The Boy
and the Pirates
(1960) color 82 minutes
With: Charles Herbert (Jimmy Warren), Susan Gordon (Kathy/Katrina Von Keif), Murvyn Vye (Blackbeard), Paul Guilfoyle (Snipe), Archie Duncan (Scuggins), Than Wyenn (Hunter), Al Cavens (Dutch Captain), Mickey Finn (Peake), Morgan Jones (Mr. Warren), Joseph Turkel (Abu the Genie), Timothy Carey (Morgan)
***
SYNOPSIS: The place: Massachusetts, the time: today. Kathy, a young girl, walks
along the beach, preparing to dig for clams. She calls for her friend Jimmy,
who is not there. Kathy climbs aboard the wreckage of an old sailing vessel.
Jimmy, dressed like a pirate, sneaks up on Kathy and scares her. Kathy scolds
Jimmy for his thoughtlessness, while Jimmy regales her with the romance of the
pirate days. He points to Devil's Rock, an island nearby, and recounts how it
used to be a pirate's haven! "The decks were covered with blood!" he boasts.
Kathy will have none of it, however, and she departs. Soon, she hears a scream;
Jimmy has fallen off a plank, and scratched his knee. He begins to cry, and
Kathy mocks his hypocrisy. The two return to their homes.
Back at home, Jimmy dumps his catch of clams into the kitchen sink; his mother
immediately scolds him for his untidiness, and makes him mop the floor. Jimmy
reluctantly complies, pretending he is "swabbing the deck" of a pirate frigate!
Jimmy's father comes home, and continues to berate Jimmy for ignoring his
chores. Jimmy feels sorry for himself as he mixes a glass of Cocoa Marsh. Dad
asks Jimmy if he received his report card yet; Jimmy shyly shows it to him. Dad
scolds him yet again, for his poor grades, and his obsession with pirate days.
Jimmy leaves, utterly depressed.
Jimmy returns to the wrecked ship, mumbling to himself about the unfairness of
modern life, when suddenly he sees a strange-looking bottle wash up on shore.
He picks the up the odd jar, and wishes he were back in the olden days, on a
pirate ship.
The jar suddenly glows red, and explodes! When Jimmy wakes up, he is shocked to
find himself on a pirate ship, exactly as he had dreamed! Jimmy looks around
warily, as he hears angry voices nearby...
When Jimmy utters "Where am I?", the magic jar pops open, and a strange little
man pops out. He introduces himself as Abu the Genie, and states that he has
granted Jimmy his fondest wish: to be on a real pirate ship! Jimmy scoffs at
the notion, but Abu insists that they are at that very moment passengers on
"The Queen's Revenge", the ship of notorious Blackbeard the Pirate!
Jimmy looks around, and ponders this most mixed of blessings, as Abu explains the situation. He had been stuck in the bottle for 2,000 years, and it was only
Jimmy's wish which extracted him. Now, according to the laws of magic, it is
Jimmy who must spend the next 2,000 inside the bottle! The only way out of this
dilemma is for Jimmy to return the bottle to the exact spot he found it, within
three days. Unfortunately, as Abu chuckles with glee, the ship is now heading
for Nova Scotia, hundreds of miles away from Massachusetts! Abu is thrilled at
the chance to be free from his tiny tomb, and has no intention of helping Jimmy
reverse the curse of the bottle!
Just as Jimmy ponders this most horrible of fates, a frightening visage appears
before him: the dreaded pirate, Blackbeard! The grizzled outlaw demands to know
who the little runt is, but Jimmy can only stare dumfounded at this horrific
apparition. Blackbeard's first mate Snipe suggests that the lad might be a
stowaway. Blackbeard is unimpressed, and orders that Jimmy be thrown to the
sharks! However, Snipe intervenes, and suggests that Jimmy might be useful as
an unpaid worker on the ship. Blackbeard relents, as Snipe sets Jimmy up
swabbing the deck, just like he did back at home!
As Jimmy mops, bemoaning his fate, the evil Abu makes another appearance, mocks
Jimmy's situation, then disappears in a puff of smoke.
Later that day, Jimmy is still swabbing, when Scuggins, the ship's cook, comes
up to him. Scuggins throws Jimmy a big fish, and orders him to gut it, clean
it, and save its entrails! He tosses a knife at the boy, nearly killing him.
Jimmy takes the knife and the fish, and starts hacking away...
Inside Blackbeard's cabin, the pirate and his trusted officers go over the
booty from their recent "acquisition", a rival by the name of Ben Trott.
Running out of rum, Blackbeard calls Scuggins for refills. Scuggins tosses the
cask at Jimmy, and orders him to bring it to the captain.
Jimmy enters Blackbeard's cabin with the cask of rum, and starts to tell the
pirate all about his nefarious career, thanks to the history books Jimmy has
read. Blackbeard is bewildered by this strange boy's font of forbidden
knowledge, with it's references to "Jets" and "the FBI", but vows to make a
pirate out of the lad regardless. As Jimmy leaves, Abu appears, and turns
Blackbeard's rum into milk!
Later, when Jimmy returns to Blackbeard's cabin with another cask of rum, he
trips, and sends the barrel rolling right into the pirate's foot. Blackbeard is
enraged, and is about to chop Jimmy's head off when there is a shout from the
crow's nest, announcing the approach of a British war ship!
Everyone hits the deck, and proceeds to do battle with the ship. Jimmy and Abu
watch from the sidelines; it appears that the ship intends to capture the
pirate ship. Jimmy is excited, because it seems likely that he will be rescued
from this horrible fate. Abu feels differently, however, and sends a glowing
pink fog around the other ship, to throw it off course. The ship sails off,
along with Jimmy's hope. Abu is thrilled with his deception, but Jimmy is
despondent.
That night, lying in his bunk, Jimmy berates Abu, and chastises himself for his
stupidity in picking up the bottle. In a fit of anger, he throws the bottle
overboard, but to his horror finds it returns right to where it was. Abu
emerges, and explains that every time he tries to throw away the bottle
prematurely, he loses one day to correct his error! Jimmy sadly realizes that
now, all hope is lost.
Soon, another ship attacks Blackbeard's, and another battle ensues. This time,
Blackbeard is able to board the other ship, and engage the enemy. A fierce
battle ensues, with much bloodshed. Jimmy helps his fellow shipmates by
squirting his water pistol in the eye of the enemy, and thus wins the day.
From out of the cabin of the enemy ship, a beautiful young girl emerges,
dressed in a lustrous gown of red. The captain of the ship implores the girl,
called Katrina, to return belowsdeck, but before she can, Blackbeard impales
the poor man before her very eyes.
Blackbeard's gang loots the ship, and sets it afire, as poor Katrina watches in
horror. Jimmy notices Katrina, paralyzed with fear, about to be engulfed by the
flames. He dashes over to her, and pulls her to safety.
Back on "The Queen's Revenge", Blackbeard is horrified to find a "she-brat" on
his vessel, and orders she be dumped overboard. Jimmy insists he not do this,
out of basic decency. Blackbeard pushes him aside, grabs Katrina, and prepares
to toss her into the briny. Suddenly, Abu appears and throws Jimmy a stanchion.
Jimmy hits Blackbeard with it, surprising him. The pirate reflects on Jimmy's
courage, and decides to let "the wench" live.
Katrina thanks Jimmy for his kindness. Jimmy tries to show the girl his genie,
but alas, he is invisible to her. Jimmy tries to explain his situation, but
Katrina remains confused. Jimmy remarks how much Katrina looks like his good
friend Kathy back home, whom he refers to as "a real cool kid." Katrina
responds, "Am I not a real cool kid?"
Katrina reveals that she is from New Amsterdam, which Jimmy knows is the
original name of New York City; she was returning from a visit with her
grandparents in Holland when this tragedy befell her. Snipe arrives with an
overcoat for Katrina, and offers his cabin.
Later, Scuggins enlists both Jimmy and Katrina to peel potatoes. Katrina is
crying, for she believes that she will never see her loved ones again. Jimmy
reiterates his predicament with Abu, and they agree to help each other if
possible.
Jimmy chews some bubble gum, and gives Katrina some. Scuggins gets the
potatoes and puts them into the stew. Jimmy blows a bubble, and scares Scuggins
to death. Katrina blows one also, and thoroughly freaks out the bewildered
cook. Jimmy discovers that some of the bubble gum has ended up in the stew, but
Scuggins doesn't want to hear about it. The two kids leave.
Later, Jimmy escorts Katrina on deck. Blackbeard orders a coal for his pipe,
but Jimmy offers him a match instead. Both Blackbeard and Katrina are amazed by
this "modern" invention with magically creates fire. Blackbeard asks Jimmy if
he is "in league with the devil", but Jimmy explains that where he comes from,
matches are a giveaway! The pirate trades Jimmy the matches for a gold
doubloon. Blackbeard lights his first match, burns his fingers, and mutters,
"Safety Matches!"
Later, Jimmy draws a crude map, as Katrina looks on curiously. Jimmy explains
that Blackbeard might be duped into thinking that this is a genuine map of
where Ben Trott's treasure is buried, when it is actually a map leading them to
Massachusetts. Jimmy hopes Blackbeard will fall for the trick, and sail them
back home. When they arrive in Massachusetts, Jimmy explains, he can easily get
his dad to drive Katrina home to New York. Katrina is both confused and
offended by this suggestion: "Drive me? Am I a cow, that he will drive me?"
Again Jimmy realizes that his modern language appears alien to these people.
Jimmy and Katrina sneak into Blackbeard's cabin, hoping to plant the map in Ben
Trott's treasure chest. Before they can, however, Blackbeard and gang return,
so the kids hide quickly inside the treasure chest itself! They watch with
trepidation as the pirates eat and drink hoping they won't be caught. Alas,
there is something wrong with the stew. According to Snipe, it is "chewier than
blubber!" Much to everyone's horror, Blackbeard blows an immense bubble!
Blackbeard summons Scuggins to the cabin, and questions him about this odd
goulash. Scuggins tries the stew, and is horrified to encounter the bubble gum
as well. Jimmy and Katrina take this opportunity to try to escape, but are
caught. Jimmy shows Blackbeard the fake map, and Blackbeard falls for it, hook,
line and sinker. Scuggins and Blackbeard agree to an "exclusive" contract, and
agree to change course. The kids escape while the two pirates plan their
dastardly deeds.
Back on deck, Jimmy and Katrina dare hope that, if all goes well, they may
again see their loved ones. Blackbeard comes on deck, and takes over the ship's
wheel, changing course. This puzzles the crew, who demand an explanation.
Blackbeard lies, and tells the crew they are turning back due to low rations.
The crew doesn't accept this feeble excuse, and threaten mutiny. Blackbeard
shoots and kills one of the crew, to show them who's boss. The crew vow to
discover what's really going on.
Abu the Genie also is worried about the course change, and Jimmy foolishly
tells him the plan. That night, Snipe rouses the crew, and leads a rebellion.
The crew discovers the store room full, and decide that their leader is after
gold, as usual.
The ship sails onward, towards Massachusetts. Blackbeard and Scuggins
congratulate themselves. They fear only encountered Maynard, their mortal
enemy. As they speak, Abu changes the letters on the map, turning them from
"Massachusetts" into "Madagascar"! The two pirates doubt their own sanity, and
wonder if the strange lad Jimmy is the cause of their problems.
Later, Jimmy and Katrina discuss Blackbeards's treachery, as a crew member
overhears. The crewman tells the others about the real reason to trek to
Biscayne Point.
That night, the crew kidnap Jimmy and Katrina, and demand they tell them the
real reasons for the secret journey. Jimmy refuses to divulge his
knowledge, so Morgan threatens to burn his tongue with a red-hot poker!
Katrina, horrified, spills the beans before Jimmy can be tortured. The crew,
thus forewarned, let the children go.
Net day, Blackbeard's worst fears are realized; the ship of Maynard is
approaching! As the two ships blast away at each other, Jimmy and Katrina
prepare their escape. Snipe wants to put them onto a lifeboat, to send them
safely out to sea.
As Jimmy returns to the cabin to fetch the genie bottle, he encounters
Blackbeard, who threatens him. Luckily, a beam falls on Blackbeard, trapping
him and allowing Jimmy's escape. Snipe and the children row off in the
lifeboat.
Abu, seeing the situation is turning desperate for him, manifests another bit
of dark magic; he makes a volcano rise up from the sea, blocking Maynard's ship
from the pirates! Jimmy recognizes the beastly boulder as Devil's Rock, from
his home in Massachusetts. Blackbeard thinks it's the devil's work, but
Scuggins counters that now they can pursue Snipe and the kids to shore. In a
last, dastardly act, Blackbeard pushes Scuggins overboard, to drown in the
molten lava from the volcano, so he can claim the treasure for himself. The
crew demands to see the treasure map, and Blackbeard shoots Morgan, to reassert
his authority.
On the lifeboat, Abu reveals his treachery to Jimmy, who is horrified. It
looks like all hope is now lost. Indeed, Blackbeard is approaching fast in
another lifeboat!
The kids and Snipe arrive on shore, and the kids run off with the bottle while
Snipe stays behind. Soon, Snipe is battling for his life with the pirates.
Blackbeard slays Snipe, as the kids look on in horror.
Blackbeard chases after Jimmy and Katrina, and Jimmy, in desperation, throws
the genie bottle at him. To Jimmy's astonishment, Blackbeard vanishes into thin
air, as does Katrina! All that's left of his adventure is Katrina's locket.
Soon, Kathy runs up to Jimmy, who realizes he is back, safe and sound, in the
20th century. He tries to tell Kathy about his amazing adventures, but she just
thinks he's kooky. Jimmy takes Kathy's hand, and the two walk home together.
THE END
***
At the time of its original release to drive-ins and kiddie matinees, most
dismissed THE BOY AND THE PIRATES as just another mere "juvenile fantasy", or
an "okay adventure-type film for the tots". After limited subsequent TV
airings, the film fell by the wayside; perhaps the quaint pirate adventure was
seen as too old-fashioned for the emerging psychedelic conceit of the latter
1960's.
Thus, to view this extraordinary adventure-fantasy by Bert I. Gordon again
after all these years later is not only a joy, but a revelation. For in BATP we
have one of the most accomplished scenarios ever produced by Mr. Gordon, a
talented and wildly imaginative filmmaker known, and loved, primarily for his
"big bug" movies of the 1950's; legendary drive-in fare such as BEGINNING OF
THE END and EARTH VS. THE SPIDER.
Gordon's other straight fantasy film, THE MAGIC SWORD, is a strong and
successful effort as well, as are his psychological horror films, TORMENTED and
PICTURE MOMMY DEAD, so one is tempted to entertain the notion that Gordon's
highly inventive narrative skills were really able to soar when he decided to
go "against type".
Regardless, THE BOY AND THE PIRATES is one of those films that is so charming,
so engaging, so perfect in its service to and embellishment of genre formula,
it comes across as both completely familiar, yet breathtakingly original.
THE BOY AND THE PIRATES is much more than an engaging and innovative fantasy.
As it takes place in two entirely separate universes (like the mother of all
fantasy films, THE WIZARD OF OZ) the film exists in a netherworld of cultural
disorientation. Depending on the particular scene and its intent, this always-shifting perspective can either come across as magical, or downright frightening.
(Even in Gordon's exciting "science fictions", the hypnotic juggling twixt the
stark reality of the "real world" with the abstract, freakish "nightmare world"
of giants or midgets or monsters, and their inherent threat to both collective
society and individual sanity, posits these stories more as fantasy than
scientific thriller. Allegorical fantasy to be sure, but most excitingly,
literal, "storybook" fantasy, in its best sense. Literal storybook fantasy,
always a fragile and embattled cinema genre, has been completely abandoned
today. This is a shame, because storybook fantasy was the last refuge of true,
unadulterated "screen magic". Indeed, so powerful is Gordon's ability to weave
multiple realities within one cohesive narrative framework, several observers
have likened him less to a film craftsman, and more to an adept, benign
magician of old...)
This film takes place in two well-known yet disparate universes, one the safe, familiar babyboomer suburbia of the early 1960’s, the other a terrifying and hitherto unknown historical past full of evil, treachery and death. Thus, THE BOY AND THE PIRATES conveys a certain sense of cultural and temporal schizophrenia which makes the unfolding scenario all the more fascinating and terrifying.
Gordon craftily starts the film in a scene at the seashore, primal cinematic emblem of timeless eternity. Our protagonists stumble upon the wreck
of a pirate ship, surely an anachronism in 1960 Malibu, California! This scene
could have taken place in many time periods, and leaves us unsure of where we
are. When we return to the “real world" a few moments later, Jimmy’s middle-class home, with its well-scrubbed kitchen counter and modern appliances, the effect is almost as shocking as a bit later, when we stumble headlong into a truly alien world, a pirate’s frigate in the 1880’s.
The scene showing Jimmy at home reveals much about his character, and the ensuing scenario. Jimmy’s parents are loveless tyrants. His father, particularly, (Morgan Jones) combines ignorance with authoritarianism to truly chilling effect. Jimmy’s parents are deeply repressed, and in serious discord, and Jimmy is the scapegoat for this loveless nuclear union. Seriously flawed, they are somewhat unique for the time period. They are virtual enemies to Jimmy, as are another Jimmy’s (!) parents in William Cameron Menzie’s brilliant INVADERS FROM MARS (1953).
Soon, a genie manifests Jimmy’s fervent wish, to be aboard a pirate ship, a reality he soon finds far darker than his dreary every-day burdens. Gordon posits an interesting theory here: fantasy is modern man’s escape from unbearable tyranny. Jimmy is soon off into another world, although that world ends up having as many pitfalls as the one departed.
We then embark on a most amazing journey, a bonafide swashbuckling adventure, a costume drama of note, centered around Blackbeard the historical figure. It is both dramatic and witty, and comes across as a comic book brought to life, an effect immediately engaging. Much of the film takes place in two-shot and three-shot, maintaining an emotional distance from the audience, making it truly an adventure tale. There are fighting scenes a'plenty, as befitting a period adventure film. These are in some cases shockingly realistic for the day, replete with wounds and light gore and brutal death, not what you might expect for a kiddie movie.
Indeed, the film, if it is indeed a fantasy, is a dark fantasy. In fact, in many ways, THE BOY AND THE PIRATES is a child's nightmare, virtually a horror film for kids, or "a fairy tale with balls", as one is tempted to call it. Darkest by far of all Gordon's films, it conveys a most pessimistic message through a child-friendly format; life can quickly turn into a veritable life-and-death struggle for survival, and only the greatest wit and fortitude can save you.
Some might even see a film about two small children fighting for their very lives amidst a gaggle of drunken, murderous males an inappropriate subject for a child’s fantasy. Blackbeard’s first reaction to Jimmy is to throw him to the sharks, for goodness sake!
There is a good deal of gruesome killing during the course of the film. The cook forces Jimmy at one point to take a fish and “gut and clean it, and save his entrails”. Finally, there is one moment of pure exploitation-grade excess; Morgan the pirate tries to get poor Jimmy to reveal his coveted information by threatening to scald his mouth with a red-hot poker! This overt, violent image of male rape takes this film out of the realm of harmless, G-Rated fairy tales and into a world much, much darker.
Yet THE BOY AND THE PIRATES has a much lighter side, to counterbalance its grimmer aspects. There is frequent use of then-current slang as comic relief. After Jimmy rants on about pirates, Kathy moans, “Oh, Pork Chops!” (presumably a child-safe analog of “Oh, Horseshit!”). Jimmy befuddles Blackbeard by talking about “rockets”, “jets” and “the F.B.I.”. When Jimmy, late in the film, assures Katrina that once ashore, his dad will drive her back home to New York, Katrina mutters the hilarious bon mot, “Drive Me? Am I a cow, that he will drive me?”. Jimmy relies on familiar slang so much, with Katrina confessing ignorance to same as frequently, Jimmy finally moans in exasperation, “Gosh, don’t you understand English?!?!”
Along with the illustration of language as a barrier to understanding, THE BOY AND THE PIRATES uses modern technology as symbols of forbidden knowledge, used to good effect by heroes, but useful as a deterrent to fools and foes.
When Jimmy gives Blackbeard his pack of matches, the imbecile burns his fingers, and mutters, “Safety Matches”, to camera, as Katrina giggles. Blackbeard, being a superstitious dolt, finds Jimmy’s modern contrivance suspect, to say the least. He even accuses the child of being demonic: "You in league with the devil, runt?"
Yet when the progressive and courageous Katrina tries Jimmy’s magical “bubble gum,” she inserts the modern world into her mouth like a Catholic host. From this moment on, Katrina is “hep” to Jimmy’s “jive”, as it were, becoming his trusted assistant, and at one point his defender. Katrina grows, by trusting Jimmy and accepting new experience from the big and frightening outside world.
The kids give the pirates some bubble gum, hidden in their stew, and it unnerves them no end; thus, a childhood ritual, performed out of its proper context, becomes a subversive act. (Blackbeard even ponders, "What is this, a bloomin' conspiracy... ?") Blackbeard and his ilk never rise above fear and suspicion in regard to these new experiences.
Jimmy thus “tames the natives” with his “modern technology”, seen as magic by the enlightened, and as witchcraft by the uninformed.
As one might expect in a Bert I. Gordon production, the visual f/x are both skillful and magical. Credited to Gordon and his filmmaker partner, wife Flora Gordon, the scenes involving tiny Abu and "big" Jimmy are seamless and highly believable. Scenes of model ships doing battle in a studio tank-sea are thrilling. The climactic scene of a volcanic mountain arising from the depths of the ocean is a breathtaking effect, easily the centerpiece of the film visually.
The film is even further brought to life via a rousing musical score by Gordon's frequent composer, Albert Glasser, who really shines here with a strong score full of dramatic cues. Glasser’s “big” score harkens back to the classic adventure film scores of Korngold, Waxman and Steiner, without resorting to their maudlin, eventually fatal, romanticism. (Cues from this score, and others by Glasser for Bert I. Gordon films, were released many years back on a now-rare LP; hearing the album in toto, one realizes how great was Glasser’s work, and how deserving of a revival.)
The main character here, of course, is Jimmy, played with exceptional depth and wit by Charles Herbert, an extraordinary child actor by any standard. Herbert’s knack for creating a life-like character makes his Jimmy a truly believable individual; his trials, therefore, our are trials, and the movie is more engaging for it. Sincere, accurate, ever over-annunciated at times, like a storybook character come to life, Herbert’s intense emotive quality is very much of the method acting school, highly unusual in such a young performer.
Jimmy as a character is quite complex. He is very bright; one might argue the mental better of his superiors, and this causes him great anguish, as well as assures his eventual success. His one Achilles’ heel at film’s start seems to be his low opinion of women, not surprising considering his harpie of a mother. Thus, when he meets his fantasy female, Katrina Von Keif, his intellectual and emotional equal, Jimmy learns compassion, and the considerable joys of female companionship; it is telling that, at film's end, he takes Kathy's hand as he
walks her home.
Murvyn Vye makes a wonderful Blackbeard; Vye is able to switch from cute and whimsical to downright fearsome in a breath, creating in the process a character both romantic and frightening, a mercurial personality which was likely very much like the original brigand in question, a person who could hug you in one breath, and toss you to the sharks in the next.
Joe Turkel’s evil genie Abu is an amazing character as well. Turkel plays the mischievous imp as a vaguely Brooklyn-ese con-man, with a maniacal laugh which suggests true madness. And Abu is an interesting addition to the “genie” genre, as he is, verily, an “evil” genie, not all hugs and kisses. He wishes, in fact, to sentence little Jimmy to a lifetime of hellish imprisonment in a torturous netherworld, surely not the goal of most cuddly Hollywood genies of the day.
Wisely, Turkel’s Abu is told entirely in long shot, with an echoing, amplified voice; the character is thus rendered less menacing than he might be if Gordon zoomed in for grimacing close-ups of the conniving little demon.
And what can one say about the adorable, dynamic Susan Gordon?
Young Susan had made her screen debut a mere two years earlier, in her
father's memorable science-fantasy, ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE. Big roles on
MAN IN THE NET, THE FIVE PENNIES, and the extraordinary TORMENTED followed.
Here, Gordon showcases his beloved daughter’s acting versatility by giving her not one, but two roles. As Kathy, Bobby's clamdigger pal, Susan portrays the bossy, opinionated babyboomer girl-child of the period with exceptional wit and grace.
But Susan really gets to soar as Katrina Von Keif, an ingenue accidentally
deposited to Blackbeard's gang during one of his terrible raids. Dressed in a stunning red velvet gown, her golden locks cascading in well-coifed tresses, and sporting those dreamy eyes of hers, Susan-as-Katrina is the perfect childhood analog of the classic screen heroine (and immediate love object to any red-blooded American boy in the audience, surely!)
What is most effective about Susan's portrayal of Katrina is that although she
plays a rich immigrant who suffers major cultural barriers with her sidekick Jimmy, as well as her roguish captors, she is still able to convey a range of emotion unavailable to most actresses of her vintage, through choice dialog reading, astute body language and highly emotive facial gesture. Thus, although presumably existing in the scenario largely as window dressing, Susan takes this barebones role and runs with it, creating in the process a likeable and wholly believable heroine, a "damsel in distress" of the classical mold.
And make no mistake about it: THE BOY AND THE PIRATES is a showcase for Susan Gordon. As it is both an act of love for a filmmaker-father to ask his beautiful daughter to be his movie star, and for the daughter to give a moving performance in daddy's pictures, this film is both a showcase for each’s creative talents, as well as a veritable love letter from one to the other. This palpable chemistry is part of what makes THE BOY AND THE PIRATES such an exciting and memorable film.
Susan is shot with loving care by her father; Gordon’s obvious pride, love and affection for his actress-daughter is visible in every frame. Gordon’s camera hugs Susan at every turn, even when in danger, never letting her get so far away so that he couldn’t reach out and rescue her in a minute. Indeed, one can nary think of a more powerful champion to showcase a young actress’s skills than her doting, devoted patriarch.
Watching Susan act for her father is in some ways less a creative partnership, and more of a magical rite. Films such as THE BOY AND THE PIRATES are a very rare thing, for they capture on film an illustration of that oldest, yet somehow elusive societal pact and ritual; the elder teaching the younger, through love and discipline, by passing on learned knowledge with affection, and discipline. THE BOY AND THE PIRATES clearly brings to life the intense, and wildly creative emotional tension between a father and his child.
(While some have posited that the advent of home movies and later, home video,
performed essentially the same function, we would disagree and say that whereas
home movies capture random, disjointed, fleeting moments of a clan’s physical
history, great art with the same dynamic illustrates actual design and concept, as well as execution of that most important, most maligned job of the human
race; teacher.)
Susan’s Katrina is a powerful character, one which has a profound impact on everyone she meets. In a wonderful scene, Blackbeard's entire shipful of rough-n-ready men is nearly reduced to wailing babies by the plaintive cries of our young heroine, reasserting that in the social contract, it is the females' voice which holds the true power.
It is telling that Jimmy is finally (and ironically) rescued by the damsel in distress herself, illustrating the historical truth that a female's tempering influence in a dangerous situation has saved many a new-age male against the rage of brutes. The typical depiction of this is the enduring male fantasy of the effeminate male "rescuing” the damsel in distress, not realizing that the poor fool is merely using the sacred object as his shield to his own freedom...
THE BOY AND THE PIRATES is Bert I. Gordon’s fantasy masterpiece, and a marvelous showcase for young actors Charlie Herbert and Susan Gordon. It is an exceptional lost fantasy film which screams for a new and wider audience. It is a classic of the genre, and a film we are grateful to finally have experienced.
And stay tuned for our exclusive interview with actress Susan Gordon, coming soon!
***
There was a Dell comic book released of THE BOY AND THE PIRATES, which curiously includes a scene not in the film, in which Katrina falls into the ocean and is rescued by Jimmy! One wonders if this was in the original screenplay as well, or devised especially for the comic book audience?
Video/DVD availability: not currently available
Links of related interest:
for more great pix, visit "THE BOY AND THE PIRATES" foto gallery!
Bert I. Gordon Productions / United Artists
Story: Bert I. Gordon
Screenplay: Lillie Hayward, Jerry Sackheim
Cinematography: Ernest Haller
Music: Albert Glasser
Special Visual Effects: Bert I. Gordon, Flora Gordon
Produced by Bert I. Gordon
Directed by Bert I. Gordon
The Official Susan Gordon Website!
(from the pressbook:) "Susan Gordon and Charles Herbert are the juvenile leads
in the United Artists' Release 'THE BOY AND THE PIRATES.' Color."
Beautiful lobby card image from THE BOY AND THE PIRATES
This rare promotional artwork by famed illustrator
Al Hirschfeld recently sold on ebay for $1,500!
The popular Dell comic book.
Jimmy Warren loves to play pirate on an old wreck down at the beach.
He finds a strange bottle, makes a wish, and suddenly finds himself sailing with Blackbeard!
Inside the bottle is an imp who tells him he must return the bottle to the exact spot in seven days... (sic)
... or take the imp's place inside it! But the pirate ship is headed for Carolina, hundreds of miles away.
Jimmy tricks Blackbeard into returning, but just then a British frigate appears and opens a deadly fire.