MOVIES - PIRATES 1961

• Alye parusa [aka Scarlet Sails] (1961)

• Ammutinamento, L' [aka White Slave Ship] (1961)

• Avventure di Mary Read, Le [aka Queen of the Seas] (1961)

• Conquistatore di Maracaibo, Il [aka Conqueror of Maracaibo] (1961)

• Fury at Smugglers' Bay (1961)

• Gordon, il pirata nero [aka Rage of the Buccaneers] (1961)

• Pirates of Tortuga (1961)

• Segreto dello sparviero nero, Il [aka Secret of the Black Falcon, The] (1961)

• Sir Francis Drake [aka Adventures of Sir Francis Drake, The] (1961)

• Terrore dei mari, Il [aka Guns of the Black Witch] (1961)

Alye parusa [aka Scarlet Sails] (1961)
Director: Aleksandr Ptushko
Writers: Alexander Grin (novel), Aleksei Nagornyj, and 1 more credit »
Cast: Anastasiya Vertinskaya [Assol], Vasili Lanovoy [Arthur Grey], Yelena Cheremshanova [Young Assol, as Lena Cheremshanova], Aleksandr Lupenko [Young Arthur, as Sasha Lupenko], Ivan Pereverzev [Longrene, as I. Pereverzev], Sergei Martinson [Filipp], Nikolai Volkov [Aglie], Sergei Romodanov [Captain Gop], Oleg Anofriev [Letika], Pavel Volkov [Poldishok], Zoya Fyodorova [Governess], Yevgeni Morgunov [Policeman], Pavel Massalsky [Arthur's father], Emmanuil Geller [Zimmer], Grigori Shpigel [Menners Jr.]
Storyline: A little girl Assol met a wizard and it has been foretold: "... it will be a fine sunny day when a beautiful ship under scarlet sail comes and the noble prince will take you away from here. He'll take you to the world of your dreams, where you will be loved and happy." The neighbours told jokes about her, children teased her, but she waited for her prince. She trusted in the miracles and waited. Arthur Gray's rule was "if you can make a miracle, do it!". And he made a miracle for the wonderful romantic girl.  
[88 min - Drama | Fantasy | Romance - Russian - Color (Sovcolor) - Soviet Union - Mosfilm]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ammutinamento, L' [aka White Slave Ship] (1961) 
Director: Silvio Amadio
Writers: Sandro Continenza, Marcello Coscia and Ruggero Jacobbi  
Cast: Pier Angeli [Polly, as Anna Maria Pierangeli], Edmund Purdom [Dr. Bradley], Armand Mestral [Calico Jack], Ivan Desny [Captain Cooper], Franco Capucci, Renato Speziali [Jimmy], Michèle Girardon [Anna], Franca Parisi [Lady Graveston], Mirko Ellis [Lord Graveston], Maria Pia Luzi, Paola Petrini, Ruth von Hagen, Ivy Holzer, Renato Mambor, Renato Montalbano
Storyline: The Albatross travels from England to the New World in 1675, with a number of passengers, a couple of political prisoners along with a dozen other women convicts, these to be sold into slavery on arrival. The woman activist frees the dozen of low-cast women, and they take over the ship. After a storm, the captain takes back control of his ship. Since mutiny is punishable by death in the New World, the mutineers try to reroute the course, tossing Desny and Purdom in the brig. A practical male mutineer wants to throw the women overboard to save rations, but the women free Purdom and the captain to battle the mutineers. A British warship comes to the rescue, and the captain pardons Angeli and Purdom for having saved his life. 
[92 min - Adventure - Italian - Color (Eastmancolor) - Italy | France - Champs-Élysées Productions, Giorgio Agliani Cinematografica, Gladiator Film] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avventure di Mary Read, Le [aka Queen of the Seas] (1961)
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Writers: Ernesto Gastaldi (uncredited), Ugo Guerra and Luciano Martino  
Cast: Lisa Gastoni [Mary Read], Jerome Courtland [Peter Goodwin], Walter Barnes [Captain Poof], Agostino Salvietti [Pirate Mangiatrippa], Germano Longo [Pirate Ivan], Gianni Solaro [Florida Governor], Gisella Arden [French dancer], Dina De Santis [Lady flirting with Peter], Tullio Altamura [Don Pedro Alvarez], Ignazio Balsamo [Captain of the Guard], Anna Arena [Signora sulla Diligenza], Giulio Battiferri [Prison Guard], Franco Jamonte [Horse-riding instructor], Edoardo Toniolo [Lord Goodwin], Piero Pastore [Protocol instructor]
Storyline: This is the story of a female corsair, Mary Read. Redhead Mary is a girl who dresses like a man to better approach, and rob the jewels worn by the pretty ladies of her time. The King's Guard captures her, and she finds herself in the same cell with Peter Goodwin, a nobleman - who pretends to be a robber like her, to flirt with her. After her evasion, Mary goes up the ladder in her criminal life - becoming a good pirate under captain Poof. When the captain dies, the only 'man' aboard who is respected by every faction among the pirates is... Mary. She represents a menace to the Florida Governor, who invites a nobleman to lead the King's naval forces against the pirates: Peter Goodwin. 
[87 min - Action | Adventure | Drama - Italian - Color (Eastmancolor) - France | Italy - Romana Film, Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conquistatore di Maracaibo, Il [aka Conqueror of Maracaibo] (1961) 
Director: Eugenio Martín
Writers: Gianfranco Parolini (screenplay) and Gianfranco Parolini (story and screenplay)
Cast: Hans von Borsody [Alan Drake], Luisella Boni [Altagracia, as Brigitte Corey], Helga Liné [Moira / El Valiente], Jany Clair [Doña Isabella Valdez, as Jane Clair], Luis Induni [Blaine], Carlo Tamberlani [Governor], Conrad Andersen [Puritano], Barta Barri, Frank Braña, José María Caffarel, Carlos Casaravilla [Brasseur], Livia Contardi [Rosario], Salvatore Furnari [Veleno], 
José Marco [Costello], José Manuel Martín, Luis Sánchez Polack [Don Miguel Ortega]
Storyline: Drake, head of a pirate ship, is accused of stealing the loot. Evade the island of Tortuga, where he is imprisoned and went to Maracaibo. There he hopes to meet with the head pirate El Valiente and to defend its case with respect to the charge of theft.
[101 min - Action | Adventure | Drama - Italian - Color - Italy | Spain - Procusa, Produzioni Associate, Época Films S.A.]

 

 

Fury at Smugglers' Bay (1961)
Director: John Gilling
Writer: John Gilling
Cast: Peter Cushing [Squire Trevenyan], John Fraser [Christopher Trevenyan], Bernard Lee [Black John], Michèle Mercier [Louise Lejeune], June Thorburn [Jenny Trevenyan], William Franklyn [The Captain], Liz Fraser [Betty], Miles Malleson [Duke of Avon], George Coulouris [François Lejeune], Katherine Kath [Maman], Juma [Juma, the boy], Christopher Carlos [The Tiger, a pirate], Tommy Duggan [Red Friars, as Thomas Duggan], Maitland Moss [Tom, the butler], Humphrey Heathgate [Roger Treherne, as Humphrey Heathcote]
Storyline: In a small English coastal town, it is the late 18th Century, and most of the local community are involved in harmless smuggling; but a band of vicious wreckers under Black John (Bernard Lee) is deliberately luring merchant ships onto the rocks to loot them of their cargo. The local squire (Peter Cushing) sends for troops from the Duke of Avon (Miles Malleson) to track down the smugglers and the wreckers - on the journey, his stage is held up by an honorable local highwayman known as The Captain. The troops capture a group of the local smugglers, and with Black John as the chief witness, the Squire (acting very suspiciously) sentences them to deportation. The Squire's son, Christopher is in love with the daughter of one of the men; she confers with The Captain and they come up with a plan to rescue the men before they are deported, and to stop Black John's reign of terror. But they face problems while the truth behind the Squire's actions come to light...
[82 min - Adventure - English - Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor) - UK - John Gilling Enterprises, Mijo Films]

Gordon, il pirata nero [aka Rage of the Buccaneers] (1961) 
Director: Mario Costa
Writers: John Byrne and Ottavio Poggi
Cast: Ricardo Montalban [Captain Gordon, the Black Buccaneer], Vincent Price [Romero], Giulia Rubini [Manuela, the Governor's daughter, as Giuliana Rubini], Liana Orfei [Luana, a Gordon's faithful], Mario Feliciani [The Governor], Giustino Durano [Juan], Gisella Sofio [Rosita - Manuela's maid], José Jaspe [Captain Tortuga - a Buccaneer], Edoardo Toniolo [Felipe Cortez], Gino Marturano [Tarto], Andrea Fantasia [Bonifacio], Franco Fantasia [Officer on the slave ship]
Storyline: Gordon the Black Pirate follows the adventures of an escaped-slave-turned-pirate, who has made it his mission to waylay as many slave ships as possible, liberating the cargo. Along the way he uncovers a slave trading ring, falls in love with a governors daughter and faces his arch enemy. Despite the libertarian nature of Gordon's struggle I wasn't that comfortable with the film's patronizing and inaccurate portrayal of slaves and slavery. None of the slaves seem to have much personality beyond humble gratitude, being little more than plot devices to give a moral backing to Gordon's actions.
[88 min -  Drama | Adventure - Italian - Color (Eastmancolor) - Italy - Max Production]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pirates of Tortuga (1961)
Director: Robert D. Webb
Writers: Pat Silver (screenplay), Jesse Lasky Jr. (screenplay) and Melvin Levy (screenplay and story)
Cast: Ken Scott [Bart], Letícia Román [Meg], Dave King [Pee Wee], John Richardson [Percy], Rafer Johnson [John Gammel], Robert Stephens [Henri Morgan], Rachel Stephens [Phoebe - Mollyford's Cousin], Stanley Adams [Montbars], Edgar Barrier [Sir Thomas Mollyford], James Forrest [Reggie], Patrick Sexton [Randolph], Arthur Gould-Porter [Bonnett], Hortense Petra 
[Lola - Morgan's Companion], Malcolm Cassell [Kipper], Mark Bailey [Naval Officer in Jamaica]
Storyline: Sea captain Bart Paxton has a thankless task from the King of England. Henry Morgan, erstwhile ally of the crown, has set up a kingdom on Tortuga, whose buccaneers are robbing English ships at will and strangling the island of Jamaica. The Royal Navy can't attack Tortuga without igniting a new war with Spain, so the King is sending Paxton as a secret privateer to put an end to Morgan's depredations. And Meg, the young hellion who has stowed away on Paxton's ship, isn't making his job any easier. Paxton finds Morgan, Paxton poses as partner of Morgan to spy out Morgan's fortress, Meg flirts with the governor of Jamaica, but ultimately decides her heart truly lies with Paxton, Paxton defeats Morgan. But the denouement is a major disappointment: unimaginative, perfunctory, and implausible at once, and moreover, it fails to tie up Morgan's end of the story.
[97 min - Adventure - English - Color - USA - Clover Productions]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Segreto dello sparviero nero, Il [aka Secret of the Black Falcon, The] (1961) 

Director: Domenico Paolella

Writers: Domenico Paolella and Sergio Sollima

Cast: Lex Barker [Captain Don Carlos de Herrera], Livio Lorenzon [Sergeant Rodriguez], Nadia Marlowa [Leonora], Germano Longo [Zampa di Gatto / Katzenpfote], Walter Barnes [Calico Jack], Pina Cornel [Yvette], Loris Gizzi [Don Pedro Ordigaso], Dina De Santis [Ines], Tullio Altamura [Don Juan], Gino Buzzanca [Gouverneur di Melida], Ignazio Balsamo [Sancho], Ermelinda De Felice [Violetta, as Linda De Felice], Giuseppe Chinnici [Primo Ministro], Calisto Calisti [Mercante di Venice], Corrado Annicelli [Don Alvaro Fontejuna]

[92 min - Adventure - Italian - Color -Italy - Romana Film]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sir Francis Drake [aka Adventures of Sir Francis Drake, The] (1961)

Cast: Terence Morgan [Sir Francis Drake], Jean Kent [Queen Elizabeth I], Michael Crawford [John Drake], Milton Reid [Diego], Howard Lang [Grenville], 

Storyline: The adventures of Sir Francis Drake during the 1500's. Sir Francis is probably one of the most famous explorers of the high seas. The twenty six episodes of the series are about his explorations of many far off lands. All twenty-six episodes of the swashbuckling British television series starring Terence Morgan as the great adventurer, explorer and defender of the Queen, as he wages his war against the Spanish Empire. Episodes are: 'The Prisoner'; 'The Lost Colony of Virginia'; 'Mary, Queen of Scots'; 'Doctor Dee'; 'Bold Enterprise'; 'The English Dragon'; 'Boy Jack'; 'The Garrison'; 'Visit to Spain'; 'The Flame Thrower'; 'The Governor's Revenge'; 'The Slaves of Spain'; 'The Doughty Plot'; 'King of America'; 'The Irish Pirate'; 'Beggars of the Sea'; 'Drake on Trial'; 'The Bridge'; 'Johnnie Factotum'; 'Mission to Paris'; 'The Reluctant Duchess'; 'The Gypsies'; 'Court Intrigue'; 'Gentlemen of Spain'; 'The Fountain of Youth' and 'Escape'.

[TV Series - 25 min [26 episodes, 652 minutes] - Adventure | Family - Black and White - English - UK - Incorporated Television Company (ITC)]

Terrore dei mari, Il [aka Guns of the Black Witch] (1961)
Director: Domenico Paolella
Writers: Ugo Guerra, Luciano Martino, Ernesto Gastaldi (uncredited) and Silvana Pampanini
Cast: Don Megowan [Jean], Silvana Pampanini [Delores], Emma Danieli [Elisa], Livio Lorenzon [Guzman], Germano Longo [Michel], Loris Gizzi [Governor], Philippe Hersent [Jean's Stepfather], Anna Lina Alberti [Elisa's Maid], Annie Alberti [Conchita], Tullio Altamura, Nando Angelini, Corrado Annicelli, Gianni Baghino, Teodoro Corrà, Nada Cortese
Storyline: In the 17th century, a village was the refuge of several French buccaneers. One day, the Spanish under the command of Guzmán, attacked the village and killed everybody, adults and children alike, Two brothers, who were wild kids, escaped because they were absent to play away from their parents; on their return home, they saw the end of the carnage, and vowed revenge. As adults, they made their name feared by the Maracaïbo Spanish colonists. Yet, jealousy made them fall apart of each other, and eventually one brother died - so the other would survive and be happy with the woman they loved. 
[98 min - Adventure - Italian - Color (Eastmancolor) - Italy | France - Romana Film, Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)]