The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present
The Crimson Pirate
When
Wed 3 May 2023
Looking back to Douglas Fairbanks and forward to Jack Sparrow, Lancaster (in his third film with Siodmak, giving one of his defining performances) puts his acrobatic training to spectacular use in this much-loved comedic Technicolor swashbuckler shot around Naples but set in the Caribbean. The director’s great versatility is on show here in what became both a huge hit and his last Hollywood film; simultaneously the apotheosis of the pirate movie and a brilliant self-parody, it’s kicked off by a fourth-wall-busting address from its titular hero.
35mm print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia.
Also screening on Wed 3 May
Program
Soft and Hard: The high-wire career of Burt Lancaster
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – Wed 3 May, 7pm
The Crimson Pirate (1952) – Wed 3 May, 8.55pm
The Swimmer (1968) – Wed 10 May, 7pm
Conversation Piece (1974) – Wed 10 May, 8.50pm
Criss Cross (1949) – Wed 17 May, 7pm
The Train (1964) – Wed 17 May, 8.40pm
About the program
Burt Lancaster (1913–94) didn’t appear in his first film until he was in her early thirties. Prior to his breakthrough role alongside Ava Gardner in The Killers (1946), he had a highly successful career as a circus acrobat and as an entertainer in the Special Forces during World War II...
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About Melbourne Cinémathèque
Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.
Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven.
