Ex Libris has been shivering her timbers and hauling up the Skull and Crossbones this week and, by 
coincidence, so have I. I went to see the second Pirates of the Caribbean film on Thursday with the simply gorgeous, utterly outrageous Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, once more not only stealing the film but fleeing the country with it and leaving everyone else floundering. After seeing Orlando Bloom as Legolas in Lord of the Rings, I was totally smitten, but gorgeous though he is, he just cannot cope with the screen presence of JD in these movies. Orlando plays Will, the good guy, who gets the girl but the attraction between his fiance Elizabeth Swann and Jack Sparrow, hinted at in the first film, is made very clear in the sequel. The fact that she is played by Keira Knightly who I find fairly uninspiring, and who has just recently had the lovely Matthew McFadyan in Pride and Prejudice as her leading man, only makes me feel even more that life is just not fair.....
One of the comments over on Ex Libris' blog mentioned The Crimson Pirate. This was a film I saw as a child and has remained as one of my favourite swash bucklers of all time. It stars Burt Lancaster in his prime with gleaming teeth and beguiling smile who seemed to spend the entire film running around 
in the most outrageous pair of striped trousers I have ever seen (as you can see in the picture on the left which seems to be the French poster for the film. The US one is much more restrained and has him wearing looser trousers).
Burt Lancaster used to be in a circus, as anyone who has seen him in the film Trapeze will testify, and his circus skills are certainly utilised to the full in a wonderful chase sequence where he swings from rooftops and vaults from beams, always escaping his pursuers in the nick of time. There is an unforgettable scene where he and his henchman are shackled to a dinghy and sent out to sea to die and Burt turns the boat over, traps the air underneath and walks the boat back to shore. This scene is lifted in its entirety and placed in the middle of Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and I let out a shriek of recognition when I spotted it (I was the only one in the cinema that night who did and I embarrassed my children no end). The director in an interview on the DVD admitted he had done it and said it was in homage because The Crimson Pirate was one of his favourite movies.
I also remember that this film was part of a summer holiday double bill, the other film being Calamity Jane with Doris Day. I went in to see these movies at 1.30 pm in the afternoon and sat and watched them round four times before leaving at about 10 pm in the evening. All for about 5 shillings. You could do that in those days. This week I paid £9.50 to see the Johnny Depp movie which shook me somewhat.
Ex Libris also mentions the dazzling Errol Flynn as Sea Hawk and he is, of course, quite wonderful but for me Errol is Robin Hood, one of the greatest swashbucklers of all time. I have to say that my feelings about the current BBC production of Robin Hood have been proved right. Started well and Richard Armitage (oh be still my beating heart) is just eatable as Guy of Gisborne, but Jason Armstrong as Robin is simply awful and whiny and the young actress who is playing Maid Marian has the acting ability of a whelk.
So I think I will be giving this a miss from now on much though it grieves me to miss out on further yearnings over Richard Armitage. I have to say I think he would make a terrific pirate. Now there is a thought....
