Dancing Pirate (1936)

[OLDTIMER]

Title: Dancing Pirate

Tagline: The first dancing musical in 100% new Technicolor

Genre: Music, Adventure, Comedy

Director: Lloyd Corrigan

Cast: Charles Collins, Frank Morgan, Steffi Duna, Luis Alberni, Victor Varconi, Rita Hayworth, Jack La Rue, Alma Real, William V. Mong, Mitchell Lewis, Julian Rivero, John Eberts, Eduardo Cansino Jr., Nora Cecil, Jim Farley, Cy Kendall, Vera Lewis, Ellen Lowe, Pat Nixon, Marjorie Reynolds, Max Wagner, Harold Waldridge

Release: 1936-05-22

Runtime: 83

Plot: Jonathan Pride is a mild-mannered dance instructor in 1820 Boston. En route to visit relatives, Jonathan is shanghaied by a band of zany pirates and forced to work as a galley boy. When the pirate vessel arrives at the port of Las Palomas, Jonathan, clad in buccaneer's garb, makes his escape. Everyone in Las Palomas, including Governor Alcalde (Frank Morgan) and fetching senorita Serafina (Steffi Duna), assumes that Jonathan is the pirate chieftain, leading to a series of typical comic-opera complications.

After a search of the forum I was surprised that nobody had commented on the recent “Film Detective” release of Dancing Pirate.

While its production values leave much to be desired, it has at least two assets that should make it a film to be seen. Released in 1936 it was the first musical to be made entirely in three-strip Technicolor and only the third feature film to be so made. It also has a musical score, albeit brief (only two songs), by Rogers and Hart. Blu-Ray.com described the songs as forgettable but I found them quite catchy. In their review of the vision they complained of print damage like missing frames and scratches, etc. Although they’re there, they’re not distracting, although grain looks a little strange at times.

The print, of which it is suggested was the only complete surviving element, was apparently scanned at 4K. It’s acceptably sharp, looking better on the screen than Blu-ray.com’s frame grabs. Color-wise it’s certainly not up to the standard of the Blu’s of La Cucaracha or Beck Sharp of similar vintage. However, in my days as a collector of 35mm film I once had two reels of an original nitrate print of Ramona (again from the same vintage) and I can say that the slightly sepia color-cast of Dancing Pirate looks exactly as it did in my print of Ramona.

Entertainment-wise, I found it quite enjoyable. Frank Morgan plays his "Wizard of Oz" type character, the little known Charles Collins is likeable as the dancer, and Steffi Duna is best known from La Cucaracha. You can read the full review at:

Dancing Pirate Blu-ray

Dancing Pirate Blu-ray Release Date February 22, 2022. Blu-ray reviews, news, specs, ratings, screenshots. Cheap Blu-ray movies and deals.

www.blu-ray.com

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I reviewed it in March. I thought it was a mediocre movie at best.

The Dancing Pirate [Blu-Ray] (1936)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson: As an early three-color Technicolor effort, The Dancing Pirate earns some attention for historical reasons. As a film, though, this becomes a bland mix of music, comedy and adventure that does little to endear itself to the audience. Starring Charles Collins, Frank...

dvdmg.com

 

[bujaki]

I reviewed it in March. I thought it was a mediocre movie at best.

The Dancing Pirate [Blu-Ray] (1936)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson: As an early three-color Technicolor effort, The Dancing Pirate earns some attention for historical reasons. As a film, though, this becomes a bland mix of music, comedy and adventure that does little to endear itself to the audience. Starring Charles Collins, Frank...

dvdmg.com

It has its moments: the dancing finale is quite spectacular. It also has its charm: Frank Morgan is not one of them.
I've seen nitrate 35mm prints of Ramona and Trail of the Lonesome Pine. Their color values are not what we're accustomed to today.

 

[Bert Greene]

I was very pleased with Film Detective's "Dancing Pirate" (1936) release. The film is admittedly rather hokey and third-rate, but it has a silly winsomeness that's hard to begrudge. The print is so vastly superior to what has previously circulated. So sharp that for the first time I noticed an unbilled Joan Barclay as one of the girls getting dance lessons at the beginning. Charles Collins gets a lot of flak as the leading man, but he's actually not too bad. Only towards the end, when he needs to get into heroic mode, does he falter and come across too wispy. Over the decades, I've always thought of this movie as being a sort of rite-of-passage for old-time movie buffs, where everyone is very very cognizant of its deficiencies, but there's a kind of goofy affection that's been built up towards it.

I turned my viewing of the disc into a Steffi Duna double-feature, watching "Red Morning" (1934-RKO) as well. It offers Duna as an all-out lead heroine in a salty South Seas adventure, being shipwrecked among natives, and butting heads with baddies Charles Middleton and Raymond Hatton. Lots of fun, peppered with lots of outdoor location-work. Had a good time with both movies. Yep, Steffi Duna, the Hungarian gal who specialized in Hispanics, and became Dennis O'Keefe's main squeeze. Good double-feature fun.