The Pirate Summary
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Genres: Musical, Romance
Rating:
When Alfred_Lunt and Lynn_Fontanne appeared in S._N._Behrmann's The Pirate on Broadway, there were no musical numbers whatsoever. But with Gene_Kelly and Judy_Garland in the leading roles of the 1948 filmization of The_Pirate, the MGM production staff would have been drawn and quartered had there not been song after song. The story is merely serviceable: on a Caribbean isle in the early 19th century, sheltered young Garland comes to believe that travelling troubadour Kelly is in reality "Mack the Black," a notorious pirate. Kelly realizes that the surest way to win Garland's heart is to impersonate the romantic buccaneer, and this is what he does--nearly getting himself hanged in the process. Cole_Porter's marvelous score yielded only one bona-fide hit: "Be a Clown", which has practically nothing to do with the storyline, but do you care? Highlights include the magnificently staged "Mack the Black," a heady combination of Broadway glitz and Caligariesque nightmare. Seven MGM screenwriters toiled away on The_Pirate, though only the team of Albert_Hackett and Frances_Goodrich were credited. While The_Pirate was not a huge moneymaker on its first release, it has since been embraced by the cultists, who apparently can never get enough of Judy_Garland. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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