a crowd. Some of the ships, built to scale, are absolutely huge which give proceedings a real sense of spectacle, making the action sequences look even more impressive.

There is a remarkable sequence in which a group of men attacked by swimming underwater towards the ship they intend to attack and it is so well filmed and put together that I was surprised to learn that not one frame was actually shot underwater.

The Sound

The score, composed by Mortimer Wilson and conducted in 1996 by Robert Israel, is a terrific piece of music that helps to emphasise the swashbuckling nature of the film along with the burgeoning romance between the Black Pirate and Princess Isabel. It also helps to create tension in those scenes in which one of the main characters is in danger.

The intertitles thankfully haven't been rewritten for this release and are exactly as they were in 1926 (as the film has been taken from the original 35mm negative, restoring the original intertitles) but are still easy to read although the phonetic spelling of a (presumably Scottish) pirate's dialogue is slightly comedic.

Final Thoughts

The Black Pirate is a brilliant piece of silent filmmaking with a superlative performance by Douglas Fairbanks at its centre. The huge boats make some of his stunts and more athletic aspects, particularly when he climbs up a section of a boat, all the more impressive and add to the epic feel of the film that rivals the 1925 version of Ben Hur in terms of spectacle.

The DVD is extremely good with AV quality that is way above average and a decent selection of extra features. Park Circus has made their name by the stellar releases of Charlie Chaplin films and this will only add to their reputation as a distributor that really knows what to do with the silent pictures.

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