The Pirate is a 1948 American romantic musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli from a screenplay by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, based on the 1942 play by S. N. Behrman. It stars Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, with Walter Slezak, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, the Nicholas Brothers, and George Zucco in supporting roles. The film features songs by Cole Porter.
Contents
Plot
In the 1830s, young Manuela Alva longs to escape her small Caribbean village of Calvados and fantasizes about being swept away by the legendary pirate Macoco, also known as "Mack the Black". However, her stern aunt Inez has arranged for her to marry Don Pedro Vargas, the rotund, dull and much older new mayor of the town. Although Manuela is less than thrilled, she reluctantly agrees to marry the wealthy Don Pedro, as she is an orphan with no dowry, and her aunt and uncle—who raised her after her parents died—are struggling financially.
Manuela, who craves romance and adventure, persuades Inez to take her on a trip to the nearby seaside town of Port Sebastian before her wedding. Shortly after arriving, Manuela is spotted by Serafin, the handsome leader of a traveling troupe of performers, who becomes instantly smitten with her. Manuela rebuffs Serafin's advances, insisting she is engaged, and he invites her to his show that night. Unable to sleep, she sneaks out to see Serafin's show, where he hypnotizes Manuela with a spinning mirror, thinking that she will admit that she loves him. Instead, she wildly sings and dances about her love for Macoco. Serafin awakens her with a kiss, and she flees in horror.
On Manuela's wedding day, Serafin climbs into her room and begs her to call off the wedding and run away with his troupe. Don Pedro bursts into the room and prepares to flog Serafin. Alone with Don Pedro, Serafin quickly recognizes him as the fugitive pirate Macoco, now retired and obese, and blackmails him with this information, threatening to expose his identity. Desperate to keep his identity a secret, Don Pedro plays along with Serafin's scheme to masquerade as Macoco in order to win over Manuela.
Proclaiming himself to be Macoco, Serafino demands that the townspeople bring Manuela to him or else he will burn down the town. Manuela, pretending to nobly sacrifice herself, agrees to go with him. However, one of Serafin's troupers accidentally reveals the ruse to Manuela, infuriating her. As revenge, she first pretends to seduce Serafino, then insults him and throws objects at him. After accidentally knocking him out with a painting, she rushes to his aid and realizes that she loves him. Manuela sings "You Can Do No Wrong" while cradling Serafin's head in her lap, and they kiss.
Don Pedro convinces the viceroy that Serafin is the real Macoco after planting stolen jewels in Serafin's prop trunk. Serafin is subsequently arrested and charged with Macoco's crimes. On the night of Serafin's hanging, Manuela looks at the false evidence, recognizes a bracelet with the same design as the wedding ring that Don Pedro gave her, and realizes that he is the pirate.
Serafin convinces the viceroy to let him put on one final show before he is hanged. After performing "Be a Clown", Serafin plans to use his spinning mirror to hypnotize Don Pedro into admitting he is Macoco. When Inez breaks the mirror, Manuela pretends to be hypnotized and sings "Love of My Life", vowing everlasting devotion to Macoco. As Manuela and Serafin kiss, Don Pedro grows jealous and reveals himself as the true Macoco, prompting Serafin's troupe to attack him while the lovers embrace. Manuela joins Serafin's act and they sing a reprise of "Be a Clown".
Production
Vincente Minnelli directed the film, from a screenplay based on the 1942 Broadway play by S. N. Behrman, which had starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Opening at the Martin Beck Theatre on November 25, 1942, The Pirate played for 176 performances before the screen rights were purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $225,000, equal to $4,186,298 today. While the Lunts themselves expressed interest in bringing the story to the screen, MGM envisioned the project as a comedy for William Powell and either Myrna Loy or Hedy Lamarr. Over the next two years, more than a half-dozen scenarists, producers, and directors worked on ideas for developing the script.
It was the play's original scenic designer, Lemuel Ayers, who suggested to MGM's preeminent musical producer Arthur Freed that The Pirate would make an effective musical. Freed presented the idea to Judy Garland, his top musical star, and her husband, director Vincente Minnelli. Garland was then at the top of her box-office stature in Hollywood, and Minnelli was the logical choice as director, as he had successfully helmed most of her recent movies (Meet Me in St. Louis, Ziegfeld Follies, and The Clock). Garland was eager to demonstrate her talents as a sophisticated leading comedienne in the same class as Katharine Hepburn, and MGM saw a perfect opportunity to reunite her with Gene Kelly, her co-star in the hit 1942 musical For Me and My Gal. Kelly was newly returned from his navy service in World War II and a nominee for Academy Award for Best Actor for Anchors Aweigh. Freed engaged legendary composer Cole Porter to write the score for a $100,000 fee (equal to $1,441,878 today) and entrusted Anita Loos and Joseph Than with the film's scenario. They fashioned a role for Lena Horne, that of Conchita, a local dressmaker, and Manuela (Garland)'s confidante.
After five months of work, Loos and Than offered a reading of their script to Freed, Minnelli, Garland, Kelly and Porter. To the horror of the listeners, the team had produced an awkward, unusable reversal of Behrman's original premise. Although the female lead remained an impressionable Caribbean girl besotted by dreams of a legendary pirate, the leading man was no longer a touring actor impersonating her daring seaman, but a dancing pirate who pretended to be an entertainer. Producer Freed immediately replaced Loos and Than with the great husband and wife writing team of Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. In two months, they turned in a witty and workable adaptation of the Behrman original, geared to Porter's songs. The role for Horne was dropped from their script.
"Be a Clown"
It has been suggested that Cole Porter's "Be a Clown" was plagiarized by producer/songwriter Arthur Freed four years later for his “Make 'em Laugh”, a spectacular number written for Donald O'Connor in Freed's iconic 1952 musical Singin' in the Rain. In a winter 2002 article in the Michigan Quarterly Review, “Singin' in the Rain, an interview with Betty Comden and Adolph Green”, the film's screenwriter Betty Comden recalled, "How [Arthur Freed] could have written it in the first place — and not realized — is still a mystery. We have no idea, and we never brought it up with Arthur, either before or after that day ... It's fabulous, but the song's exactly like 'Be a Clown."
Reception
The film had its world premiere on May 15, 1948, in Montreal, Quebec, billed as the "Pre Radio City Showing.” It premiered in the U.S. at the Radio City Music Hall in New York on May 20, 1948, and went into general release on June 10, 1948, having cost $3,768,496 ($553,888 over budget).
Audiences failed to respond to the film's high-brow ambitions, and while many critics hailed its sophistication, box office results failed to follow suit. The British author David Shipman, in his book The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years, described it as being "a neat moneymaker, but otherwise probably the least successful of Garland's MGM films."
The New York Times offered, "The Pirate, which came yesterday to the Radio City Music Hall, is a dazzling, spectacular extravaganza, shot through with all the colors of the rainbow and then some that Technicolor patented. It takes this mammoth show some time to generate a full head of steam, but when it gets rolling it's thoroughly delightful."
The New York Herald Tribune wrote, "At the Music Hall there is more dancing than script; more production pomp than sensible staging. But with Gene Kelly hoofing like a dervish, Judy Garland changing character at the drop of a hat, and resplendent trappings, the show is bouncing and beautiful."
The Chicago Tribune thought, "Certainly no effort was spared; the cast is star-studded, and the settings and costumes are strikingly handsome. Yet The Pirate is disappointing, especially in regards to its music. The film has its moments, especially those in which Kelly dominates the screen. Judy Garland handles a song as well as ever and has several excellent comedy scenes."
Time advised, "As an all-out try at artful movie making, this is among the most interesting pictures of the year. Unluckily, much of the considerable artistry that has gone into this production collides head-on with artiness or is spoiled by simpler kinds of miscalculations. Miss Garland's tense, ardent straightforwardness is sometimes very striking. The total effect of the picture is entertainment troubled by delusions of art and vice-versa."
Restored Blu-ray
On November 24, 2020, Warner Archive released a restored 4K transfer of the film on Blu-ray. High-Def Digest wrote in their review, "A brand new 4K restoration from Warner Archive yields an absolutely glorious 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer that's distinguished by crystal clarity, superior contrast, perfectly balanced color, and beautifully resolved grain that lends the picture a lovely film-like feel."