mark.waltz
This silly but none the less enjoyable "pirate" musical is hysterical, intentionally and unintentionally for many reasons. It's a total fantasia on the real life of pirates, where an energetic young lad (Donald O'Connor) pretends to be a pirate so he'll get some notice from the film's heroine (Helena Carter) who thinks he's just a nice kid and nothing else. O'Connor manages to impress a tribunal of pirate leaders, most hysterically Hope Emerson's towering version of pirate queen Anne Romney, a far cry from Jean Peters' portrayal the previous year.Another colorful popcorn movie, this gives the limber Donald a lot of chances to show his dancing talent, doing some of the moves he would later perform in one of "Singin' in the Rain's" most popular sequences, "Make Em' Laugh". Fans of classic TV will delight at early screen appearances by Will Geer and James Arness. For me, however, it's most memorable for "the Donald" and for Hope Emerson's almost motherly affection for him. I almost choked when she tells him, "We can have some gay times, kid", considering her much more serious performance in the previous year's "Caged".
weezeralfalfa
Shiver me timbers! It's Captain Blood, The Black Swan, etc., in the guise of 'Bloodthirsty Dave', out to expose the corrupt Governor Elden, and win the heart of fair Lady Silvia, in Technicolor, no less. Unlike most of his other films, Don pretty much has to carry this film by himself, in terms of star power. This is not to say that the principal character actors are all faceless. They are all adequate for their roles. However, only Don provides the spark that makes this more than just another pirate story. Like most of the Hollywood pirate films of the '30s and '40s, there is a hero, who became a pirate leader only by default, and a beautiful royal princess who is under the thumb of an unscrupulous governor of one of the British colonies, and falls in love with the hero, necessitating her rescue from the clutches of the governor.Although this is a farcical pirate yarn, with abundant slapstick, in the manner of "The Princess and the Pirate" or "Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd", for example, it incorporates a surprising degree of historical relevancy. The corrupt Governor Elden , of the Carolinas, is based upon the historical governor Eden. As in the film, this governor and his cronies did sometimes have a conciliatory relationship with some pirates, most notably Blackbeard, and the pirate's booty was often disposed of in Charleston. As near the film ending, Eden did extend a conditional pardon offer to Blackbeard. He did accept it, but promptly violated the terms, as in the film. The Caribbean island of Tortuga was an infamous pirate hangout, has been included in a number of Hollywood pirate films, and is correctly located on the map in the film. Even the severing of the main mast of the governor's ship by a lucky cannon shot from Dave's ship might be seen as a transfer from the historical lucky severing of the main sail rope on Blackbeard's ship, crippling its maneuverability, and soon leading to his death. The transport of a ship full of prisoners, mostly debtors, from Charleston to VA is quite plausible, as prisoners and indentured servants were common immigrants to VA and MD in their early histories. These non-piratical prisoners become Dave's crew.Don, as Davey Crandall, initially a mere shopkeeper's assistant, morphs into 'Bloodthirsty Dave', touted as an infamous pirate, after being left with only his friend Tom Botts(Will Geer) on a ship, formerly commanded by 'Bloodthirsty Captain Ben'. The former captain and his crew vacated the ship after Dave shows them supposed smallpox pustules on his face, after drinking much rum and nearly being heaved overboard. Surely, the screenwriters could have come up with a more plausible scenario by which Dave and friend disposed of the pirates!Later, Davey takes on a 3rd guise, as Sir Jeffry Meriweather, with powdered wig, in order to gain entrance to the governor's premarital ball, to warn Lady Silvia that her husband-to-be is in cahoots with the pirates. Eventually, Dave is discovered and jailed to be hung. But, Lady Sylvia saves the day, allowing Dave to escape, while inducing his crew of 'pirates', along with a host of famous pirate captains and piratess Ann Bonney, to duel it out with the governor and his men on his ship. In the end. of course, 'Bloodthirsty Dave' reverts to Davey and presumably marries Lady Sylvia.I found it mostly an entertaining film, with enough, but not too much, slapstick. Yes, some of the scenes were way too far fetched. I disagree with those reviewers who say that Danny Kaye could have done a much more entertaining job than Don in his role. The two men did have remarkably similar entertainment attributes in most respects and looked rather similar. But, I think Danny could not have been significantly better, and perhaps not as good in some ways. He was also a dozen years older than Don, at near 40, thus perhaps not as spry in the more physically demanding scenes.Is this a musical comedy? The only significant musical aspect is Don's virtuoso performance in a Tortuga pirate hangout, entitled "Percy Had a Heart", after some preliminary dancing around on the establishment stage.I RATE THIS AS PERHAPS THE BEST VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCE OF HIS FILM CAREER. Certainly, the lyrics are more interesting than in his famous "Make Em Laugh" routine in "Singing in the Rain", released the following year, and the action, although different,is as interesting. At the end of this performance, we see one of the notable features of his "Make 'Em Laugh" performance: jumping high on a wall and doing a backward flip. This is the last of a series of bits of Don's previous performances that were sometimes modified and stitched together in making much of "Make 'Em Laugh". For example, dancing with a cloth dummy is seen in "Top Man", '44; the behind the couch bit is seen in "Something in the Wind", '47, and the terminal dive through a papery wall is seen in "Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' ", '48. Even the tune was recycled from the "Be a Clown" performance in the MGM "The Pirate", '48.I'm glad this is now viewable at You Tube, as are most of Don's films. It's also part of a Universal 4 pirate movie DVD package, recommended.
Spikeopath
Double Crossbones is directed by Charles Barton and written by Oscar Brodney. It stars Donald O'Connor, Helena Carter, Will Geer, John Emery, Charles McGraw, Hope Emerson and Morgan Farley. Music is by Frank Skinner and cinematography by Maury Gertsman.Davey Crandall (O'Connor) and friend Tom Botts (Geer) are falsely accused by the corrupt Governor Elden of Charleston (Emery) of fencing stolen pirate booty. Bluffing their way onto the ship of local buccaneer Capt. Ben Wickett (McGraw), the pair soon become embroiled in piracy purely by accident and then have to pretend they are in fact pirates just to prove their innocence!Nothing to dislike here, it does exactly what it promises to do, it's avast yee frothy merriment with a little song and dance routine thrown in for good measure. It's comedy satire on the seven seas where everybody seems to be having great fun. There's treachery and trickery, a gorgeous dame to be spared from the villain's plans and a splendid narrative set up that puts all the famed pirates of Tortuga in one "brotherhood" meeting room. O'Connor comes off as a poor version of Danny Kaye, but he is an amiable lead here, with energy unbound and a quip on the lips he makes the most of the standard screenplay. The production design is mightily handsome and Gertsman's Technicolor photography is quite simply stunning. Support cast list is impressive, with McGraw (sadly not in it enough) and Emerson (stealing the film) the highlights.It's all very playful and colourful and not intended for deeper dissection, accept it on its own frothy terms and it becomes a fun 75 minutes of film. 6.5/10
