BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE (1952) – DVD Review

Another summer movie season and another Pirates of the Caribbean movie.  What?  You didn’t know there was yet another in the franchise that wore out its welcome a long time ago?  Yes, Pirates  of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales came and went awfully fast this summer, never a good sign.  It played in St. Petersburg for about a week and then vanished.  Did anybody see it?  I didn’t and I’ve seen a lot of movies this summer.  In a summer of Wonder Woman and Dunkirk, as well as Baby Driver, Logan Lucky and Detroit it would be very easy for another Pirates of the Caribbean movie to get lost in the shuffle.

So let’s talk about a real pirate movie, from 1952 Blackbeard the Pirate, directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, and Keith Andes.   Newton is to pirate movies what Bela Lugosi was to vampires, and Count Dracula in particular.   As many have observed if anyone plays Count Dracula they cannot work their way around Lugosi. The actor either follows Bela’s lead or they work against him, you can’t ignore who was there first, the same with Boris Karloff and the Frankenstein Monster.  So it goes with Robert Newton and pirate captains, especially Long John Silver as played by him in Disney’s version of Robert Lewis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and a made in Australia sequel, the Return of Long John silver and a syndicated tv show.

Here in Blackbeard the Pirate we get Newton’s Pirate Captain  full strength, walking on both legs and bizarre mannerisms at full throttle.   There is a phrase used to describe over the top acting “chewing the scenery.”   Newton not only chewed up the scenery he digested it and excreted it.   Any scenes in Blackbeard falter and die if he is not on screen.

In one great scene Blackbeard willingly lets one of his own crew be shot in order to cause Maynard to fire his one round in a flintlock pistol.

The plot?  Some nonsense about Morgan the Pirate (Torin Thatcher of 7th voyage of Sinbad) being reformed and yet another pirate, Maynard (Keith Andes of nothing in particular) going under cover to prove Morgan is not reformed.  And of course Maynard gets mixed up with Blackbeard and  Edwina Mansfield (Linda Darnell of A Letter to three Wives) who turns out to be Morgan’s daughter.

Quite frankly the double crosses and back stabbings come so thick and fast Blackbeard can be very confusing.  No matter, with Newton in charge Blackbeard is a lot of fun.  Especially so with the number of great character actors on board.  William Bendix, Hollywood’s all purpose ethnic working guy, plays the dumbest pirate ever captured on film.  Skelton Knaggs, Hollywood’s all purpose creep, plays one of Blackbeard’s crew who is on Maynard‘s side, determined to see Blackbeard put to rest.

Irene Ryan (Granny Clampett of The Beverly Hillbillies) plays Linda Darnell’s lady in waiting and has a great scene with Blackbeard.   In discussing Lady Edwina’s hygiene Blackbeard exclaims “You mean she gets wet all over?  On purpose?”  Blackbeard, of course never having seen a bar of soap in his life.

Alan Mowbray, Richard Egan and Dick Wessell are also on board making for one crowded pirate vessel.  I wouldn’t be giving too much away to say things don’t end well for Blackbeard and  this movie must have been seen by George Romero.  Blackbeard’s end is identical to one of the stories in Creepshow.

Almost all of the ship’s are miniatures and there is not much action, even though the great Raoul Walsh directed.  Blackbeard is more concerned with intrigue than sword fights.

Blackbeard appears to be in public domain.  Westgate’s dvd looks as if it were transferred direct from a vhs tape with drop outs, wrinkles and other visible signs of wear.  Still watchable and with the only extra a “photo gallery”  made up of screen captures.