Left Field Cinema

The Pirate was, is considered a misunderstood musical, some what before its time, directed by Vincente Minnelli, released in 1948 and starring Kelly and Garland its one is films of pure delight and colour, along with An American in Paris & Some Came Running his real great pictures, unlike the frankly overrated Meet Me in St Louis & Gigi.

The first act includes ones of Kelly’s best three musical sequences. Kelly & Garland carry all the humour of this film, the assemble doesn’t compare with Singing in the Rain however I should give you the characters in this very elementary story and plot. Judy Garland plays Manuela who lives in the Caribbean village of Calvados, who’s old, bullying Mayor Don Pedro wants along with Manuela’s guardians to marry her, whilst she dreams of the legendary pirate, Mack Macoco. On a visit to Port Sebastian she encounters a circus of the high seas headed by Serafin, Gene Kelly. Plot contrivance one, Manuela & Serafin fall for each other that day, that night she sneaks her way to Serafin’s hypnotist show, in a state she sings and dances wildly of her love for, Mack the Black, Macoco. Serafin’s circus continue on the Calvados, arriving the day of the big wedding, Serafin now really admitting his love and want of love from Manuela who leaves him to Don Pedro, thus the story aches go from there.

With a slight twist on marrying for money or love, the Pirate has far more charm than Woody Allen’s recent attempt at telling the shenanigans of a man and a woman, hypnotized by love. This is the second of three films Garland and Kelly have fallen been musical leads together, standing out more as Gene Kelly’s brilliant debut as chorographer, Minnelli using default camera work as not to miss any of Kelly’s new, inspired use of dance, physical humour and set designs. Members of the films circus were famous afro-American dancers the Nicholas Brothers, who complement Kelly’s style of rigid leg and hip movements, one element that is maybe used to distinguish him as a great pirate, like Macoco. The one Oscar nomination here was fitting, the original score is brilliant. Garland & Kelly as singers are the most smoothing of all, their ending reprise of ‘Be a Clown’ the brilliant inspiration for a similar number in Singing in the Rain. With a two million dollar budget Minnelli produced his only box office flop, considered one of Hollywood’s earliest, the critical reception was also negative, overtime the films use of Technicolor and quality dancers has made it for many a classic, at 102 minutes its enthralling, only one of six musical numbers doing any 60’s overstating its dance.

Completely shot on a back-lot, The Pirate surprising makes the lavish Gigi look uninvolving and a tame precursor to My Fair Lady for Minnelli, not really the star behind the camera here either. The staginess and set-shooting completely plays against this being a musical to sweep you away like Mr Demy, a later Kelly collaborator, who also offered more honest love stories, musical based ones which dictate over character.

Not that Minnelli was the premier musical director, The Pirate was the real changing of the guard to Kelly, who reportedly did most directing on the brilliant An American in Paris, Gene also directing another great in the same 1948-52 period, On the Town. In 1948 The Pirate was a flop, over time its flopped back around, offering the basis for the brilliant musical choreography of the 1950’s and 1960’s, then musicals were proper, music-comedies, a mistake musical detractors today say of, golden globe award categorising.

Darcy S. McCallum