The Crimson Pirate (1952)

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

For years before becoming an actor, Burt Lancaster was a circus acrobat along with his best friend Nick Cravat, (who plays Ojo in the Crimson Pirate). The acrobatics in this film are truly amazing.

THE CRIMSON PIRATE is quite unconvincing pirate adventure, but the film is extremely entertaining (perhaps on the verge of taste) and full of action. The story is set in the Caribbean and shows how the captain of a pirate ship seeks to exploit the conflict colonial authorities with the revolutionaries working for both sides, as long as he does not fall in love with the beautiful daughter of the leader of resistance. This movie does not offer some exciting duels, but offers quite interesting acrobatics. Pirate at sea. The thief on the mainland. Probably, because of this fact the main protagonists look like circus artists. The scenario has its faults, and pretty large "holes", hence the emphasis on humor and action.Love and woman changed pirate character and plan. It is very nice to see no matter what is quite unconvincing. Burt Lancaster as Captain Vallo is powerful, agile and smiling pirate captain. Now, there is a lack of passion for the pirate robbery and for romance. Good, solid performance. Very handsome man jumping from ship to ship or from balcony to balcony. Nick Cravat as Ojo is the captain's right hand. The game with pantomime is always interesting and fun if you do not overdo it with her.

I watched this movie after hearing that the "walking underwater" scene in "Black Pearl" was in reference to it. The comments that Bloom and Depp make during that sequence, about genius and madness, may have been meant to apply, as well. "Crimson Pirate" is uneven, with high and very low points. Well, it's bad enough that it makes "Black Pearl" look like classic fiction; and yet there is a Pythonesque quality to it I think comes from the team of Lancaster and Cravat. I hadn't realized Lancaster was a true acrobat, and the performances he and his partner give here are sublime. The big fight scenes, particularly the last one, are extremely well choreographed, too. I would easily have given this a 10 on that basis, and there are some other good performances (especially among the pirates), but overall not everybody seems to have gotten the word it had become a comedy, and a few of the actors also seem rather wooden: hence the 6/10.I do think the luxury sea liner in the background on those shots was intended -- any Film-Making 101 student could easily have changed the setup to avoid it, particularly at this point in the movie, where there are so many near-vertical shots. Given Lancaster's instruction at the beginning of the film to only believe half of what you see (and he was exaggerating even then), it had to be part of the joke. Maybe it's considered a goof or anachronism because that type of humor wasn't very common in mainstream movies in the 50s.One thing to remember as you watch Lancaster's hair: they didn't have mousse back then, or blow dryers. Wow! Also bring sunglasses, because the reflection from his teeth when he grins can be blinding (BG).All in all, it's not "The Black Pearl," but it's overall fun to watch and the acrobatics and some of the fight choreographies are must-see scenes.

An early, light-hearted attempt to poke fun at the pirate genre from within. Burt Lancaster plays the title character, a typical charming scoundrel pirate named Vallo, who decides to try his hand at business when he agrees to exchange a freedom fighter, El Libre, for guns, but his plan goes horribly awry when he falls in love with El Libre's beautiful daughter (Eva Bartok). Before long, Vallo's up to his neck in trouble when his own crew turns against him, save for his loyal sidekick/first mate Ojo (Lancaster's real life friend Nick Cravat, playing it mute because of his accent), exile him with an up and coming scientist, with the daughter in danger of being married off to an evil tyrant. And it's up to Vallo to rescue his lady love in conjunction with saving his crew... and wearing red & white striped pants while doing it.Funny, flamboyant flick with Lancaster having fun - or at least pretending to be having fun - as the rascal pirate.The scene with Lancaster and his cronies walking on the ocean floor with the row boat over their heads would later be referenced in 2003's summer block buster "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl".