Blackbeard The Pirate Review

• 8th Jun 2011

Blackbeard the Pirate is a 1952 pirate film by RKO starring Robert Newton and directed by action movie legend Raoul Walsh. Pirate movies were big business during Hollywood’s golden era with major hits such as Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk and The Crimson Pirate (starring a young Burt Lancaster) all proving massive box office hits. Can this old school approach measure up to the Pirates of the Caribbean behemoth that now solely represents the genre.

Set in the waters of the Caribbean the narrative follows Edward Maynard (Keith Andes) as he attempts to prove that t privateer Henry Morgan (Torin Thatcher) also engages in piracy. He ends up masquerading as a surgeon on a ship captained by Blackbeard (Robert Newton) who is currently in a dispute with Morgan. Also on board is the kidnapped love interest Edwina Mansfield (Linda Darnell) who is attempting to flee her husband to be with a load of stolen treasure.

Johnny Depp has stated that he only took the role of Jack Sparrow because he was desperate to play a pirate. Watching Robert Newton chewing up the scenery as Blackbeard would convince anyone that this may be the best job in the world. Newton’s clearly having the time of his life here spitting out endless amounts of Aaarrrggghhh’s,  Aye Aye’s and Ahoy Me Hearties. He has also pleated his beard which must have influenced Depp’s Sparrow without a doubt. The supporting seamen are just as salty as this is the cartoon version of pirates that you come to expect as a youngster.

Thanks to Raoul Walsh there is plenty of non-stop action that carries the narrative at a superb pace. The set pieces come thick and fast as cutlasses fly around the screen with reckless abandon. The sets and costumes are superb for what was a medium budget picture and the Technicolor photography is fantastic. The DVD sadly hasn’t been re-mastered so the colors are not as crisp as they were originally but it’s nothing to cry over.  Walsh’s vigorous and robust direction is as captivating as Newton’s performance especially when Blackbeard fights off around ten of his men attempting to stay alive. His ultimate demise is remarkably brutal given the year of release and had me wondering how many children this may have upset originally. Blackbeard may be a bad man but the performance by Newton elevates the character into an anti-hero of epic proportions.

Blackbeard the Pirate is the perfect film for a Saturday matinee, filled with romance, action, adventure, and pirates it really delivers on all fronts. The film belongs to Robert Newton and I feel that anyone introducing teenagers to this film today would surely find them making the connection to Jack Sparrow. Personally I loved it and being a massive fan of Raoul Walsh it had an extra dimension for me to enjoy. Pirate films are fantastic, even Polansky’s Pirates and I would love it if other studios apart from Disney dived right in and made a slightly edgier film like this.

Aled Jones