History Film / TheBlackPirate

* DisabledBadass: [=MacTavish=] only has one arm but that doesn't hinder him in the least.

* NamelessNarrative: Almost. The Scottish pirate played by Donald Crisp is revealed to be named [=MacTavish=] when he signs the ransom letter. No other names are given. Dove's character is named "Isobel" on several internet sites (like the [=IMDb=] and Wiki/TheOtherWiki), but that name is never mentioned in the film.

Also, astoundingly for a film from this era, the blooper reel survives and can be seen on special editions of the film. Of note are the many, many takes of the famous blade brake scene and several fencing accidents due to the philosophy of film swordfighting used. (Fairbanks had learned from his previous films ''Film/{{Robin Hood|1922}}'' and ''Film/DonQSonOfZorro'' that flashy swordfighting didn't look good and actual swordfighting also did not look good. Thus this film was approached by trying to meet the two in the middle, with real swordfighting that was still slow and flashy enough for the audience to follow)

* YouKilledMyFather: Fairbanks swears vengeance on the pirates for killing his father.

* BadassGrandpa: [=MacTavish=]'s character is old, but he still manages to survive a life on the seas, help Fairbanks escape certain death, and recover from a concussion with little trouble.

* BoardingParty: Fairbanks is a one-man Boarding Party (see OneManArmy below). Later, when Fairbanks is leading his men back to the pirate ship to capture it, his men scuttle their boats and swim underwater to the pirate ship before boarding it.
* CallBack: See SlapYourselfAwake below.

* TheDragon: The pirate lieutenant is this to the pirate captain at the start of the movie, as shown when the captain consults with him about killing the other sailors (see HeKnowsTooMuch below). Subverted when the captain is killed less than a half hour in, and the lieutenant becomes the main villain.

''The Black Pirate'' is a 1926 SilentMovie starring Creator/DouglasFairbanks. The film opens with a band of vicious, bloodthirsty pirates removing rings from the corpses of their victims. After plundering the ship they have just seized, the pirates then blow it up in order to kill all the witnesses. However, two people--Fairbanks's character and his father--survive the blast and make it to a nearby island. The father dies on the beach, and Fairbanks is marooned, but the pirates then make landfall on his island in order to bury their loot. Fairbanks, who both wants revenge and wants to get off the island, joins them, calling himself "The Black Pirate". His plan for revenge is complicated when the next ship that they seize is revealed to be carrying a beautiful lady (played by Billie Dove).

''The Black Pirate'' was one of the biggest hits of Fairbanks's career, and one of the best of the several rousing action films he made during TheTwenties. Besides being a great movie, it has two claims to fame. First is the iconic BladeBrake scene, in which Fairbanks jumps from a ship's rigging to the deck by stabbing a knife in the sail and slicing his way down, establishing a trope that has been copied and parodied ever since.

* BadassGrandpa: Implied. [=MacTavish=]'s character is clearly an old, with a missing arm, but he still manages to survive his cutthroat profession.

* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: "Lady, I grieve profoundly this mishappening."

''The Black Pirate'' is a 1926 silent film starring Creator/DouglasFairbanks. The film opens with a band of vicious, bloodthirsty pirates removing rings from the corpses of their victims. After plundering the ship they have just seized, the pirates then blow it up in order to kill all the witnesses. However, two people--Fairbanks's character and his father--survive the blast and make it to a nearby island. The father dies on the beach, and Fairbanks is marooned, but the pirates then make landfall on his island in order to bury their loot. Fairbanks, who both wants revenge and wants to get off the island, joins them, calling himself "The Black Pirate". His plan for revenge is complicated when the next ship that they seize is revealed to be carrying a beautiful lady (played by Billie Dove).

Second, the film is in color. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer No, seriously,]] this is a Technicolor film from 1926. And it wasn't even the first; the first Technicolor film was called ''The Toll of the Sea'' and was made in 1922. The two-strip Technicolor process used in this film and other films in the 20s and early 30s was difficult and expensive, and rendered a soft palette of pastels that didn't pick up some colors very well (the blue of the sky looks washed out in several scenes). The result was a unique look that to some extent resembles the desaturated look of films like ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan''.

* NamelessNarrative: Almost. The Scottish pirate played by Donald Crisp is revealed to be named [=MacTavish=] when he signs the ransom letter. No other names are given. Dove's character is named "Isobel" on several internet sites (like the [=IMDb=] and TheOtherWiki), but that name is never mentioned in the film.

Also, astoundingly for a film from this era, the blooper reel survives and can be seen on special editions of the film. Of note are the many, many takes of the famous blade brake scene and several fencing accidents due to the philosophy of film swordfighting used. (Fairbanks had learned from his previous films ''Film/RobinHood1922'' and ''Film/DonQSonOfZorro'' that flashy swordfighting didn't look good and actual swordfighting also did not look good. Thus this film was approached by trying to meet the two in the middle, with real swordfighting that was still slow and flashy enough for the audience to follow)

Also, astoundingly for a film from this era, the blooper reel survives and can be seen on special editions of the film. Of note are the many, many takes of the famous blade brake scene and several fencing accidents due to the philosophy of film swordfighting used. (Fairbanks had learned from his previous films Robin Hood and Don Q that flashy swordfighting didn't look good and actual swordfighting also did not look good. Thus this film was approached by trying to meet the two in the middle, with real swordfighting that was still slow and flashy enough for the audience to follow)

* AbsenteeActor: The final kiss between Fairbanks and Billie Dove, when asked, Dove stated "That's not me" It was most likely Fairbanks wife made up for the scene as she was sorta known as being a clingy jealous girl.

Also, astoundingly for a film from this era, the blooper reel survives and can be seen on special editions of the film. Of note are the many, many takes of the famous blade brake scene and several fencing accidents due to the philosophy of film swordfighting used.

* Mid-BattleTeaBreak: Attempted by the film as seen in the blooper reel, Fairbanks pauses in the middle of the final fight, stabs a barrel of wine, and drinks from the resulting stream. Unfortunately, it never quite works out right and doesn't make it into the final film.

* BladeBrake: This trope was [[JustForFun/TropesExaminedByTheMythbusters tested by the Mythbusters]], and pronounced "busted", as the seams of the sail will always knock the blade out of your hand. In RealLife, they got the shot by having Fairbanks hang on to a knife that was attached to a rig on the other side of the sail.

''The Black Pirate'' was one of the biggest hits of Fairbanks's career, and one of the best of the several rousing action films he made during TheTwenties. Besides being a great movie, it has two claims to fame. First is the iconic BladeBrake scene, in which Fairbanks jumps from a ship's rigging to the deck by stabbing a knife in the sail and slicing his way down, establishing a trope that has been copied and parodied ever since. Second, the film is in color. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer No, seriously,]] this is a Technicolor film from 1926. And it wasn't even the first; the first Technicolor film was called ''The Toll of the Sea'' and was made in 1922. The two-strip Technicolor process used in this film and other films in the 20s and early 30s was difficult and expensive, and rendered a soft palette of pastels that didn't pick up some colors very well (the blue of the sky looks washed out in several scenes). The result was a unique look that to some extent resembles the desaturated look of films like ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan''.

''The Black Pirate'' is a 1926 silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks. The film opens with a band of vicious, bloodthirsty pirates removing rings from the corpses of their victims. After plundering the ship they have just seized, the pirates then blow it up in order to kill all the witnesses. However, two people--Fairbanks's character and his father--survive the blast and make it to a nearby island. The father dies on the beach, and Fairbanks is marooned, but the pirates then make landfall on his island in order to bury their loot. Fairbanks, who both wants revenge and wants to get off the island, joins them, calling himself "The Black Pirate". His plan for revenge is complicated when the next ship that they seize is revealed to be carrying a beautiful lady (played by Billie Dove).

* AccidentallyAccurate: Fairbanks, improvising madly after Dove is discovered on the ship they just seized, proclaims her a princess and convinces the other pirates to hold her for ransom. He's making this up, as shown when he uses ScareQuotes to refer to the "princess" when sending a note calling for help. The ending reveals that she actually is a princess.