Shiver me timbers, there’s another pirate movie bringing in the doubloons at the theatres. Hate long lines and sticky floors or rather wait for the DVD? There are plenty of pirate tales to choose from in the audio visual section of the library. Johnny Depp’s is not the first dazzling smile to gleam from the screen. He follows in a long line of dashing swashbucklers. Errol Flynn starred as Captain Blood, crossing swords with Basil Rathbone in this 1935 classic and as the greatest of all land based pirates Robin Hood in Shiver me timbers, there’s another pirate movie bringing in the doubloons at the theatres. Hate long lines and sticky floors or rather wait for the DVD? There are plenty of pirate tales to choose from in the audio visual section of the library. Johnny Depp’s is not the first dazzling smile to gleam from the screen. He follows in a long line of dashing swashbucklers. Errol Flynn starred as Captain Blood, crossing swords with Basil Rathbone in this 1935 classic and as the greatest of all land based pirates Robin Hood in the 1938 film. Once again he matched wits and foils with Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbone. Even Burt Lancaster dashes his way through 16th century Spain as the Crimson Pirate. (The movie is a lot of fun, even if Burt doesn’t fit your idea of a pirate.)
For kids, there’s a cute selection ranging from the Princess Bride to many versions of Peter Pan including Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman in Hook. Don’t forget the many filmed versions of the classic story Treasure Island. In the mood for a little Gilbert & Sullivan? Then check out The Pirates of Penzance starring Linda Rondstadt and Rex Smith fresh from their stage version.
Finally, if you like swashbucklers of any type, don’t forget about Zorro fighting for injustice in the Americas, The Prisoner of Zenda fighting for the throne or the many versions of The Three Musketeers where they find any excuse to cross swords. Who is your favorite screen swashbuckler?