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The Pirate is a 1948
1948 in film

The year 1948 in film involved some significant events....
 American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 musical
Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the fictional character are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters....
 feature film
Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film made for initial Film distributor in Movie theater and being the "main attraction" of the screening ....
 from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It starred Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly

Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an United States dancer, actor, singer, film director, Film producer, and choreographer.A major exponent of 20th century filmed dance, Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen....
 and Judy Garland
Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and alto singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage....
 with co-stars Walter Slezak
Walter Slezak

Walter Slezak was an Austrian actor who appeared in numerous Hollywood films. Slezak often portrayed villains or thugs, notably the German U-boat commander in Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 Lifeboat , but occasionally he played lighter roles, as in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, a philosophical detective in Born to Kill , a...
, Gladys Cooper
Gladys Cooper

Dame Gladys Constance Cooper Order of the British Empire was an Academy Awards-nominated England actress....
, Reginald Owen
Reginald Owen

Reginald Owen, or John Reginald Owen, was an England character actor known for playing in many film roles in British and American movies and later in television programs....
, and George Zucco
George Zucco

George Desylla Zucco was an England character actor who appeared, almost always in supporting roles, in 96 films during a career spanning two decades, from 1931 to 1951....
.

ela Alva (Judy Garland), who lives in the small Caribbean village of Calvados, dreams of being swept away by the legendary Pirate, Mack "the Black" Macoco. However, her aunt and uncle (who have raised her) insist that she marry the town mayor, the rotund and bullying Don Pedro.

Shortly before her wedding, Manuela visits a nearby town, Port Sebastian.






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The Pirate is a 1948
1948 in film

The year 1948 in film involved some significant events....
 American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 musical
Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the fictional character are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters....
 feature film
Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film made for initial Film distributor in Movie theater and being the "main attraction" of the screening ....
 from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It starred Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly

Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an United States dancer, actor, singer, film director, Film producer, and choreographer.A major exponent of 20th century filmed dance, Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen....
 and Judy Garland
Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and alto singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage....
 with co-stars Walter Slezak
Walter Slezak

Walter Slezak was an Austrian actor who appeared in numerous Hollywood films. Slezak often portrayed villains or thugs, notably the German U-boat commander in Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 Lifeboat , but occasionally he played lighter roles, as in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, a philosophical detective in Born to Kill , a...
, Gladys Cooper
Gladys Cooper

Dame Gladys Constance Cooper Order of the British Empire was an Academy Awards-nominated England actress....
, Reginald Owen
Reginald Owen

Reginald Owen, or John Reginald Owen, was an England character actor known for playing in many film roles in British and American movies and later in television programs....
, and George Zucco
George Zucco

George Desylla Zucco was an England character actor who appeared, almost always in supporting roles, in 96 films during a career spanning two decades, from 1931 to 1951....
.

Full Plot Synopsis

Manuela Alva (Judy Garland), who lives in the small Caribbean village of Calvados, dreams of being swept away by the legendary Pirate, Mack "the Black" Macoco. However, her aunt and uncle (who have raised her) insist that she marry the town mayor, the rotund and bullying Don Pedro.

Shortly before her wedding, Manuela visits a nearby town, Port Sebastian. A traveling circus has arrived, and Serafin (Gene Kelly), its handsome leader, flirts with all the girls in the song "Nina." When he encounters Manuela, however, all other girls lose their charms for him. Serafin compliments Manuela's beauty and begs her not to marry Don Pedro, but, angered, she hurries away. That night, however, Manuela cannot sleep, and she sneaks out to go see Serafin's show.

At the show, Serafin hypnotizes Manuela, thinking that she will admit she loves him. Instead, the hypnotized girl wildly sings and dances about her love for "Mack the Black." Serafin awakens Manuela with a kiss, and she flees in horror.

On Manuela's wedding day, the traveling players arrive in Calvados. Serafin begs Manuela to join his troupe, and asks her to admit that she loves him. Don Pedro, hearing noise in Manuela's room, arrives at her door, and asks Manuela to go away so that he can teach Serafin a lesson.

Serafin recognizes Don Pedro as Macoco, retired and obese. He blackmails Pedro with this information, swearing to tell it to Manuela if Don Pedro forbids the performers from putting on a show. Serafin then decides to pretend to be Macoco in order to win over Manuela. He reveals himself before the whole town as Macoco, then asks Manuela if she will come with him; she again refuses. Still, watching from her window as "Macoco" dances, she begins to daydream about the pirate. The next day, "Macoco" threatens to burn down the town if he cannot have Manuela. Finally, she happily agrees to go with him.

One of Serafin's troupe accidentally reveals Serafin's plan to Manuela. To get her revenge, she first pretends to seduce Serafin, then attacks him with words and hurtling objects. She accidentally knocks him out, then realizes that she loves him, and sings "You Can Do No Wrong."

Meanwhile, Don Pedro convinces the viceroy that Serafin is the real Macoco and should hang for it. He plants treasure in Serafin's prop trunk to make him look like a pirate. The army arrests Serafin, and Manuela's protests cannot free him. On the night of Serafin's hanging, Manuela finally gets to look at the false evidence, and recognizes a bracelet with the same design as the wedding ring that Pedro gave her, and realizes that Pedro is the pirate.

Serafin asks to do one last show before he is hanged, and sings and dances "Be a Clown" with two fellow troupe members (the Nicholas Brothers). As a finale, Serafin plans to hypnotize Don Pedro into admitting he is Macoco, but Manuela's aunt breaks the mirror that Serafin uses to hypnotize people. Panicked, Manuela pretends to be hypnotized and sings "Love of My Life," vowing everlasting devotion to Macoco. Don Pedro, jealous, reveals himself as the true Macoco and seizes Manuela. Serafin's troupe attacks Don Pedro with custard pies and juggling balls, and the lovers embrace. Manuela joins Serafin's act and the film ends with the two of them singing a reprise of "Be a Clown."

Production

Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli

Vincente Minnelli was a Hollywood film director and Theatre director. His skilled integration of story, music, lighting, and design elements in a film made him the most critically respected crafter of musical film....
 directed, from a screenplay by Frances Goodrich
Frances Goodrich

Frances Goodrich was an American dramatist, screenwriter, and actor most noted for her collaborations with her partner and husband Albert Hackett....
 from the 1942 play by S. N. Behrman
S. N. Behrman

Samuel N. Behrman was an American playwright and screenwriter, who also worked for the New York Times.In the 1930s and 1940s, he was considered one of Broadway's leading authors of "high comedy", and wrote for such stars as Ina Claire, Katharine Cornell, Jane Cowl, and the acting team of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne....
. The score, by Lennie Hayton
Lennie Hayton

Leonard George Hayton was a Jewish American composer, conductor and arranger. He was initially a pianist in jazz groups led by Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti and others....
, featured the song "Be a Clown
Be a Clown

"Be a Clown" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1948 film The Pirate. The song "Make 'Em Laugh" in the film Singin' in the Rain was largely plagiarized from "Be a Clown" although Cole Porter did not make a complaint....
" by Cole Porter
Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter from Peru, Indiana, Indiana.His works include the musical comedies Kiss Me, Kate , Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady and Anything Goes, as well as songs like "Night and Day ", "I Get a Kick out of You", "Well, Did You Evah!", "Two Little Babes In The Wood"...
. This dance sequence was omitted when shown in some cities in the South
Deep South

The Deep South is a descriptive category of cultural and geographic subregions in the Southern United States. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the antebellum period....
, such as Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County, Tennessee. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River ....
, because it featured black
Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflection light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light....
 performers The Nicholas Brothers, Fayard and Harold. The score was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Music Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score

The Academy Award for Original Music Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of Film score written specifically for the film by the submitting composer....
, losing out to Easter Parade.

Songs

  • "Be a Clown
    Be a Clown

    "Be a Clown" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1948 film The Pirate. The song "Make 'Em Laugh" in the film Singin' in the Rain was largely plagiarized from "Be a Clown" although Cole Porter did not make a complaint....
    "
  • "You Can Do No Wrong"
  • "Mack the Black"
  • "Love of My Life"
  • "Nina"


Production notes

  • Studio head Louis B. Mayer demanded that the negative
    Negative (photography)

    In photography, a negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related....
     for the smoky "Voodoo
    Voodoo

    Haitian Vodou or Vaudou is a religion originating from the Caribbean country of Haiti, located on the island of Hispa?ola. It is based upon a merging of the beliefs and practices of West African peoples, , with Roman Catholicism, which was brought about as African slaves were brought to Haiti in the 16th century and forced to convert...
    " number with Garland and Kelly be burned as it was deemed too erotic for 1948 audiences.
  • Overall, the film lost US$2 million at the box office
    Box office

    A box office is a place where Ticket s are sold to the public for admission to a venue. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall, or at a wicket ....
    , a considerable sum at the time, making the movie one of the earliest box office flops.
  • Overall Garland missed 99 of the 135 working days. About half of the days missed were due to illness, but the rest were not her fault as she was not needed on set.
  • Garland and Kelly were originally to be paired again in 1948's Easter Parade, but Kelly broke his ankle and was replaced by Fred Astaire.
  • The Pirate is the second of the three films in which Garland and Kelly appeared together; the first was For Me and My Gal
    For Me and My Gal (film)

    For Me and My Gal is a 1942 in film American musical film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, in his screen debut, and George Murphy....
     in 1942, and the third Summer Stock
    Summer Stock

    Summer Stock is an MGM musical film made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers....
     in 1950, and Garland's last MGM picture.


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