MOVIES - PIRATES 1926-1930

• Black Pirate, The [aka Black Buccaneer, The] (1926)
• Breed of the Sea (1926)
• Cruise of the Jasper B, The (1926)
• Eagle of the Sea, The (1926)
• Jelly Fish, The [aka Pirate Story, A] (1926)
• Marry Month of May (1926)
• Old Ironsides [aka Sons of the Sea] (1926)
• [cartoon] Pirates Bold (1926)
• [cartoon] Pirates Bold (1926)
• [cartoon] Pirates Gold (1926)
• Sea Beast, The (1926)
• [cartoon] Yellow Pirate, The (1926)
• [cartoon] Alice Foils the Pirates (1927)
• Beloved Rogue, The (1927)
• Love Mart, The [aka Louisiana] (1927)
• Road to Romance, The (1927)
• When a Man Loves [aka Manon Lescaut] (1927)
• Yankee Clipper, The (1927)
• Moderne Piraten [aka Modern Pirates] (1928)
• Pirates of the Pines (1928) [10-episode serial]
• River Pirate, The (1928)
• Scarlet Seas [aka Buccaneers of the South Seas] (1928)
• Figlio del corsaro, Il [aka Son of the Pirate, The] (1929)
• First Kiss, The [aka Secret of Pirate, The] (1929)
• Hurricane (1929)
• Pirates of Panama, The (1929) [12-episode serial]
• Hell Harbor (1930)
• Tom Sawyer (1930)

Black Pirate, The [aka Black Buccaneer, The] (1926)

Director: Albert Parker

Writers: Douglas Fairbanks (story, as Elton Thomas) and Jack Cunningham (adaptation)

Cast: Douglas Fairbanks [The Duke of Arnoldo / The Black Pirate, as Mr. Douglas Fairbanks], Billie Dove [Princess Isobel, as Miss Billie Dove], Anders Randolf [Pirate Captain, as Mr. Anders Randolf], Donald Crisp [MacTavish, as Mr. Donald Crisp], Tempe Pigott [Duenna, as Miss Tempe Pigett], Sam De Grasse [Pirate Lieutenant, as Mr. Sam de Grasse], Charles Stevens [Powder Man, as Mr.Charles Stevens], Charles Belcher [Chief Passenger - Nobleman, as Mr. Charles Belcher], E.J. Ratcliffe [The Governor, as Mr. D. J. Ratcliffe], John Wallace [Peg-Leg Pirate, as Mr. John Wallace], Fred Becker [Pirate, as Mr. Fred Becker], Nino Cochise [Pirate (uncredited)], Barry Norton [Youth (uncredited)], Mary Pickford [Princess Isobel in Final Embrace - Cameo Appearance (uncredited)]

Storyline: The Love Story of a Bold Buccaneer. The Black Pirate was hailed in 1926 as the "return" of the Douglas Fairbanks who'd breezed through several peppy comedies before starring in lavish costume epics like Robin Hood (1922) and Thief of Bagdad (1924). The story involves a young nobleman (Fairbanks) whose father is killed by pirates. He vows to avenge his dad's death by becoming a buccaneer himself and routing out the villains. Along the way, he rescues damsel-in-distress Billie Dove (likewise of noble birth) and engages in a few bloody duels with the swarthy likes of Sam De Grasse and Anders Randolph. Charlie Stevens, a grandson of American Indian chief Geronimo - and whom Fairbanks regarded as a "lucky charm" - appears in several tiny roles. The Black Pirate was originally presented in two-color Technicolor form; the black and white prints are the most-often-seen version of the film, however.

[88 min - Adventure | Action - Silent - Color - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Elton Corporation]

Breed of the Sea (1926)

Director: Ralph Ince

Writers: Peter B. Kyne (story "Blue Blood and the Pirates"), J.G. Hawks (adaptation) and J. Grubb Alexander (continuity)

Cast: Ralph Ince [Tod Pembroke, aka Captain Blaze Devine / Tom Pembroke], Margaret Livingston [Marietta Rawdon], Pat Harmon [Lije Marsh], Alphonse Ethier [Bully Rawden, as Alphonz Ethier], Dorothy Dunbar [Ruth Featherstone], Shannon Day [Martha Winston]

Storyline: Not only does Ralph Ince direct this South Seas romance, he also plays a dual role. Tod and Tom Pembroke (both Ince) are twin brothers who are divinity students. Both of them love Ruth Featherstone, the dean's daughter (Dorothy Dunbar), but Tod is expelled and since he knows Ruth loves Tom, he leaves for China. Years later, after Tom has graduated and married Ruth, he travels to the island of Paroa to establish a mission. But difficulties arise when he catches island fever and the ship is captured by the notorious pirate, Blaze Devine. Devine, however, turns out to be Tod, and when he discovers his brother's plans, he goes to Paroa in his place. Bully Rawden, the head trader on the island (Alphonz Ethier), is determined to keep any missionaries away. While Tod is busy trying to vanquish him, his daughter, Marietta (Margaret Livingston), falls in love with him. After a lot of fighting between Tod and Bully's men, they come to an agreement - Bully will allow a missionary on the island if Tod's pirate crew stops pillaging his ships. Tom, fully recovered, takes his place on the island and when Tod leaves, he finds that Marietta has stowed away on his ship.

[73 min - Action | Adventure | Drama - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation]

Cruise of the Jasper B, The (1926)

Director: James W. Horne

Writers: Tay Garnett (adaptation), John W. Krafft (titles, as John Krafft) and Zelda Sears (adaptation)

Cast: Rod La Rocque [Jerry Cleggett], Mildred Harris Chaplin [Agatha Fairhaven], Snitz Edwards [Reginald Maltravers], Jack Ackroyd [Wiggins], Otto Lederer [Auctioneer], James T. Mack [Assistant Auctioneer, as James Mack], Billy Engle [Little Mover (uncredited)], Charlie Hall [Mover (uncredited)], Fred Kelsey [Bailiff (uncredited)], Tiny Sandford [Big Mover (uncredited)], Philip Sleeman [Mail Truck Robber (uncredited)]

Storyline: Produced by none other than Cecil B. DeMille, this riotous silent comedy stars Rod La Rocque as Jerry Cleggert, a descendant of a notorious family of pirates forced to marry on the deck of the rotting "Jasper B." or forfeit a large inheritance. Jerry finds the perfect would-be spouse in pretty Agatha Fairhaven (Mildred Harris but the couple are waylaid en route to the important nuptials by a gang of bandits. The highlight of the comedy was a wild spree in a driverless taxi cap pursued not only by the gangsters but by local, state and Federal authorities as well. Needless to say, the exasperated couple manages to say their "I dos" right before the deadline. Leading lady Mildred Harris was the first wife of comedy star Charles Chaplin, a fact she reportedly never let anyone forget. Rod La Rocque takes on Fairbanks in this incredibly strange pirate spoof. Mildred Harris is an heiress on the run when it turns out that the only copy of a valuable document is written on her back. Snitz Edwards is her evil uncle and spends the movie chasing her with a sponge. And then Rod and Mildred inadvertently declare war on the United States… Yeah, it’s a strange one. The film opens in 1725 and a piratical young captain named Jeremiah Cleggett (Rod La Rocque) is battling for his life and the honor of his lady love against a dastardly villain aboard a ship called the Jasper B (no word on where Jaspers A and C may be found). Cleggett emerges victorious and so the Cleggett family is established. Tradition holds that the heir to the Cleggett fortune must marry by the age of twenty-five on the deck of the Jasper B or lose all. We jump ahead three-hundred years and Jeremiah Cleggett VIII (La Rocque again) is sleeping in. This wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t his twenty-fifth birthday and he wasn’t still very much the bachelor. His goofy manservant Wiggins (Jack Ackroyd) is in a tizzy because the house and all its contents are already being auctioned off. Cleggett doesn’t seem unduly concerned until he discovers that his bathtub, razor and trousers are part of the bargain. But where will he find a woman to marry on such short notice?

[62 min - Comedy | Romance - Black and White - Silent - USA - DeMille Pictures Corporation]

 

Eagle of the Sea, The (1926)

Director: Frank Lloyd

Writers: Charles Tenney Jackson (novel "Captain Sazarac") and Julien Josephson

Cast: Florence Vidor [Louise Lestron], Ricardo Cortez [Captain Sazarac], Sam De Grasse [Colonel Lestron], George Beranger [John Jarvis, as André de Beranger], Mitchell Lewis [Crackley], Guy Oliver [Beluche], George Irving [General Andrew Jackson], James A. Marcus [Dominique, as James Marcus], Ervin Renard [Don Robledo], C.E. Anderson [Bohon, as Charles Anderson]

Boris Karloff [Pirate, uncredited], Bob Kortman [Pirate, uncredited]

Storyline: In early 1800s New Orleans, a ball is being given to honor Gen. Andrew Jackson. Among the attendees is a certain Captain Sazarac, who is actually the notorious buccaneer Jean Lafitte. His real identity is exposed and Gen. Jackson gives him until dawn to leave the city. However, Lafitte soon finds himself drawn into in a plot to rescue Napoleon from the island of St. Helena, hatched by the uncle of the woman he loves.

[80 min - Adventure - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Paramount Pictures]

Jelly Fish, The [aka Pirate Story, A] (1926)

Director: John G. Adolfi

Cast: Franklin Pangborn [Clarence - the Jelly Fish, as Frank Pangborn], Estelle Bradley [The Governor's Daughter], Robert Graves [The Governor], Louise Carver [Clarence's Aunt], Melbourne MacDowell

[Comedy l Short - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Jack White]

Marry Month of May (1926)

Director: Tom Buckingham

Writer: O. Henry (story)

Cast: Harold Goodwin [The Timid Sweetheart], Gladys McConnell [The Girlfriend], Bud Jamison [One of the Pirates, as William E. Jamieson], Noah Young [One of the Pirates],

Storyline: Gladys is a timid girl who wants assurance that her sweetheart is not a descendant of the pirate Captain Kidd. She goes to a fake spiritualist. Meanwhile, her sweetheart gets mixed up with a bunch of waiters, dressed up as pirates aboard a ship. He is forced to change clothes with one of them, and Gladys shows up.
[20 min - Short l Comedy - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Fox Film Corporation]

Old Ironsides [aka Sons of the Sea] (1926)

Director: James Cruze

Writers: Laurence Stallings (story), Harry Carr (suggested and adapted by), Walter Woods (suggested and adapted), Rupert Hughes (titles), Dorothy Arzner (writer, uncredited) and Oliver Wendell Holmes (poem, uncredited)

Cast: Charles Farrell [The Commodore], Esther Ralston [Esther], Wallace Beery [Bos'n], George Bancroft [Gunner], Charles Hill Mailes [Commodore Preble, aka Captain Preble], Johnnie Walker [Lieutenant Stephen Decatur], Eddie Fetherston [Lieutenant Richard Somers], Guy Oliver [First Mate], George Godfrey [The Cook], William Conklin [Esther's Father], Nick De Ruiz [The Bashaw], Effie Ellsler [Esther's Mother], Frank Jonasson [Pirate Captain], Duke Kahanamoku [Pirate Captain], Boris Karloff [A Saracen Guard], Fred Kohler [Second Mate], Mitchell Lewis [Pirate Chief], Spec O'Donnell [Cabin Boy], Tetsu Komai [Pirate], Jack Herrick [Sailor], Richard Alexander [Extra (uncredited)], Richard Arlen [Extra (uncredited)], William Bakewell [Extra (uncredited)], Frank Bonner [(uncredited)], Frank A. Bonn [(uncredited)], Gary Cooper [Extra (uncredited)], Bess Flowers [(uncredited)], Robert Livingston [Extra (uncredited)], Göta Ljungberg [(uncredited)], Arthur Ludwig [(uncredited)]

Storyline: Following a fiery patriotic speech by Pinckney in Philadelphia before a gathering of young boys, the scene shifts to Boston and the launching of the frigate Constitution, where the same boys are midshipmen now lined up for inspection by Commodore Preble. At the docks in Salem, the merchant ship Esther, under Bos'n, recruits a country boy in search of adventure. The commodore the ship is taken by pirates; the crew is sold into slavery and the captain held for ransom. The Philadelphia is captured, and Stephen Decatur proposes to recapture or destroy it. In the melee, Bos'n, Gunner, and Commodore escape and are picked up by the Constitution, where Gunner is lashed for desertion. They all participate in the battle at Tripoli in which "Old Ironsides" is damaged; Esther is reunited with her father and the commodore, and they proceed to Singapore. Long derided by film historians as a talented but visually unimaginative director, James Cruze made up for any and all past artistic sins with his rousing Old Ironsides. Per its title, this 11-reel silent film is set at the time of Stephen Decatur's defeat of the Barbary pirates in Tripoli. Decatur himself (played by comic actor Johnnie Walker) is a secondary character herein - most of the screen time goes to the romantic leads, able-bodied seaman Charles Farrell and damsel-in-permanent-distress Esther Ralston. The acting honors go to those inveterate scene-stealers Wallace Beery and George Bancroft, cast respectively as Bos'n and Gunner. The film accommodates everything from outsized sea battles to a daring rescue from the clutches of the lustful pirates. A life-sized replica of "Old Ironsides" (aka the "Constitution") was built for the film; it remained a useful piece of bric-a-brac for many a subsequent Paramount seafaring epic. When originally released, the film utilized a wide-screen technique during many of the battle sequences.

[111 min - Drama | History - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Paramount Pictures]

[cartoon] Pirates Bold (1926)

[Animation l Comedy l Short - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Aesop's Fables Studio]

[cartoon] Pirates Bold (1926)

Director: Luis Seel

Writer: Luis Seel

[Comedy l Short l Animation - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Swartz Pictures]

[cartoon] Pirates Gold (1926)

[Animation l Short - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Aesop's Fables Studio]

Sea Beast, The (1926)

Director: Millard Webb

Writers: Herman Melville (novel "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale"), Bess Meredyth, Rupert Hughes (title writer, uncredited) and Jack Wagner (uncredited)

Cast: John Barrymore [Captain Ahab Ceeley], Dolores Costello [Esther Harper], George O'Hara [Derek Ceeley], Mike Donlin [Flask], Sam Baker [Queequeeq], George Berrell [Perth, as George Burrell], Sam Allen [Captain], Frank Nelson [Stubbs], Mathilde Comont [Mula], James O. Barrows [Rev. Harper], Vadim Uraneff [Pip], Sôjin [Fedallah, as Sojin], Frank Hagney [Daggoo], Joyzelle Joyner [Dancer in prologue], Leonora Summers [Undetermined Role, uncredited]

Storyline: At the beginning of the story, Ahab (John Barrymore) and his half brother Derek (George O'Hara) compete for the affections of a winsome minister's daughter, Esther Wiscasset (Dolores Costello). Meanwhile, an albino whale has been eluding harpooners, and bears the scars of many failed attacks against him. The animal's fame has reached epic proportions. One day, Ahab and Derek are on the same whaler as the whale heaves into view. Ahab raises his harpoon to kill the beast, but at that moment, Derek pushes him overboard and Ahab loses a right leg to the whale. Not long after this incident, the shallow Esther rebuffs Ahab as her suitor once she catches sight of his peg leg. Heartbroken at this turn of events, Ahab blames neither Esther nor his brother; instead he transfers blame and an undying hatred onto the whale. The following saga of Ahab's pursuit of the whale takes on the aura of a super-human quest, far beyond the proportions of its first motivation.

[136 min - Adventure - Black and White - Silent - USA - Warner Bros. Pictures]

[cartoon] Yellow Pirate, The (1926)

[Animation l Comedy l Short - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Sherwood-Wadsworth Pictures]

[cartoon] Alice Foils the Pirates (1927)

Director: Walt Disney

Cast: Margie Gay [Alice]

Storyline: Pete, who became a pirate, kidnapped Alice and locked her in his boat. Julius discovers Alice being help captive on Pete's pirate ship and once again has to take on Pete to rescue her.

[7 min - Animation l Short l Comedy - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Walt Disney Productions]

Beloved Rogue, The (1927)

Director: Alan Crosland

Writers: Paul Bern (story and screenplay), George Marion Jr. (titles), Walter Anthony (titles) and John Barrymore (uncredited)

Cast: John Barrymore [François Villon], Conrad Veidt [King Louis XI], Marceline Day [Charlotte de Vauxcelles], Lawson Butt [Duke of Burgundy], Henry Victor [Thibault d'Aussigny], Slim Summerville [Jehan], Mack Swain [Nicholas], Angelo Rossitto [Beppo - the Dwarf], Nigel De Brulier [Astrologer], Lucy Beaumont [Villon's Mother], Otto Matieson [Olivier, as Otto Mattiesen], Jane Winton [The Abbess], Rose Dione [Margot], Bertram Grassby [Duke of Orleans], Dick Sutherland [Tristan l'Hermite]

Storyline: François Villon, in his lifetime the most renowned poet in France, is also a prankster, an occasional criminal, and an ardent patriot. In 1432, while François Villon is still an infant, his father dies as a martyr to his devotion to France. François grows up to be a renowned poet, an ardent patriot, and a notorious carouser who is not above criminal acts. During the revels of All Fools Day, he insults Duke Charles of Burgundy, for which King Louis XI, who is afraid of Charles, banishes Villon from Paris. In exile outside the city walls, François looks for ways to protect France from Burgundy's plots. When Charles plans to have one of his associates marry the king's ward Charlotte, Villon successfully disrupts the engagement, but for so doing is sentenced to death. But Villon finds a way to exploit Louis's superstitious nature long enough to give him another chance to serve France, while at the same time seeking the hand of Charlotte.

[99 min - Adventure | Drama | History - Silent (musical score) - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Feature Productions]

Love Mart, The [aka Louisiana] (1927)

Director: George Fitzmaurice

Writers: Edward Childs Carpenter (novel The Code of Victor Jallot), Benjamin Glazer (adaptation) and Edwin Justus Mayer

Cast: Billie Dove [Antoinette Frobelle], Gilbert Roland [Victor Jallot], Ray Turner [Poupet, as Raymond Turner], Noah Beery, Sr. [Captain Remy], Armand Kaliz [Jean Delicado], Emile Chautard [Louis Frobelle], Boris Karloff [Fleming], Mattie Peters [Caresse], George Bunny, Richard Cramer, Oliver Eckhardt [Comedy Bailiff], Paul Vincenti, George Kotsonaros [Fleming Henchman (uncredited)], Constantine Romanoff [Fleming Henchman (uncredited)]

Storyline: Victor, an adventurous young swashbuckler in 19th-century New Orleans, takes possession of a barber shop as the result of winning a duel, and decides to settle down to a life as a barber. He meets a beautiful young woman and pursues her, but she dismisses his attentions because she thinks he is just a barber. Also pursuing the woman is the evil Capt. Remy, whom she also brushes off. He, however, doesn't take rejection so lightly, and forges papers "proving" that the girl is a "quadroon" - part black, which means that she can be sold as a slave. She is sold to Capt. Remy, and when Victor hears of it, he determines to rescue her. No copies of this film are currently known to exist.

[80 min - Drama - Silent - Black and White - 1.37 : 1 - USA - First National Pictures]

Road to Romance, The (1927)

Director: John S. Robertson

Writers: Joseph Conrad (novel "Romance"), Joseph Farnham (titles, as Joe Farnham), Ford Madox Ford (novel "Romance") and Josephine Lovett  

Cast: Ramon Novarro [José Armando], Marceline Day [Serafina], Marc McDermott [Pópolo], Roy D'Arcy [Don Balthasar], Cesare Gravina [Castro], Jules Cowles [Smoky Beard], John George, Bobby Mack [Drunkard], Otto Matieson [Don Carlos, as Otto Matiesen]

Storyline: The beautiful Serafina is captured by Balthasar's pirates on an island near Cuba, but the redoubtable José Armando arrives from Spain to effect her rescue. The Road to Romance is a heavily Hollywoodized adaptation of the Joseph Conrad/Ford Maddox Ford novel Romance (which served as the film's title in Great Britain). Ramon Novarro stars as Jose Armando, a Spanish dragoon captain who goes undercover to save the fair Seranida (Marceline Day) from a forced marriage to corrupt judge Don Balthasar (Roy D'Arcy). Posing as a buccaneer, Jose travels to a lawless Caribbean island, where he is able to wander amongst the villains with impunity, biding his time until his final assault on Balthasar's stronghold. Just as the judge is about to have his way with the girl, Jose reveals his true colors, setting the stage for a grand-scale swashbuckling conclusion. The casting of Ramon Novarro necessitated the changing of Conrad and Ford's English-aristocrat hero into a high-born Spaniard.

[Action | Drama  - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)]

When a Man Loves [aka Manon Lescaut] (1927)

Director: Alan Crosland

Writers: Bess Meredyth (adapted by) and Abbé Prévost (novel, uncredited)

Cast: John Barrymore [Chevalier Fabien des Grieux], Dolores Costello [Manon Lescaut], Warner Oland [André Lescaut], Sam De Grasse [Comte Guillot de Morfontaine], Holmes Herbert [Jean Tiberge], Stuart Holmes [Louis XV - King of France], Bertram Grassby [Le Duc de Richelieu], Tom Santschi [Captain of Convict Boat], Alice Belcher [Minor Role (uncredited)], Eugenie Besserer [The Landlady (uncredited)], Charles Clary [A Lay Brother (uncredited)], Marcelle Corday [Marie, a Servant (uncredited)], Rose Dione [Nana (uncredited)], Louise Emmons [Smiling Hag (uncredited)], Herman Heller [Himself - Orchestra Conductor (uncredited)], Noble Johnson [An Apache (uncredited)], Jack Kenny [Minor Role (uncredited)], George Kotsonaros [Convict Prisoner (uncredited)], Myrna Loy [Convict Behind Manon -  Woman on Ship (uncredited)], Andy MacLennan [Man Trying to Trick Manon into His House (uncredited)], Ida May [(uncredited)], Kalla Pasha [Officer on Prisoner Ship (uncredited)], Templar Saxe [Baron Chevral (uncredited)], Scott Seaton [Bishop (uncredited)], Dick Sutherland [Tavern Waiter (uncredited)], The Vitaphone Symphony Orchestra [Themselves (uncredited)], Tom Wilson [A Convict Aboard the Boat (uncredited)]

Storyline: A nobleman studying for the priesthood abandons his vocation in 18th Century France when he falls in love with a beautiful, but reluctant, courtesan. Chevalier Fabien des Grieux, who has forsworn the world for the church, falls passionately in love with young Manon Lescaut when he encounters her en route to a convent with her brother André. The lustful Comte Guillot de Morfontaine offers André a tempting sum for Manon, and learning of their bargain, Fabien takes her to Paris, where they spend an idyllic week in a garret. André finds her, persuades her to leave Fabien, and tries to force her into an alliance with Morfontaine—then rescues Manon from the advances of a brutal apache. Fabien, crushed to believe that Manon has become Morfontaine's mistress, is about to take his vows but is deterred by her love for him. King Louis sees Manon in Richelieu's drawing room and wins her. The rejected Morfontaine orders her arrest and deportation, but he is killed by Fabien, who joins Manon on a convict ship bound for America. After inciting the convicts to mutiny, he escapes with her in a small boat.

[111 min - History l Romance - English - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Warner Bros.]

Yankee Clipper, The (1927)

Director: Rupert Julian

Writers: Denison Clift (story), Garrett Fort (adaptation), John W. Krafft (titles, as John Krafft) and Garnett Weston (adaptation)

Cast: William Boyd [Captain Hal Winslow], Elinor Fair [Lady Jocelyn Huntington], Frank Coghlan Jr. [Mickey, as Junior Coghlan], John Miljan [Paul de Vigny], Walter Long [Portuguese Joe], Louis Payne [Lord Huntington], Burr McIntosh [Thomas Winslow], George Ovey [Alf], Zack Williams [Ham], William Blaisdell [Ike], Clarence Burton [Captain McIntosh], Stanton Heck [American Mate], Julia Faye [Queen Victoria], Harry Holden [President Zachary Taylor], Nicholas Soussanin [Prince Consort]

Storyline: One of the most readily available features of the silent era, The Yankee Clipper is happily also one of the best. A pre-Hopalong Cassidy William Boyd plays Hal Winslow, the scion of a prominent Boston shipbuilding family. Manning the helm of the Yankee Clipper, Winslow prepares to race The Lord of the Isles, a British vessel; the winner will control China's tea trade to America. The race begins at Foo Chow Harbor, where Winslow is paid a courtesy visit by Lady Jocelyn (played by Elinor Fair, then the wife of star Boyd), the daughter of the rival English captain. Lady Jocelyn is escorted by her fiance Paul de Vigny (John Miljan), whom we will learn in due time is a cad and bounder. The Yankee Clipper shoves off while Lady Jocelyn and de Vigny are still on board. They demand to be put ashore, but Winslow, anxious not to lose any sailing time, refuses. Lady Jocelyn's presence on board is resented by cabin boy Mickey (Junior Coghlan), who hates all "wimmin"; on the other head, crew member Iron Head Joe (Walter Long), "mongrel whelp of the high seas", begins drawing up plans to rape the girl at the first opportunity. An outsized typhoon imperils the Yankee Clipper, its crew and passengers, but stalwart Captain Winslow manages to save everyone from drowning. After the storm, the water supply is rationed. Angrily demanding more water, the crew joins a mutiny fomented by the treacherous de Vigny. Meanwhile, Iron Head Joe chases Jocelyn and Mickey to the very top of the rigging, intending to kill the boy and have his way with the girl. Both of the film's villains are foiled in very permanent fashion before the thrill-packed finale at Boston Harbor. One of the videocassette versions of The Yankee Clipper is introduced by surviving cast member Junior Coghlan, now better known as Frank Coghlan Jr.

[88 min - Drama - Silent - Black and White - USA - DeMille Pictures Corporation]

Moderne Piraten [aka Modern Pirates] (1928)

Director: Manfred Noa

Writers: Margarete-Maria Langen and Bobby E. Lüthge

Cast: Jack Trevor [Major John Brent], Marietta Millner [Dorothy Gordon, Filmdiva], Sig Arno [Fredy Pitpit, Filmkomiker, as Siegfried Arno], John Mylong [Henry Lincoln, Filmschauspieler, as Jack Mylong-Münz], Corry Bell [Juarez / Juanita], Ramsay Hill [James Morton, Marine-Offizier, as Cyril de Ramsay], Hugo Werner-Kahle [Bernardo Esperaso], Nien Soen Ling [Chinesischer Anreißer,as Nien-Sön-Ling], Max Maximilian [Johannson, Kapitän], Max Schreck [Philipps, Anführer], O. Barcelona [Carlsen], Emil Fenyö [Polizeikommissar], Georg H. Schnell [Kapitän der Sultana], Fritz Greiner [Der Unbekannte], Edgar Charles [Junt-Offizier], Nico Turoff

Storyline: Before the Chinese coast, a large passenger ship has been hijacked by "stowaways" and disappeared. Commissioner Brent suspected a political background. Apparently plans, financed by an unknown Great Power secret society to declare a pacific island group as an independent state. On his journey to the scene learned Brent know a movie actor troupe, which also includes Dorothy Gordon, Fredy pitpit and Lincoln are. In Nagasaki Dorothy meets her former fiance Morton, who has just joined the secret society. Former naval officer wants Dorothy persuade also enter the Bund, what these rejects shocked. When recording a movie on the high seas, the film crew caught in a typhoon, said Dorothy, pitpit and Lincoln are aborted by location. Brent succeeds namely, to save the three with a boat, but they are cast upon a deserted island that turns out to be the headquarters of the secret society. They recognize that the hijacked passenger steamer will soon arrive on the island. The next night is on the coast a schooner with the conspirators under. A lone survivor who Wearing Uniform Juanita is captured. The film crew and Brent choose a deception. They dress up as insurgents and play on arrival of kidnapped ocean liner the uprising leader. Using the repentant Morton, they manage to fight the mercenaries. With meantime notified warships to put down the rebellion succeeds; Morton is rehabilitated is restored as a naval officer.

[Adventure - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - Germany - Noa-Film GmbH]

Pirates of the Pines (1928) [10-episode serial]

Director: J.C. Cook

Writer: A.M. Chisholm (novel Pirates of the Pines)

Cast: George O'Hara [John Markham], Rita Roma, Jack Mower, Charles Middleton, Sumner Getchell, King Zany

Treasure Island was a very successful book in 1883, gaining critical acclaim and popularity for its author, R.L. Stevenson, who until then had not been successful. It is still in print today, and has never been out of print since its first appearance in print. Stevenson tells a rousing story of a boy becoming a man in a hunt for treasure while battling against pirates, and his characters are memorable - impulsive Jim Hawkins, the morally ambiguous pirate Long John Silver, the evil blind pirate Pew, the dogged Dr. Livesey, the bumptious yet likable Squire Trelawney and many others. The success of Treasure Island inspired many sequels and prequels, with Arthur Howden Smith penning one of the best prequels – Porto Bello Gold. Pirates of the Pines, originally published in 1915 as the Fur Pirates in the Popular Magazine, is A.M. Chisholm's homage to Treasure Island. A.M. Chisholm was a writer of western and north-western stories and was one of the main contributors to the Popular Magazine, with an average of five stories every year in the nineteen twenties and thirties. Chisholm takes the central plot of Treasure Island and relocates it in the far north of Canada, where rivers take the place of roads, and forests are like seas where you can go for days without seeing anyone on the horizon. While Chisholm borrows the plot from Stevenson, the characters in the story are all his own – they speak in their own north woods dialect and have distinct personalities. I was unable to locate the area he uses as the setting; I did find a river named Carcajou and a lake named Atikameg, but they are so far apart as to make the story impractical. I particularly liked the beginning: IF it were not for Peggy I should not write this story at all. Peggy is my niece, and I am very fond of her and she knows it. So when she got the idea in her glossy young head we both knew very well what would happen, although I objected that there was no woman in the story except that other Peggy who, being my sister, did not count, and the klootchman Lucille, who was most certainly not a heroine. But Peggy overrode me grandly by saying she was tired of wilderness heroines who crop up where no white man would think of taking a woman. There was something in that. This rousing adventure yarn is set in the wilderness fringing northwestern Canada's great Carcajou River. It features as protagonist and narrator the 18-year-old Bob Cory, who lives with his sister Peggy on their uncle's modest homestead. While out one day with Jim Dunleath, an invalid who has gone north to recover his health, Bob unearths a buried letter written by notorious fur thief Angus McNab to his brother, revealing the location of a fortune in stolen pelts cached on one of the small islands that dot the nearby Burntwood Lakes. Since the 20-year-old missive never reached its intended recipient, Dunleath reasons that the treasure must still be in its hiding place. He confides in a wealthy Eastern sportsman named Fothergill, who agrees to bankroll an expedition to find the cache. It's giving away no secret to report that Chisholm quite deliberately patterned his tale on Treasure Island. Nearly every element in "Fur Pirates" corresponded to something in Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale. And yet Chisholm's yarn is no slavish imitation. It's a brilliantly executed pastiche, a genuine tour de force. The characters have personalities all their own, the settings are vividly described, and the yarn is suffused with verisimilitude. The story works magnificently on its own terms; you don't have to be familiar with Stevenson's immortal classic to appreciate Chisholm's exhilarating homage. But if you are, well, that'll just enhance the experience. The film is presumed lost. Pirates of the Pines is an American show of 1928, and pirate adventure genre, directed by J.C. Cook, in 10 chapters, starring George O'Hara and Rita Rome. Produced by Goodart and distributed by Trinity Pictures, aired in US cinemas from September 1, 1928, when the first chapter, Death's Marathon was presented. This show is considered lost. Chapter titles: 1. Death's Marathon, 2. The Swirling Waters, 3. The Ice Flood, 4. Wages of Sin, 5. Danger Ahead, 6. Burning Barriers, 7. Hands of Fate, 8. Flaming Masts, 9. Hurled Through Space and 10. The Duel in Mid-Air.

[10-episode serial - Adventure - Silent - Black and White - 1.37 : 1 - USA - Goodart]

River Pirate, The (1928)

Director: William K. Howard

Writers: Malcolm Stuart Boylan (titles), Charles Francis Coe (novel), Ben Markson (writer) and John Reinhardt (writer)

Cast: Victor McLaglen [Sailor Fritz], Lois Moran [Marjorie Cullen], Nick Stuart [Sandy], Earle Foxe [Shark], Donald Crisp [Caxton], Bob Perry [Gerber, as Robert Perry]

Storyline: The Hudson River Pirate. One of the first talkies, this film concerns a youth torn between his fatherly gangland mentor and the beautiful, virtuous daughter of a police detective. This film was recently remastered complete with its long-absent talking sequence finale.

[77 min - Adventure | Action - Mono/Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Fox Film Corporation]

Scarlet Seas [aka Buccaneers of the South Seas] (1928)

Director: John Francis Dillon

Writers: Scott Darling (story, as W. Scott Darling), Bradley King (screen version) and Louis Stevens (titles)

Cast: Richard Barthelmess [Steven Dunkin], Betty Compson [Rose], Loretta Young [Margaret Barbour], James Bradbury Sr. [Johnson], Jack Curtis [Toomey], Knute Erickson [Captain Barbour], Shorty English [Sailor (uncredited)

Storyline: A sea captain comes to rescue of a prostitute in Shanghai, who is being run out of town. He takes her aboard his ship and heads out to sea. Not long afterwards the ship sinks but the pair manage to get into a lifeboat before it goes under. They are later picked up by a passing ship, but it turns out that the crew had just mutinied against their captain and taken over the ship. Although Steve's trust in Rose is shattered, another pressing situation arises. Steve is made aware of two passengers who escaped slaughter, a pastor and his daughter (Loretta Young) who are privy to the whereabouts aboard ship of a cache of pearls. It is the intention of the pirates to keep them alive until they find the loot, and then to do away with them and, as Steve realizes, both he and Rose too.

[70 min - Drama l Romance - English - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - First National Pictures]

Figlio del corsaro, Il [aka Son of the Pirate, The] (1929)

Directors: Roberto Malinverni and Umberto Paradisi

Cast: Giorgio Canavese, Gaetano Detto, Ines Gay, Alfredo Giulietti, Paula Grey, Roberto Malinverni, Rinaldo Molinari, Nereo Neri, Franco Novarro

[Action | Adventure - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - Italy - Adunate Cinematografica Nazionale, Genova]

First Kiss, The [aka Secret of Pirate, The] (1929)

Director: Rowland V. Lee

Writers: John Farrow (adaptation), Tom Reed (titles) and Tristram Tupper (story "Four Brothers")

Cast: Fay Wray [Anna Lee], Gary Cooper [Mulligan Talbot], Lane Chandler [William Talbot], Leslie Fenton [Carol Talbot], Paul Fix [Ezra Talbot], Malcolm Williams ['Pap'], Monroe Owsley [the other suitor], George Nash [Bit Part (uncredited)]

Storyline: The Talbots, formerly one of the Eastern Shore's first families, have gone to seed: Pap is a drunk, soddenly decaying in his ruined ancestral home, and three of his sons (William, Carol, and Ezra) are lazy, shiftless young men. Mulligan, Pap's second son who supports the entire family by oyster fishing, falls in love with wealthy Anna Lee, but when he first kisses her, she calls him "white trash". Pap dies, and Mulligan, determined that the Talbot name will again be a respected one, turns to robbing ships in the Chesapeake Bay in order to finance educations for his three brothers. Six years pass: William becomes a minister, Carol a lawyer, and Ezra a doctor. Mulligan then sells a ship that he built with his own hands and pays back all those he robbed, thereby bringing about his own arrest. Placed on trial for piracy, Anna and his brothers come to his defense; found guilty, he is paroled in Anna's care.

[Adventure | Romance | Action - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation]

Hurricane (1929)

Director: Ralph Ince

Writers: Evelyn Campbell (story), Norman Springer (scenario), Enid Hibbard (adaptation), Norman Houston (additional dialogue) and Weldon Melick (titles, silent version)

Cast: Hobart Bosworth [Hurricane Martin], Johnny Mack Brown [Dan], Leila Hyams [Mary Stevens], Alan Roscoe [Captain Black], Tom O'Brien [Dugan], Leila McIntyre [Mrs. Stevens], Joe Bordeaux [Pete], Eddy Chandler [Bull], Wheeler Oakman [First Mate (uncredited)]

Storyline: Captain Black and his motley crew of pirates are shipwrecked on a south sea island, where they hold several shanghaied sailors captive. Black observes the ship commanded by "Hurricane Martin" approaching, and conspires to get his men aboard the vessel and seize the cargo.

[75 min - Action l Adventure l Crime | Romance - English - Black and White - 1.37 : 1 - USA - Columbia Pictures Corporation]

Pirates of Panama, The (1929) [12-episode serial]

Director: Ray Taylor

Writers: Arthur Henry Gooden (writer), George Morgan (writer) and William MacLeod Raine (story)

Cast: Jay Wilsey [Kacl Sedgwocl], Natalie Kingston [Evelyn Wallace], Al Ferguson [Boris Bothwell], George Ovey, Mary Sutton [Aunt Berry], Otto Bibber [Teager]

Storyline: The Pirate of Panama is a 1929 action film serial directed by Ray Taylor. Kingston had the female lead in one other Universal serial, The Pirate of Panama, an adaptation of William MacLeod Raine’s adventure novel about modern-day treasure hunters. In a shameless bid to capitalize on her physical assets the script kept Natalie’s character clad in shredded garments for much of the footage, if production stills are to be believed. The film is considered to be lost. 12 episodes. Chapter titles: 1. Pirate Gold, 2. Mutiny, 3. The Treasure Chest, 4. The Pirate's Secret, 5. Vengeance, 6. Trapped by the Tide, 7. The Shadow of Death, 8. The Menacing Swamp, 9. The Signal of Hope, 10. Two Lives for One, 11. The Price of Greed, 12. The Greatest Treasure.

[12-episode serial - Adventure | Action - Silent - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Universal Pictures]

Hell Harbor (1930)

Director: Henry King

Writers: Rida Johnson Young (novel "Out of the Night"), Fred De Gresac (adaptation, as Fred DeGresac), Brewster Morse (scenario, as N. Brewster Morse) and Clarke Silvernail (dialogue & screenplay, as Clark Silvernail)

Cast: Lupe Velez [Anita Morgan], Jean Hersholt [Joseph Horngold], John Holland [Bob Wade], Gibson Gowland [Henry Morgan], Harry Allen [Peg Leg], Al St. John [Bunion], Paul E. Burns [Blinky, as Paul Burns)], George Bookasta [Spotty], Ulysses Williams [Nemo]

Storyline: Anita Morgan, a descendant of the famous pirate Henry Morgan, is living a carefree and careless life on an island in the Carribean. Murder, treachery and romance are the name of the game in this pair of pre-code dramas. In "Hell Harbor" (1930), Lupe Velez plays Anita, a woman dreaming of sailing away to Havana. When her abusive father, promises her hand in marriage to a greedy merchant, played by Jean Hersholt, Anita decides to leave the island before it is too late. The story is set on a remote Caribbean island, entirely populated by descendants of Sir Henry Morgan's pirate crew. Morgan's brutish great-great-grandson Henry Morgan (Gibson Gowland) intends to shower himself with gold and to that end forces his daughter Anita (Lupe Velez) into a marriage with despicable moneylender Joseph Horngold (Jean Hersholt). Coming to Anita's rescue is shipwrecked American sailor Bob Wade (John Holland), whose presence sparks an unchecked riot on the island. A raucous pirate adventure starring Lupe Velez, Hell Harbor (sometimes erroneously referred to as "Hell's Harbor") was shot entirely in Tampa, Florida. It tells the story of Harry Morgan, a descendent of the notorious Morgan the Pirate, who lives with his spirited daughter, Anita, along Hell Harbor, a hidden cove located in the Caribbean. Hell Harbor is home to a variety of scalawags and misfits, including unscrupulous trader Joseph Horngold. After Horngold witnesses Harry stab a stranger to death in a seedy cantina, he strikes a deal to marry Anita in exchange for his silence. Anita refuses, hoping that Bob Wade, a dashing American sailor, will rescue her. Velez stars as the charismatic and vivacious Anita while Jean Hersholt plays Joseph Horngold and handsome John Holland costars as Wade. The good people of Tampa filled in as the residents of Hell Harbor, including the city's Cuban population, who were enamored with Lupe Velez. Among the Tampa residents who showed up on the set was an odd-looking newspaperman named Rondo Hatton, whose striking appearance was due to acromegaly, a progressive disease of the pituitary gland that caused his hands, feet, and face to become enlarged. Hatton's distorted features prompted King to place him front and center in the cantina scenes. The storyline of Hell Harbor follows the misadventures of Harry Morgan, a descendent of the notorious Morgan the Pirate. Harry lives with his spirited daughter, Anita, along Hell Harbor, a hidden cove in the Caribbean. Hell Harbor is home to a variety of scalawags, pirates, and misfits, including unscrupulous trader Joseph Horngold. After Horngold witnesses Harry stab a stranger to death in a seedy cantina, he strikes a deal to marry Anita in exchange for his silence. Anita refuses, hoping that Bob Wade, a dashing American sailor, will rescue her. Fiery Lupe Velez stars as the vivacious Anita; Jean Hersholt costars as  Horngold; and handsome John Holland plays Wade.

[93 min l 64 min (edited, re-release) - Drama | Romance - English - Black and White - 1.33 : 1 - USA - Inspiration Pictures]

Tom Sawyer (1930)

Director: John Cromwell

Writers: Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt, Sam Mintz and Mark Twain (novel)

Cast: Jackie Coogan [Tom Sawyer], Junior Durkin [Huckleberry Finn], Mitzi Green [Becky Thatcher], Lucien Littlefield [Schoolteacher], Tully Marshall [Muff Potter], Clara Blandick [Aunt Polly], Mary Jane Irving [Mary], Ethel Wales [Mrs. Harper], Dick Winslow [Joe Harper], Jackie Searl [Sid], Jane Darwell [Widow Douglas], Charles Stevens [Injun Joe], Charles Sellon [Minister], Lon Poff [Judge Thatcher]

Storyline: The classic Mark Twain tale of a young boy and his friends on the Mississippi River. Tom and his pals Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper have numerous adventures, including running away to be pirates and, being believed drowned, attending their own funeral. The boys also witness a murder and Tom and his friend Becky Thatcher are pursued by the vengeful murderer. The film was the third screen adaptation of the Twain novel, following silent versions released in 1907 and 1917. After arguing with his sweetheart, Becky Thatcher, Tom Sawyer seeks solace from his friend Huck Finn, who tells him about a mysterious cure for warts that requires them to visit the local cemetery at midnight. While there they witness a murder committed by Injun Joe, who convinces Muff Potter, who also was there but in an inebriated state, that he is guilty of the crime. Tom and Huck promise each other they will not divulge what they have seen. When Tom is caught lying about stealing his half-brother Sid's crabapples, his Aunt Polly punishes him by making him whitewash the fence on a Saturday morning. The boy leads his friends to believe he is enjoying the task, and before long they are giving him their treasures in exchange for the privilege of joining in the fun. Together with Huck and Joe Harper, Tom runs away from home to become a pirate. The three set off on a raft to Jacksons Island in the Mississippi River, where they remain for three days. Upon returning home, Tom discovers it was thought the three had drowned, and the boys attend their own funeral service at the church. At Muff Potter's trial, Tom admits the truth about the murder, but Injun Joe manages to escape. While attending the school picnic near a cavern, Tom and Becky decide to explore it and get lost. As they try to find their way out, they stumble upon Injun Joe and a chest of gold. While angrily pursuing the two children, he falls into a crevasse and is killed. Huck finds Tom and Becky and leads them to safety, together with the treasure.

[86 min - Adventure l Comedy l Drama - English - Black and White - 1.20 : 1 - USA - Paramount Pictures]