In the summer of 1977 they closed the drive-in movie theater where I had done a great deal of "growing-up" in the late 50's and early 60's. On the last bill were "The Crimson Pirate", "Born Free" and "Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy" along with a bunch of cartoons and old Movie Tone News Reels. It was a trip down memory lane for me, and a last chance to see what real Swash and Buckle really look like on a 40 foot high screen in Cinemascope and Technicolor on a hot summer evening. It was truly movie entertainment at it's best, though not, I suspect, a place for the serious "student of the film."
Of course you have to take this movie with a grain of salt. (To be used later on the popcorn.) Burt Lancaster is the absolute king of tongue-in-cheek farce. There is no doubt that he believes himself to be The Crimson Pirate, but in any movie with lines like, "Do 'em the dirty, Cap'in!" and all the marvelous acrobatics, nothing can possibly be as it seems. And why should it? This is, after all A MOVIE. And if "The Crimson Pirate" is the obvious progeny of Fairbanks in "Robin Hood" it is also the obvious progenitor of "Star Wars", "Indiana Jones".
Well, drive-ins are pretty much gone now, but if you are lucky enough to live in a town with an old, restored movie house that plays "Classic Movies" you might try to get "The Crimson Pirate" on their list. If not: Haul the big-screen TV out onto the back porch, invite the neighbors to bring their lawn chairs and insect repellent, butter up a bushel of popcorn and Enjoy.
Of course you have to take this movie with a grain of salt. (To be used later on the popcorn.) Burt Lancaster is the absolute king of tongue-in-cheek farce. There is no doubt that he believes himself to be The Crimson Pirate, but in any movie with lines like, "Do 'em the dirty, Cap'in!" and all the marvelous acrobatics, nothing can possibly be as it seems. And why should it? This is, after all A MOVIE. And if "The Crimson Pirate" is the obvious progeny of Fairbanks in "Robin Hood" it is also the obvious progenitor of "Star Wars", "Indiana Jones".
Well, drive-ins are pretty much gone now, but if you are lucky enough to live in a town with an old, restored movie house that plays "Classic Movies" you might try to get "The Crimson Pirate" on their list. If not: Haul the big-screen TV out onto the back porch, invite the neighbors to bring their lawn chairs and insect repellent, butter up a bushel of popcorn and Enjoy.