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The Age of Commercialism

Memorable, crazy movie

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

1948 was Gene Kelly's banner year for swashbuckling roles. Not only did he here play a combination of an itinerant gymnastic carnival actor and pirate imposter, he also starred in the non-musical "The 3 Musketeers". .....Having missed the opportunity to costar with Judy in "Easter Parade" that year, due to an injury, this was their second pairing, but the first photographed in color, and what color! It was also the first of 3 films starring Kelly that was directed by Judy's husband at the time: Vincente Minnelli. The second, 2 years later, was the Oscar-winning "An American in Paris", also a very colorful experience. Reportedly, Judy became increasing mentally unstable, missing many days, or being late, which put a strain on their marriage.......The screenplay is scripted to occur in Calvado: a town on a small Caribbean island, with it's many colorful people and costumes. Judy is cast as the unmarried Manuela, who lives with her aunt and uncle. Arrangements have been made for her to marry the plump middle-aged Don Pedro(well played by Walter Slezak), who is the new town mayor. But Manuela yearns for her imagined hero: the infamous pirate Macoco. She first encounters the athletic performer Serafin(Kelly) and his troupe at the wharf, as they arrive. He takes an immediate fancy to her. Upon learning of her infatuation with her imagined Mococo, Serafin decides to masquerade as the pirate: quite believable to Manuela. Later, we will meet the real Mococo, presently masquerading as one of the town folk. I will stop my introduction here......The tacked on finale centers on the tumbling, slapstick and singing associated with Cole Porter's new song : "Be a Clown". It's certainly the most memorable of Porter's scores composed for this film. It was done twice, with a brief interlude. First, Kelly teamed with the African American Nicholas Brothers: who specialized in gymnastic dancing and stunts. They were incorporated into several musicals in the '40s, but never before in an act that included a Caucasian. Although their version was cut out in copies sent to The South, many people found that combination unacceptable. Hence, they relocated to Europe until the Civil Rights revolution brought them back. The second version included Judy, with Kelly. This was more oriented toward slapstick rather than tumbling, and is the version seen in all copies. It was a great way to finish the story, with Manuela reinventing herself.......Four years later , the tune of "Be a Clown" was resurrected for "Singing in the Rain", with new lyrics by Arthur Freed. The result was the much remembered "Make 'Em Laugh" production, starring Donald O'Connor. Strangely, at the IMDB site for the present film, Nacio Brown is listed as the tune composer and Arthur Freed as the lyricist, published in 1948, rather than 1952! I don't imagine MGM cared much who got the credit for composing the tune, as they presumably owned the copyrights for both.

The Pirate (1948) is about the ebullient actor Serafin (Gene Kelly) who comes to a small Caribbean town and falls hard for the romantic Manuela (Judy Garland). She rejects him, saving her love only for the legendary pirate Macoco, whom she wishes would steal her away. So Serafin takes on the guise of the notorious pirate in order to win her heart. Though it flopped when released, The Pirate has become a cult classic often hailed as being ahead of its time. I've seen the film twice and still fail to see the appeal.Don't get me wrong: I love Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, and Cole Porter. Vincent Minelli is not among my favorite directors, but I usually admire his colorful style. It feels like someone got the most delicious ingredients for an ice cream sundae and ended up botching it big time, to the point where it's almost inedible. Porter's score is among his most unmemorable. Outside of "Be a Clown" (which is tucked away at the very end), I cannot hum a single one of them, a big flaw for a musical. The dancing is good though, and Gene Kelly is in fine form.Unfortunately, the dancing cannot save a lackluster production. Kelly and Garland are stuck playing characters who come off as annoying, especially Garland's Manuela, who spends most of her screen time shrilly screaming and whining all her lines. Kelly hams it up to the stratosphere, which ceases to be funny fast. The comedy plays much better in the more underplayed scenes, like when Manuela is going off to sacrifice her virtue to the attractive "Macoco" to save the town and another girl offers to take her place. Manuela tersely replies, "He asked for ME." The sets are so stagey they're distracting. While this theatricality works in the ballet dream sequence in the middle of the film or something like the Broadway Melody portion of Singin' in the Rain (1952), here it just comes across as cheap. The costumes are awful: garish parodies of 1830s fashion with ugly patterns. Poor Judy gets saddled with the most ridiculous outfits.I know I'll be voted down for this. Ah well, such is life. This seems to be a movie a lot of people enjoy and I would never want to take that away from them. I wish I could have enjoyed it too, but it's not hard to see why this flopped so hard back in '48.

The Pirate is directed by Vincente Minnelli and adapted to screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett from the S.N. Behrman play. It stars Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Walter Slezak and Gladys Cooper. Music is by Lennie Hayton and Cole Porter and cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr. Gene Kelly plays Serafin, an actor who poses as notorious pirate Macoco to win the heart of Manuela Alva (Garland) because she dreams of being swept away to a life of romantic adventure. By definition it was a troubled production, numerous rewrites, Garland's battle with prescription drugs impacting on the shooting schedule and audiences turning their backs on a film they wasn't sure how to react too. With the box office results failing to match the production value or the film's ambition, it is a film that has for a number of years carried around the tag of being a dud, which while it has problems for sure, is an unfair reputation given the enjoyment and escapism value available upon viewing it now. The main fault lies with the very poor songs, where were it not for the closing Be A Clown (which would be copied to become Make 'Em Laugh for Singin' in the Rain four years later), then it would be a 100% stinker strike rate for Cole Porter. It's hard to believe the great man could come out with something so bland and boorish as the first song during the story, Niña, where he even uses a rhyme for schizophrenia! Another (minor) problem is that Garland is sometimes (and unusually) over the top in her performance, a problem we can probably attribute to her off screen issues since she seems to be grasping the chance to unleash her own form of escapism on screen. However, Kelly is on hand to calm her down and steady the ship; except for the film's funniest sequence as Manuela throws the entire contents of a room at Serafin! Yet in spite of the problems, and this really is no misunderstood masterpiece, the film often soars. With gorgeous Technicolor photography opening the eyes fully, we get a full on energised Kelly performance (his dance with the Nicholas Brothers pumps the blood and taps the feet), Slezak doing a wonderful turn as the shifty Don Pedro who Manuela is being coerced into marrying, and a Pirate Ballet section of the film that is stunning in choreography and eye popping visuals. There's also some lovely close ups of the two stars, they were a great pairing and it's a crying shame they would only make three features together, one scene in particular is heart achingly tender. With Minnelli keeping it brisk and mostly keeping it from being too stage bound, the simplicity of plot never hurts the film. Fun, frothy and flawed, indeed. 7.5/10

The Pirate (1948) really won me over! I have never been the biggest fan of musicals, but occasionally I'll try a new one to see if it might make my short list. The story is so romantic and played as such a farce that I was enthralled. Gene Kelly is very handsome, but I never noticed his sex appeal. His tan, his muscles, his arm band, his charm...I could go on and on! Judy Garland looked so beautiful and gave a brilliant performance alongside Kelly. Their kiss is the most passionate I've seen and certainly not within Hays Code limits of 3 seconds of contact. I just love a little rebellion and this was the perfect movie for it.The musical numbers were few and Gene's dancing is so fascinating, that I was able to make it through. This was a delightful treat and is now on my short list of musicals. I highly recommend it.