The Black Pirate
(1926) American
Color : Feature film
Directed by Albert Parker

Cast: Douglas Fairbanks [the Black Pirate], Billie Dove [Princess Isobel], Tempé Piggot [Isobel’s duenna], Donald Crisp [MacTavish], Sam de Grasse [pirate lieutenant], Anders Randolf [pirate captain], Charles Stevens [powder man], John Wallace, Fred Becker, Charles Belcher, E.J. Radcliffe; Mary Pickford [Dove’s kissing stand-in]

Elton Corporation production; distributed by United Artists Corporation. / Produced by Douglas Fairbanks. Scenario by Lotta Woods, from the adaptation by Jack Cunningham of a story by Elton Thomas (Douglas Fairbanks). Research director Dr. Arthur Woods. General manager Robert Fairbanks. Production manager Theodore Reed. Art direction by Carl Oscar Borg. Associate art directors Edward M. Langley and Jack Holden. Consultants Dwight Franklin and Robert Nichols. Marine technician P.H.L. Wilson. Cinematography by Henry Sharp. Technicolor camera crew Arthur Ball and George Cave. Music score by Mortimer Wilson. Edited by William Nolan. / New York premiere 8 March 1926 at Selwyn Theatre in New York, New York. General release 12 September 1926. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format. Technicolor two-strip color process. / A separate black & white negative was prepared at the time of production; shot from a separate camera, side-by-side with the Technicolor camera, the black & white version of the film varies slightly from the color version.

Drama: Action.

Survival Status: Prints exist of the Technicolor version [35mm positive] and of the black & white version [35mm positive].

Keywords: Beaches - Color cinematography - Hidden treasure - Pirates - Revenge - Vengeance - Water: Oceans - Weapons: Cannons, Swords

Listing updated: 23 February 2006.

References: Film credits, film viewing : Baer-Film p. 27; Basten-Technicolor pp. 34-37, 128c, 169; Bohn-Light pp. 98, 194; Brownlow-Parade p. 248; Carroll-Matinee p. 105; Dardis-Keaton p. 119; Everson-American pp. 132, 284; Fell-History p. 85; Kerr-Silent p. 25; Lahue-Gentlemen pp. 83, 91; Limbacher-Feature p. 25; Maltin-Guide p. 124; McCaffrey-Guide pp. 5, 14i; Shipman-Cinema p. 92; Sinyard-Silent p. 142; Sweeney-Coming pp. 92, 94; Webb-Hollywood p. 87 : ClasIm-204 p. C24 : Website-IMDb.

Home Video: DVD.