Double Crossbones

Swashbuckling comedy, not as bad as I had anticipated but clearly no more than a footnote within the annals of this colorful action genre (here in its heyday). Donald O'Connor is an amiable and undeniably energetic lead (obviously, he gets to sing and dance too) – playing a shop-keeper's assistant who wants to make good for love of heroine Helena Carter. She, however, is coveted by her much older guardian…who also happens to be the (actually treacherous) Governor of the colony in which events are set.

Immediately falling foul of pirate Charles McGraw, O'Connor eventually finds himself serving under him – after he, his pal and their employer are accused (by none other than the Governor himself) of accepting and selling stolen goods. The villain, in fact, is in cahoots with a society of legendary pirates comprising Sir Henry Morgan, Blackbeard, Ann Bonney (Anne Of The Indies – whose story, incidentally, was being told contemporaneously in a much more satisfying film by that title), Captain Kidd, etc.; apparently, this Governor's so mean that even they are no more than his mere underlings!

Anyway, O'Connor eventually captures a ship practically single-handed (and sets free the convicts within, among them James Arness, on their way to Debtors' Prison), which wins him the moniker "Bloodthirsty Dave" and – naturally – a place in the pirate brotherhood. Recognizing the Governor's right-hand man as the courier of his message to them, the hero realizes the statesman's dual nature and determines to meet Carter in order to stop her impending marriage (she had earlier shunned O'Connor for his own buccaneering activity!).

This he does by impersonating a foppish aristocrat at a ball (whose presence causes a snobbish lady to enquire "Who is that weird creature?"), though his ruse is discovered soon after and lands him once again in jail. Needless to say, everything comes out right by the end: the villain receives his come-uppance after engaging in a fencing duel with O'Connor on a ship's mast, hero and heroine marry, and the pirates – given a royal pardon – turn respectable…or do they?

In colonial Carolinas, Davey Crandall (Donald O'Connor) is a shopkeeper's apprentice. He and the governor's ward Lady Sylvia Copeland (Helena Carter) are in love. The governor intends to pair her off with an English lord. Davey intends to get his own ship to be worthy of her hand. He inadvertently uncovers the governor's dirty dealing. He and his friend Tom Botts and the shopkeeper are all arrested. He and Tom manage to escape. They accidentally steal a ship and he becomes known as a pirate called Bloodthirsty Dave.

This is supposed to be a comedy although IMDB does not list it as such. I get it. I didn't laugh. Comedy can get dated and become unfunny. I don't think that this is the case here. Davey needs to be dumber and maybe the comedy could be funnier.

Donald O'Connor is an apprentice in a shop which is part of a chain of conspiracy leading from pirates to the colony's governor. He winds up in prison as part of a cover-up/double-cross, escapes and with Will Geer fakes his way to command of a pirate shi. Learning that the governor is about to marry Helena Carter, who is sweet on him and he on her, he tries to persuade the Brethren of the Coast to invade Charleston, but fails. So he goes in himself.

It's thorough-going nonsense that never takes itself seriously. O'Connor sings and dances a couple of times, is an idiot with the cutlass or skilled as the situation calls for, and is supported by a raft of minor players, some of whom were notable in the silent era, and others who would become noticeable on TV in the 1960s.

Don't know why this has such a low rating. Gorgeous Technicolor, rousing Frank Skinner score, top-notch model and process work, fast run time. The fist-fight scenes are well staged and bully for Donald O'Conner's action work, he actually looks like a real fencer! Add Helena Carter's captivating beauty and the tried-and-true mistaken identity plot and I think it's terrific entertainment.

A very strange movie featuring Donald O'Connor as a pirate-by-mistake who sings, dances and farces his way out of trouble to win the hand of comely Helena Carter. Notable for an outstanding supporting cast of players including Charles McGraw, Hope Emerson- a fearsomely funny Amazonian female pirate- Will Geer, a young Jim Arness and many other familiar faces in glorious Technicolor.

I am intensely curious who came up with the idea for this film and successfully got it funded and made by Universal-International. Whoever contrived and made the pitch could have sold the Brooklyn Bridge several times over.

An odd attempt that doesn't work due to an over talky, gimmicky script that simply isn't very funny. Director Charles Barton had better luck with Abbott and Costello. Handsome production design and earnest performances just don't click, but how can one resist Charlie McGraw and Hope Emerson in pirate mufti toasting their collective health and prosperity?!