We’re very excited to have Lillian Henley back at the Palace Piano to accompany this brilliant big-screen family spectacle that ranks as one of the monumental accomplishments of the silent era. Beautifully restored by USA Library of Congress, entirely shot in two-strip Technicolor, action packed star Douglas Fairbanks had conceived this 1926 smash hit The Black Pirate years before it was finally made. Fairbanks plays Michel, The Duke of Arnoldo who ends up being the sole survivor after a pirate raid on a cargo ship. After infiltrating the gang of pirates, Michel (now dubbed as The Black Pirate) mounts an elaborate ploy to recover the brigands’ treasure, reclaim the ship and rescue the divine Princess (Billie Dove) held captive there.
According to Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance, it was “the most carefully prepared and controlled of Fairbanks’s entire career,” certainly in no small part due to the expense and limitations of the early colour process. The resulting film earned high praise from The New York Times, which praised its “unrivalled beauty…mindful of the paintings of the old masters.” With elaborate action sequences and mind blowing stunts, The Black Pirate is as fresh and exciting as it was nearly 100 years ago.
Live piano accompaniment by Lillian Henley.
This is screening is hosted by South West Silents and is part of the BFI’s ‘Art of Action’ season and funded by the BFI Audience Network.
