The Pirate **** (1948, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Walter Slezak) – Classic Movie Review 2510

Director Vincente Minnelli’s sophisticated and colourful 1948 Technicolor musical is lots of fun and a real charmer. It’s a sparkling showcase for the splendid team of Gene Kelly and Judy Garland, in the second of their three films together.

Gene Kelly delights as the strolling, travelling singer player who falls in love with the lovelorn Manuela Alva, who is engaged to the local rich, fat and sleazy nobleman Don Pedro (Walter Slezak) but has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco.

So then the singer pretends to be the dashing pirate Serafin to win the hand of the girl, who is played enchantingly by Judy Garland.

The Pirate, though less well known or regarded, and far less successful, still takes its place as one of the great Hollywood movie musicals. That is thanks to (1) the two wonderful stars at their best and showing great chemistry, (2) the handsomely re-created 19th-century Caribbean setting, (3) the sumptuous costumes, and (4) the excellent Cole Porter songs like ‘Love of My Life’, ‘Mack the Black’, ‘Nina’, ‘You Can Do No Wrong’ and especially the show-stopping ‘Be a Clown’ (choreographed by Kelly and performed with the Nicholas Brothers).

Incidentally, the ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’ song (by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed) in the 1952 musical Singin’ in the Rain is more or less the same as Porter’s ‘Be a Clown’. Both are MGM films starring Kelly and Porter did not complain. The ‘Be a Clown’ dance sequence was cut when the movie was shown in Southern cities like Memphis because it featured black performers The Nicholas Brothers.

It was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Music Score, but lost to another Garland MGM musical, Easter Parade.

Also starring are Walter Slezak, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen and George Zucco.

Also in the cast are Lester Allen, Lola Dean, Marion Murray, Ben Lessy, Jerry Bergen, Val Setrz, Cully Richards and the Gaudsmith Brothers.

The troubled Garland, smoking four packs of cigarettes a day during filming, missed 99 of the 135 shooting days due to illness. Her struggles with prescription drug addiction led to several angry confrontations with husband/director Minnelli. Sadly, after all the hard work, it lost $2,290,000.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2510

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com