SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

mmallon4 At the beginning of The Pirate we learn Manuela (Judy Garland) has a life of servitude ahead of her while she yearns for a life of adventure. She desires to be taken away by the legendary Mack the Black, swooning over dreams of stolen treasure, maidens captive, of villages destroyed; kind of twisted don't you think? Regardless I don't think anyone can project an innocent yearning for adventure better than Judy Garland. The Pirate was a different role for Garland; more exotic, less girl next door and more grown up. For once she plays the object of desire and I find she pulls this off perfectly as although I've never found Garland to be a woman of sexual appeal, I do find her one of great beauty (why she was ever referred to as an ugly duckling is beyond me). At heart however Manuela is still very much a Judy Garland character, a down to Earth girl with aspirations for greater things.The title of The Pirate could come off as misleading. Gene Kelly isn't a pirate but rather a performer named Serafin masquerading as one. No the pirate of The Pirate is Mack the Black, whom in a odd turn of events is actually the man Manuela is going to wed in an arranged marriage known as Don Pedro, the mayor of a small Caribbean town who has put his life of crime behind him and kept it a secret. The Pirate is enhanced on second viewing knowing the true identity of Don Pedro as he speaks of his dislike of travelling on the sea and telling Manuela home is the perfect spot; remind you of another Judy Garland film? There is even a moment in which Manuela frantically tells Auntie Inez (Gladys Cooper) she wants to go home which feels like Wizard of Oz redux. The second half of the pirate is one huge comic, screwball like farce which doesn't fully work for me; it's amusing but not so much laugh out loud making me prefer the first half to the second. The Pirate shows Gene Kelly had the ability to be a natural swashbuckler while his introductory sequence in which he gives a lengthy monologue promoting his acting troupe has to be one of his most entertaining non-musical moments on screen. However what really makes his role in The Pirate stand out among his other films is the oozing sexuality he projects on screen; more than any other film he did. Serafin is a real Don Juan with his Gable like moustache as well as with his tightly fit pirate attire and the wipe he is seen sporting in the film (plus that cigarette trick, what a play-a!) His introductory song Nina is one steamy number with Kelly flirting and dancing with oodles of women (just look at that state his hair is in by the end of the number) while the topical setting just enhances the eroticism. The Pirate is another movie in the "how did they get away with that club". You can censor all you want but you can't tell someone to simply stop projecting natural sexuality. Although Judy and Gene do display affection for each other at points in the film, the romantic element of The Pirate comes off to me as secondary. Serafin pursues Manuela for reasons other than love as he can tell she is going into a life she doesn't want due to his ability to know an entire woman through their body language. This gives his character another element and shows he isn't totally shallow and just out to get laid; he wants to prevent Manuela from going down a path she doesn't want to and expose the adventuress that she is as well as her hidden performing talents. By the end it's evident they share a more of a professional association than a romantic one, nor is there even a final kiss between the two.Mack the Black is the musical highlight of the film and an interesting change of pace seeing Judy Garland doing a more racy number. Mack the Black was the replacement for a number titled Voodoo of which the negatives where burned at Louis B Mayer's instance over the number's reportedly scandalous content. Would it be considered shocking by today's standards, was it even that shocking to begin with? - One can only imagine. As the audio still survives, the song itself is one of the darker, more eerie songs in the MGM library but doesn't strike me particularly memorable. Perhaps going with Mack the Black was the right decision after all. Be a Clown on the other hand is notably the basis for the song Make 'em Laugh from Singin' In the Rain and plagiarised it may be, Make 'em Laugh is a far superior rendition in my view. The ballet sequence in The Pirate however is a treat with a real sense of three dimensional depth. The sequence with its many explosions and Gene Kelly's masculine athleticism makes for one of the more primal musical numbers in film history.The production values of The Pirate aren't quite up to MGM's usual standard with clear dividing lines on the sky backgrounds, visible wires holding Gene Kelly on the tight rope and even a very visible thread attached to Judy's hat as its hoisted away by the wind. Come on MGM, you can do better than that. Ultimately The Pirate is not my favourite MGM musical but is unique enough to make it worthwhile.

jeffhaller125 I saw this when I was a teenager and absolutely hated it. It took me several decades before I gave it another chance. Now it is hypnotizing. The whole thing has a very dreamlike quality. I think what made it unappealing when I was younger is it is basically burlesque. It seemed corny. But as we get older our attitudes about what is funny become different. I remember my mother in hysterics over "Hee Haw!" and I was embarrassed. Last time I saw it I was howling. The look of the film is as if you are watching a stage production. They are not trying to create any reality. There are moments that are absolutely hilarious and in its own way rather sophisticated. The performers are at their peaks. The score is what is disappointing. Cole Porter wasn't the composer for this sort of work. But "Be a Clown" is a terrific number (in both parts of it) and Judy is sexy in "Mack the Black." I never thought I would like this movie. Now it is something I look forward to. I have never seen anything else quite like it and what greater praise can you give a movie.

mark.waltz Like their 1945 artistic disappointment, "Yolanda and the Thief", producer Arthur Freed and director Vincent Minnelli strived to give cinema fans something different with their version of the 1942 Broadway play "The Pirate" which had starred the phenomenally famous stage couple of Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne. For MGM's rendition of that comical battle of the sexes, they added songs, here by Cole Porter, and in their first pairing in six years, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. By this time, Gene was a star but Judy, already a legend, was undergoing emotional problems, and the result was a film that by the time of its release was more famous for its backstage drama than the on-screen drama.If Judy was ill, it doesn't show, and even if she believed she was being upstaged, that doesn't show as well. She's hysterically funny, amazingly sexy and at her best in singing her big number, "Mack the Black", as she yearns for a life of adventure with her life-long fantasy of the notorious pirate who realistically seems to be twice her age, yet makes her want him all the more. Along comes her social climbing aunt (Gladys Cooper, as regal as ever) who has arranged her marriage to the town's mayor (portly Walter Slezak). Not exactly anybody's idea of a romantic marriage, Slezak has longed for her from afar as well, and Cooper knows a Garland/Slezak pairing will put plenty of coin in her own pocket.Along comes a traveling player (Gene Kelly) who "insults" Garland in several ways, most comically by getting her soaking wet. "What are you, a top?", Garland roars as he spins around her in his efforts to romance her. But Kelly, who has already made an effort with practically every other lady in the town through the Douglas Fairbanks spoof "Nina", and when he manages to hypnotize Garland while putting on his show, learns of her yen for Mack the Black and upon meeting Slezak decides to use that to win her from the portly mayor.An update in play writing terms of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew", Garland wants nothing to do with Kelly until he claims to be the pirate in disguise. But Kelly knows the truth of who Slezak really is, and this might lead to his own doom, even if Garland is responsible for it first when she smashes everything in sight after a row with him. Garland gets a beautiful ballad, "Love of My Life", while Kelly gets the first chance for the public to hear one of Cole's most amusing film songs, "Be a Clown", reprised of course with Judy much later on. Breathtakingly filmed and fast paced, this isn't deserving of its flop status, and as several critics pointed out at the time, it was indeed ahead of its time. Garland and Kelly are even more exciting than their first effort, "For Me and My Gal", and Kelly showed with both this and a remake of "The Three Musketeers" the same year that he was in league with Fairbanks, Colman and Errol Flynn when it came to the art of swashbuckling. Cooper is coolly calculating, Slezak a memorable villain, and they are joined by another veteran film villain, George Zucco, who appears as the judge when Kelly's scheme catches up with him late in the film.

gkeith_1 Two Macocos. One real, one fake. One sexy, one an elephant. Judy all prissy, Gene way less shy, ala Summer Stock of 1950. Judy's aunt and uncle trying to get rid of her, for money reasons. How come people in lots of movies are orphans and being raised by relatives or grandparents, like Parris Mitchell in Kings Row? Even Drake McHugh of Kings Row had no parents.Loved the fear in Don Pedro's face when he was confronted by Serafin as being the real Macoco, the criminal wanted for tons of crimes on the seven seas. Slezak was a great actor. Uncle Capucho was a namby-pamby little man, dominated by Aunt Inez -- the actress who later played the mother of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady -- Gladys Cooper.The huge plaid tam worn by Judy in the beginning of the movie clashed in a quite ugly manner with her patterned dress. Her red lipstick did stand out quite well, however. I did love her beautiful wedding dress and veil. She looked quite wonderful in this ensemble.Slezak dragging his foot backward twice, like a horse with a hoof problem, was gross to look at.The Nicholas Brothers were absolutely wonderful, as always. I did miss seeing their fabulous tap dancing, plus their major leaping and sliding. They were excellent with Gene Kelly, and upon further viewings I was able to find them earlier in the movie. I have seen clips of some of their other movies, mostly black and white, as I recall.I do love the colors in this movie. They are lush, warm and wonderful. The production design is superb.Lastly, Gene's physique was divine. I understand that he always did his own stunts. You know that tap is my favorite dance, and I have seen a lot of his tap dance movies. In Pirate, his athleticism is superb, from the muscular thighs in the pirate mast fire fantasy to Gene's walking the tightrope to Judy's balcony.And finally, the cigarette inside Gene's mouth was horrible to look at. I know that smoking cigarettes in those days was the in-thing to do. Those actors/roles were such great role models for younger people, right (not!)?