I've watched a sackful of Douglas Fairbanks movies in the last two days and with the premiere of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean sequel imminent, a new poll suggested itself: "Who is your favorite swashbuckling movie pirate?" (Vote at right.)
Your choices:
Douglas Fairbanks Errol Flynn Tyrone Power Burt Lancaster Johnny Depp other
Johnny Depp is not my favorite pirate, but his franchise may be my favorite pirate movies. Most pirate movies are compromised by a weak action, excessive goofiness, or lack of nautical scenes. The last is a killer - so many pirate movies spend too much time on dry land or phony ship sets. Not Pirates of the Caribbean, though!
But Depp is a little too Burt Lancaster for my tastes.
Of Burt Lancaster, I say when he's good, he's very very good, and when he's bad, he's the Crimson Pirate.
My mother, as a teenage girl, was foaming at the mouth gaga over Tyrone Power -- Alexander's Ragtime Band was one of her all-time favorites -- so it's nice to see he's picked up a couple of votes.
I like Johnny Depp -- I'd put him third on my list. He's basically the anti-pirate pirate, funny and single-handedly turned what could have been a minor Disney movie into one of the most lucrative franchises in history.
But Errol Flynn versus Douglas Fairbanks is where the action is in my head -- Fairbanks in The Black Pirate, one of the earliest color movies, is filled with great stunts and action, while Flynn in both Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk is terrific. You can't go wrong either way.
And for those who prefer, say, Wallace Beery as Long John Silver, or whoever that guy was in The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad or even the dead Guy Williams in Captain Sinbad, well, there's always "other"!
I vote for Mr. Depp. While he neither swashes nor buckles, he charms and entertains.
Thank you for considering my work.
I think my favorite Lancaster performances are Elmer Gantry, The Train and Atlantic City. Plus all those film noirs he made in the 1940s.
My friend, let us not sleep on Mr. Lancaster's performance in Field of Dreams The film is admittedly a train wreck, but every moment that Mr. Lancaster appears onscreen is sublime -- he is a movie star and makes us like it.
My friend, let us not sleep on Mr. Lancaster's performance in Field of Dreams The film is admittedly a train wreck, but every moment that Mr. Lancaster appears onscreen is sublime -- he is a movie star and makes us like it.
Ah, yes, it slipped my mind. Lancaster rescues the movie -- a great, understated performance,
Well, the star of any pirate movie worth its salt is the ship. You have to have a ragtag pirate ship square off against one of those British ships with three tiers of cannons before you can even call it a pirates movie...
... and then there must be a women worth stealing, converting to the cause, losing, and then rescuing from her unhappy life of royalty and privilege for a life on the high seas ...
... then we need Errol Flynn to step in to save the day ...
Got tired of waiting for Blogger to restore all the missing comments.
Beveridge D. Spenser: Charles Laughton as Capt. Kidd! Oops, I already voted. Never mind.
Mythical Monkey: Vote early, vote often, I always say!
Worc: I voted for Lancaster, incredible performances like a pirate. A greeting.
Mythical Monkey: I think my favorite Lancaster performances are Elmer Gantry, The Train and Atlantic City. Plus all those film noirs he made in the 1940s. He's never boring.
Worc: Agree with you, for me Elmer Gantry is a superb Lancaster`s performance and Jean Simmons simply amazing. A greeting.
Uncle Tom: what, no Yosemite Sam? Oh Mr Pye-Rate! I'm a Hessian with no agression
Mythical Monkey: I got your Yosemite Sam right here ...
Douglas Fairbanks: I vote for Mr. Depp. While he neither swashes nor buckles, he charms and entertains. Thank you for considering my work. I think my favorite Lancaster performances are Elmer Gantry, The Train and Atlantic City. Plus all those film noirs he made in the 1940s. My friend, let us not sleep on Mr. Lancaster's performance in Field of Dreams The film is admittedly a train wreck, but every moment that Mr. Lancaster appears onscreen is sublime -- he is a movie star and makes us like it.
Douglas Fairbanks: It nearly slipped my mind: Your modern pharmaceutical Xanax is admirable!
Mythical Monkey:My friend, let us not sleep on Mr. Lancaster's performance in Field of Dreams The film is admittedly a train wreck, but every moment that Mr. Lancaster appears onscreen is sublime -- he is a movie star and makes us like it. Ah, yes, it slipped my mind. Lancaster rescues the movie -- a great, understated performance,
Named for Katie-Bar-The-Door, the Katies are "alternate Oscars"—who should have been nominated, who should have won—but really they're just an excuse to write a history of the movies from the Silent Era to the present day.
To see a list of nominees and winners by decade, as well as links to my essays about them, click the highlighted links:
Remember: There are no wrong answers, only movies you haven't seen yet.
The Silent Oscars
And don't forget to check out the Silent Oscars—my year-by-year choices for best picture, director and all four acting categories for the pre-Oscar years, 1902-1927.
Look at me—Joe College, with a touch of arthritis. Are my eyes really brown? Uh, no, they're green. Would we have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save a person from drowning? That's a key question. I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it. Say, haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?
16 comments:
Johnny Depp is not my favorite pirate, but his franchise may be my favorite pirate movies. Most pirate movies are compromised by a weak action, excessive goofiness, or lack of nautical scenes. The last is a killer - so many pirate movies spend too much time on dry land or phony ship sets. Not Pirates of the Caribbean, though!
But Depp is a little too Burt Lancaster for my tastes.
Hands down Errol Flynn gets my vote!
Page
Of Burt Lancaster, I say when he's good, he's very very good, and when he's bad, he's the Crimson Pirate.
My mother, as a teenage girl, was foaming at the mouth gaga over Tyrone Power -- Alexander's Ragtime Band was one of her all-time favorites -- so it's nice to see he's picked up a couple of votes.
I like Johnny Depp -- I'd put him third on my list. He's basically the anti-pirate pirate, funny and single-handedly turned what could have been a minor Disney movie into one of the most lucrative franchises in history.
But Errol Flynn versus Douglas Fairbanks is where the action is in my head -- Fairbanks in The Black Pirate, one of the earliest color movies, is filled with great stunts and action, while Flynn in both Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk is terrific. You can't go wrong either way.
And for those who prefer, say, Wallace Beery as Long John Silver, or whoever that guy was in The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad or even the dead Guy Williams in Captain Sinbad, well, there's always "other"!
Charles Laughton as Capt. Kidd! Oops, I already voted. Never mind.
Vote early, vote often, I always say!
I voted for Lancaster, incredible performances like a pirate.
A greeting.
I think my favorite Lancaster performances are Elmer Gantry, The Train and Atlantic City. Plus all those film noirs he made in the 1940s.
He's never boring.
Agree with you, for me Elmer Gantry is a superb Lancaster`s performance and Jean Simmons simply amazing.
A greeting.
what, no Yosemite Sam?
Oh Mr Pye-Rate!
I'm a Hessian with no agression
I got your Yosemite Sam right here ...
And apropos of exactly nothing -- goigle, goigle, goigle, goigle!
I vote for Mr. Depp. While he neither swashes nor buckles, he charms and entertains.
Thank you for considering my work.
I think my favorite Lancaster performances are Elmer Gantry, The Train and Atlantic City. Plus all those film noirs he made in the 1940s.
My friend, let us not sleep on Mr. Lancaster's performance in Field of Dreams The film is admittedly a train wreck, but every moment that Mr. Lancaster appears onscreen is sublime -- he is a movie star and makes us like it.
It nearly slipped my
mind:
Your modern pharmaceutical Xanax is admirable!
My friend, let us not sleep on Mr. Lancaster's performance in Field of Dreams The film is admittedly a train wreck, but every moment that Mr. Lancaster appears onscreen is sublime -- he is a movie star and makes us like it.
Ah, yes, it slipped my mind. Lancaster rescues the movie -- a great, understated performance,
Well, the star of any pirate movie worth its salt is the ship. You have to have a ragtag pirate ship square off against one of those British ships with three tiers of cannons before you can even call it a pirates movie...
... and then there must be a women worth stealing, converting to the cause, losing, and then rescuing from her unhappy life of royalty and privilege for a life on the high seas ...
... then we need Errol Flynn to step in to save the day ...
Got tired of waiting for Blogger to restore all the missing comments.
Beveridge D. Spenser: Charles Laughton as Capt. Kidd! Oops, I already voted. Never mind.
Mythical Monkey: Vote early, vote often, I always say!
Worc: I voted for Lancaster, incredible performances like a pirate. A greeting.
Mythical Monkey: I think my favorite Lancaster performances are Elmer Gantry, The Train and Atlantic City. Plus all those film noirs he made in the 1940s. He's never boring.
Worc: Agree with you, for me Elmer Gantry is a superb Lancaster`s performance and Jean Simmons simply amazing. A greeting.
Uncle Tom: what, no Yosemite Sam? Oh Mr Pye-Rate! I'm a Hessian with no agression
Mythical Monkey: I got your Yosemite Sam right here ...
Mythical Monkey: And apropos of exactly nothing ... goigle, goigle, goigle, goigle!
Douglas Fairbanks: I vote for Mr. Depp. While he neither swashes nor buckles, he charms and entertains. Thank you for considering my work. I think my favorite Lancaster performances are Elmer Gantry, The Train and Atlantic City. Plus all those film noirs he made in the 1940s. My friend, let us not sleep on Mr. Lancaster's performance in Field of Dreams The film is admittedly a train wreck, but every moment that Mr. Lancaster appears onscreen is sublime -- he is a movie star and makes us like it.
Douglas Fairbanks: It nearly slipped my mind: Your modern pharmaceutical Xanax is admirable!
Mythical Monkey: My friend, let us not sleep on Mr. Lancaster's performance in Field of Dreams The film is admittedly a train wreck, but every moment that Mr. Lancaster appears onscreen is sublime -- he is a movie star and makes us like it. Ah, yes, it slipped my mind. Lancaster rescues the movie -- a great, understated performance,
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