"YO! HO! HO!"

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18902, 18 January 1927, Page 11

"YO! HO! HO!"

THE BLACK PIRATE. It is a. thrilling adventure into unknown lands, sailing away in stately galleons with painted sails, with deadly pirate ships with the skull and croesbones looming on the horizon; it is a fascinating foray into the South Seas, whore one encounters rascally mates and leering captains, where the cutlass and the cut-throat rub shoulders, where comedy and tragedy walk hand in hand, and where one can find even romance. That is "The Black Pirate,!' a magnificent United Artists production in the latest process of technicolour, with Douglas Fairbanks himself, with his broad smile, and his flashing sword, in the title role, and which is to be presented at the Grand Theatre on Monday next for the first time in Christchurch. Fairbanks has done something really great In making "The Black Pirate." It is not so much the story a 3 the manner of its telling; it is not so much the production as the colour and vividness of each particular scene. The minutest detail has been treated as though it were of the supremest importance, and it is, after all, trifles which make prefection. It is no idle praise to say that this picture is perfection, as far as materialism is concerned. Such properties as lanterns, weapons, brass-bound chests, spades, table-Ware, and kindred adjuncts are obviously true to the period in which the drama is enacted. Now the story is not so new, but what boy, or man, or, for the matter of that, what high-spirit-ed lady amongst us ever fails to bo captured by the romance and the exquisite thrills of a pirate leader, a handsome unknown, and tho noble princess all woven into a delightful woof by some unseen shuttle? The picture is brilliantly realistic, its realism, in some scenes, tending to the R.L.S. type, which translated into the vernacular, simply means ultra-realism. The pirates, and their leader, are perhaps a shade too rascally, but that only throws into more vivid relief the amazing exploits of the gallant hero, and his brave and dauntless endeavours to rescue the fair lady from the insidiouß clutches of the wretched mate. It is a story which never lets up for one moment; it has genuine, hearty thrills; it has fine, manly drama, it has really idyllic romance, and it has magnificent acting, discreet direction, and the most scholarly sets and mountings it has ever been the pleasure of the picture-going public to witness in any film. Athletic and debonair, Fairbanks enacts the role of the Black Pirate as to the manner born, who, as the crowning adventure of his sensational life upon the high seas, marries the noble lady, and thoreby launches out upon the gravest adventure of them all. Miss Billie Dove plays the feminine lead with unsophisticated charm, the brightest spot in a production which scintillates with colour and brilliance. The supporting cast is comprised of seasoned artists, who all play their parts with admirable restraint and/" effectiveness. The box plans for "The Black Pirate" will open at The Bristol Piano Co. on Thursday morning.