Matinee idol Burt Lancaster (right) stars in the 1950s swashbuckling epic ‘The Crimson Pirate,’ along with sidekick Nick Cravat (left). The film will be shown on Wednesday, Nov. 15 as part of the Utah Theatre’s month-long pirate film festival.
LOGAN – Can you say “Arrrr?” I knew you could.
If not, you’ll surely be able to talk like a pirate after 30 days of movies dedicated to their swashbuckling lifestyles. Throughout November, the Utah Theatre in downtown Logan will feature a month-long selection of pirate movies.
Those films were, of course, a Hollywood staple throughout the 1940s and 1950s, then fell out of fashion until the last couple of decades.
But the November movie fest will include old and new films, serious stories and comedies, as well as some recent pirate movies that weren’t quite sure what they were supposed to be, according to Gary Griffin, the managing director of Utah Theatre along with the Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre.
The pirate movie fest will lead off on Wednesday, Nov. 1 with the 1950 classic Treasure Island. This adaptation of Robert Lewis Stevenson’s novel was the Walt Disney company’s first completely live action film, shot in glorious Technicolor.
It’s a classic buried treasure story, full of plot twists, lies and betrayals, including the infamous “black spot.” The film stars Bobby Driscol as Jim Hawkins and character actor Robert Newton as the dastardly Long John Silver.
Treasure Island will also be shown at the Utah Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 4.
For a touch of something entirely different, next up on the Utah’s schedule will be the 1985 adventure comedy Goonies on Monday, Nov. 6 and Wednesday, Nov. 8.
This relatively modern take on the old-time pirate theme was directed by Richard Donner, based on a screenplay by Chris Columbus and a story by Steven Spielberg, which makes it just about perfect.
To save their homes from foreclosure, kids from the “Goon Docks” of Astoria, Oregon set out to find One-Eyed Willy’s buried treasure, with a criminal gang in hot pursuit. The film featured a bevy of up-and-coming actors including Sean Austin, Josh Brolin, Cory Feldman, Robert Davi and Joe Pantoliano.
On Friday, Nov. 10 and Saturday, Nov. 11, the film fest will screen the inevitable blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.
Stealing the thunder of a Disney theme park ride, the 2003 film is an all-out romp staring Johnny Depp as the mostly inebriated Captain Jack Sparrow with co-stars Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and the lovely Keira Knightly.
The plot is some nonsense about Aztec Gold and an ancient curse, but who cares? Depp’s performance is over-the-top and completely hilarious.
You can’t have a pirate film festival without showing Peter Pan, because Captain Hook and his band of bumbling pirates always steal the show. The Utah Theatre will screen the 1953 animated Disney classic Peter Pan on Monday, Nov. 13. This show is strictly for the youngsters and incurably nostalgic adults who still dream about Never-Never Land.
Speaking of nostalgia, the Utah’s next feature is The Crimson Pirate, probably one of the best – and certainly the most colorful — of Warner Brothers’ pirate movies from the 1950s.
Many of the pirate films of this era were, after all, black-and-white B-movies that played as the second billing in typical double-feature offerings. The Crimson Pirate doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s a great showcase for Burt Lancaster’s skills as a professional acrobat and his lifelong partnership with co-star Nick Cravat.
Lancaster’s devil-may-care attitude and physical prowess inspired critics of the 1950s to compare him to silent star Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. The wildly improbable comedy-adventure co-stars Eva Bartok.
The Crimson Pirate will be shown on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
Then it’s back for another installment of the adventures of Johnny Depp, with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest on Friday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 18. The 2006 movie has the same cast as Curse of the Black Pearl, plus Bill Nightly as Davy Jones, straight from his locker.
Depp’s schtick as Captain Jack is getting a little shop-worn here, but the action sequences and special effects are still awesome.
When you need a change of pace in the midst of a month-long film festival, who you gonna call? Not the Ghostbusters! You call the Muppets.
There’s nothing more refreshing than The Muppet’s Treasure Island, a musical comedy re-imagining of the classic novel by Robert Lewis Stevenson.
As usual, this film has live-action actors playing the main characters with the lovable Muppets in wise-cracking supporting roles. The cast is nobody you ever heard of before or since – with the exceptions of Frank Oz and an unforgettable Tim Curry as Long John Silver.
But whatta want? It’s a Muppet movie.
The Muppet’s Treasure Island will be shown on Monday, Nov. 20.
Finally, the Utah Theatre reaches back into the vault and resurrects Captain Blood on Wednesday, Nov. 22.
This is the 1935 black-and-white movie that really started the whole swashbuckling pirate craze in Hollywood. Captain Blood was directed by Michael Curtiz, based on a 1922 novel by Rafael Sabatini.
Warner Brothers cast two relatively unknowns in the leads – a young Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, a dynamite pairing that would be repeated in seven subsequent films. Captain Blood is vastly entertaining and you might even learn a little history about the English Civil War in the 1640s.
On Friday, Nov. 24, the Utah Theatre will screen the third installment of the five — yes, count them on whatever you’ve got five of — Pirates of the Caribbean movies, At World’s End.
Same cast. Same crew. Same deal, just warmed over.
But you sat through the first two movies earlier in November and nobody wants to be called a quitter, right? Besides, you know you love the popcorn.
In 1991, director Steven Spielberg finally weighed into the pirate genre with a lovely fantasy entitled Hook, starring the late Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. Spielberg asks what would have happened if Peter Pan (Williams) had grown up to forget his past, only to have his children later kidnapped by Captain Hook (Hoffman).
The story is life-affirming and the cast is absolutely sensational. In addition to Williams and Hoffman, the movie stars Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell, Bob Hoskins as Smee, Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy and a horde of Lost Boys and pirates.
Hook will be screened on Monday, Nov. 27.
After much fantasy and fun, the pirate film fest will close with a sobering dose of harsh reality in the biographical drama Captain Phillips on Wednesday, Nov. 29. It’s the 2013 film recounting the real-life hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates.
The film stars Tom Hanks as the title character and Somali refugee Barkhad Abdi in an Oscar-nominated performance as one of his captors.
All performance times at the Utah Theatre will be at 7 p.m.
The Utah Theatre is located at 18 West Center Street in downtown Logan.