Dancing Pirate

The Dancing Pirate which was released by RKO in 1936 was one of the last films done with an original score by Rodgers&Hart. They would be moving back to Broadway and had a string of hit musicals only interrupted by Larry Hart's death in 1943.

As this was an RKO film watching it now it was fairly obvious that this film was created with Fred Astaire in mind for the lead. Had Astaire done it The Dancing Pirate might be better remembered. Certainly the two songs done by Dick and Larry aren't among the most memorable. In fact the best number in the film is a dance by lead Charles Collins to Yankee Doodle Dandy that had Astaire written all over it.

In fact the main weakness of the film is Collins. A good dancer, Collins had a screen presence that was colorless, odorless, and tasteless. He plays a Boston dancing teacher who gets shanghaied by pirates and escapes the first chance he can when they put in to California for provisions.

Still ruled by Spain, the local Alcalde is Frank Morgan at his decisiveless best. Morgan on loan from MGM is the best thing about The Dancing Pirate.

Collins is sad to say guilty by association and the men want to hang him, but the women want to learn to dance so he's in legal limbo of sorts.

He also has competition for the hand of Morgan's daughter Steffi Duna in the person of Captain Victor Varconi from Monterey at the head of a platoon of dragoons ostensibly there to protect the village from pirates. But Varconi has his own plans, Snidely Whiplash type plans.

The Dancing Pirate won an Oscar nomination for the now defunct category of dance direction. I long for the day when musicals of all kinds were being churned out and a category like dance direction was warranted. Speaking of dancing Rita Hayworth is in this film as part of her family troupe of Spanish dancers, The Dancing Cansinos.

The Dancing Pirate is an amusing enough film, but it really needed Fred Astaire to put it over.

Boston dance teacher Charles Collins is shangaied by pirates. He escapes from them in Spanish California, where he is about to be hanged by Alcalde Frank Morgan (!). Morgan's daughter, Steffi Duna saves him on condition he will teach her the waltz. While this is going on, renegade captain Victor Varconi marches in with his troops. He plans to marry Miss Duna, receiving a dowry of hundreds of thousands of acres and tens of thousands of cattle.

Although I looked at a black&white copy, this was the third feature shot in 3-strip Technicolor, and the costuming betokens this. The story is silly and conventional for the era, and there are plenty of skilled farceurs in the cast, including Luis Alberni, with one immense production number feature Eduardo Cansino -- Rita Hayworth's father -- and his dance troupe. As an actor, Collins is a good dancer. He was born in 1904, and married dance partner Dorothy Stone, with whom he appeared in several Broadway musicals through 1945. His movie career was limited. Another film lead was his in 1944, but he appeared in a total of a dozen shorts and features from 1932 through being part of the chorus in THE WIZ. He died in 1999.

I saw this movie when I was five years old and never heard of it again. All I could remember was the fellow dancing with a noose around his neck. Looked for it for years, then saw it, just in the past year, in a bin as a Rita Hayworth movie. Thanks to the generic title I recognized it right away. There won't be many comments on this one, as it's virtually unknown, but I've looked at it twice and it brings back a memory of a movie I loved so much as a child, though nothing came back to me except the mentioned dancing scene. It's offbeat, in terrific color and I think enjoyable . Did anybody ever hear of the dancer who played the title role again?

The impressive vivid colors produced by the three-strip system of Technicolor's first two feature films were beginning to perk the interest of Hollywood to the new technology. The third full-length motion picture to be released using the company's new film stock was May 1936's "Dancing Pirate," cinema's first feature film musical shot in that format.

"It's incredible how far a picture can get on great color, good dancing, and solid jokes," described film reviewer Andrew Wickliffe on "Dancing Pirate." Critic James Harrison added at the time of its release, "'Dancing Pirate' is an amusing diversion and a treat for the eyes when the dazzling Technicolor lights up the screen. The dancing of all involved is as good and pleasurable as any major studio production." For years after its release, "Dancing Pirate" fell into obscurity, with only a cheap 16mm two-color Cinecolor process available. Then collector Wade Williams stepped forward with his private 35mm pristine copy. A restoration with 4K scan was performed, and the film, with Rita Hayworth, Pat Ryan (President Nixon's future wife), and Marjorie Reynolds appearing as three of the many dancers, was shown in a pristine print.

Pioneer Pictures, a subsidiary of RKO Pictures and producers of the first three-strip Technicolor feature film, 1935 "Becky Sharp," was responsible for "Dancing Pirate." Adapted from Emma-Lindsay Squier's 1930 Colliers Magazine story 'Glorious Buccaneer,' the movie centers around Jonathan Pride (Charles Collins), a Boston dance instructor in 1920 who is captured by pirates and sails to California as a slave. He escapes to a small coastal town where he is to be hanged for piracy. Serafina (Steffi Duna), daughter to the mayor (Frank Morgan), intercedes shortly before his execution with the stipulation Jonathan teaches her and her friends how to waltz.

Collins was a Broadway performer who had done film work since 1932, but "Dancing Pirate" was his biggest role yet. Married to dancer/actress Dorothy Stone, Collins had appeared in several films, live plays and a nightclub act with his wife. He never reached the top tier of actors mainly because most felt he was too tall and lean. Collins last appeared in the 1984 TV show 'The Master,' where his character reminisces about his audition for "Dancing Pirate." He died in 1999 at age 95.

I got this out of the 50 musicals set. It said it was in Technicolor but it the print was curiously in black and white. The Plot-a dancing master gets kidnapped to be a galley worker on a pirate boat. He ends up in Calfornia near Monterey which at that time was populated with Mexicans. At first they arrest him, but he charms the whole town. This was an entertaining little musical. Not perfect and not a classic but definitely worth a look for Charles Collins and Frank Morgan.

It had a lead I have never heard of... Charles Collins who was quite a talented dancer-singer-actor . He kind of looks like Kevin Kline. Amazed the man didn't have a more illustrious career as he had all the makings of what constituted a star back then. Quite an interesting discovery. Frank Morgan (the wizard of oz) is quite funny as the bumbling mayor. The film was quite enjoyable.