The Pirates of Capri (1949) Poster

(1949)

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6/10
THE PIRATES OF CAPRI (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1949) **1/2
Bunuel197618 December 2006
I wasn't expecting much from this period romp but, following an uncertain beginning (actually, the solitary pirate sequence itself), once the scene shifted to the court intrigues, it settled down into being a likable - if highly derivative - Grade 'B' costumer. Ulmer endows the location-shot film with a reasonable amount of style (his trademark shadowy lighting and odd camera angles coming into play most prominently during the busy climax). The plot basically revamps the Zorro saga (with Louis Hayward doubling as aristocratic fop and masked bandit) - thus making it an ideal companion to THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940), which I rewatched via the Fox SE DVD the previous day - but, given the lead character's quest for vengeance and his involvement with a theatrical troupe, it appears that the film was equally inspired by Rafael Sabatini's "Scaramouche"! The film emerges patchy as a whole (with the script failing to be witty, its attempts at comedy relief are especially resistible), but the dramatic scenes - particularly where villain Massimo Serato is concerned - compel some attention, and the derring-do is surprisingly adroit.

This had been released on DVD by All Day Entertainment, as both a stand-alone edition and as part of a collection dedicated to Ulmer. I had been tempted time and again to purchase some of them but eventually settled on just the individual disc of BLUEBEARD (1944) - which was excellent; I did manage to rent THE STRANGE WOMAN (1946) eventually by way of a cheap DVD edition from another label - but that film left no particular impression on me. As for the rest, thankfully, all but one turned up recently on Italian TV in their original language with subtitles: apart from THE PIRATES OF CAPRI, I recently watched DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL (1957) but still need to check out STRANGE ILLUSION (1945)...
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6/10
The Pirates of Capri
CinemaSerf4 January 2023
Louis Hayward is at his foppish best in this somewhat derivative swashbuckler as the "Count de Amalfi" (alias "Scirocco") who plays the buffoon at the Neapolitan court of the well meaning, but feeble Queen "Maria Carolina" (Binnie Barnes) who is pretty much under the thumb of her minister "Baron Holstein" (Rudolph Serato) and his savage regime. This isn't just your usual "Zorro" style story, though - the "Scirocco" wants change - he is working with his fellow freedom fighters, but he wants as peaceful transition as possible and that's his challenge... The rest of this is all pretty set-piece, Hawyard is the star with little around him to eclipse his status. Plenty of sword fighting and intrigue does keep it going, though, and although you have certainly seen it all before (and better with Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn), Hayward still makes a decent fist of it - it looks stylish enough, and I quite enjoyed it all.
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5/10
Well-made but unexceptional B movie
JoeytheBrit22 September 2008
The Pirates of Capri is a cheaply made B movie shot on location in Italy. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer who, a few years earlier had made Detour, the quintessential B movie, it is probably better than you might expect, although hampered by a treatment too short on action.

Louis Hayward plays Captain Sirocco, the Zorro-like champion of the downtrodden peasants and defender of the Queen Carolina (Binnie Barnes), the sister of Marie Antoinette, who is kept ignorant of her people's treatment by the evil Baron von Holstein (Rudolph Serato) and who is so fearful of suffering the same fate as her sister that just the mere mention of the word 'people' sends her into something of a tizzy.

Like Zorro, Captain Sirocco leads a double life. Not only is he the fearless do-gooder intent on bringing down the evil Baron, he is also the outrageously foppish Count di Amalfi, a member of the Queen's court who delights in baiting the Baron. Serato makes a fine villain with his sculpted beard and mistrusting gaze, but Hayward's effete portrayal, while no doubt exactly what was required of him, quickly grows tiresome.

Ulmer's direction is interesting throughout, and Anchise Brizzi's cinematography is exceptional for such a low budget feature.
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Zorro meets Baron Scarpia in 18th century Naples
jsobre28 May 2000
I first caught this movie (english version) on TV when I was about 12. I thought it was terrific! Now, much older and wiser, I've seen it again--terrific it isn't, but it's a nice grade-B costume flick, replete with revolution, a Zorro-like hero, a villainous Baron Scarpia of a police chief, and a dandy duel-to-death at the end. What still makes it fun is its Italian neo-realist visual style and lighting, and even a few touches of the Italian classics of the late '40's (shot of suffering child in raid on the island). It's fun as a no-brainer. I wonder what the Italian version was like? Was it shot in two versions or just dubbed?
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2/10
No real pirates outside of Captain Ha Ha.
mark.waltz18 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Returning to his Son of Monte Cristo roots as a dashing hero of the people, Louis Hayward is irritating with part of his performance as the poor man's Scarlet Pimpernel. Instead of France, it's Italy, and Hayward is a foppish count who goes in disguise as a rebel on the high seas secretly protecting Queen Binnie Barnes. He's fighting against minister of police Massimo Serato who wants to depose the queen, yet has her fooled into thinking that he is her protector.

Sounding a bit like Laurence Olivier, Massimo Serato is a decent but cliched villain, and Mariella Lotti is your standard swashbuckler heroine, lavishly dressed and quaffed but nothing special. Hayward overdoes the foppish nest of his disguised character, and after a while, you almost begin to root for the villain.

While the lavish costumes and hairpieces seeing recycled from the dozens of similar movies of the past decade, the sets are extraordinary, closer to the Sternberg look of "The Scarlet Empress" from 15 years before. that seems to be where director Edgar Ulmer put his focus, because while the film is a lavish treat visually, it misfires as a historical view of how the French revolution influenced other countries to rebell against uncaring rulers.

There is a ballet put on towards the conclusion of the film that has a unique look about it, and there, the photographer gets to really what is cinematic magic. Unfortunately, while it's made clear that Barnes is not an evil queen, she certainly does not have the strength that a ruler would need to make sure that's her people are not treated with the cruelty that they find here. The film seems to rip off moments from other successful swashbucklers, but in comparing this to them, it completely misses what made those classics magical. After a while, the constant repeated laugh of Hayward just makes him seem creepy, not heroic.
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8/10
Action Adventure worth your Attention.
vitaleralphlouis15 August 2008
PIRATES OF CAPRI (aka: Captain Sirocco) is an intelligently made action movie which is fun to watch, and which benefits from Louis Hayward's remarkable ability to play this kind of role to perfection. Forget Johnny Depp or Jerry Bruckheimer's nonsense; this is the real McCoy.

Good movies like this were commonplace 50 or 60 years ago, but this one benefits from being filmed at authentic-looking locations in Italy -- not Capri or Napoli they say, but the shots of Napoli couldn't be anywhere else, and those in the grottoes of Capri same thing. This was an Italian movie, carefully dubbed in English. Now in DVD.

Incidentally, Louis Hayward, like today's Charleze Theron, are/were both authentic African/Americans. Each was born in the Union of South Africa.
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8/10
Good action-historical drama
EdgarST17 November 2015
Exciting court-intrigue, costume drama, propelled to almost greatness by Nino Rota's beautiful score. I was impressed with its tempo and enjoyed the action-filled scenes, and even when the scenes were loaded with dialogs, they were delivered with passion by the fine cast. It is one of those movies in which you do not know who directed what, and where you find Edgar G. Ulmer co-directing with another filmmaker, in this case Italian Giuseppe Maria Scotese (although each artist was given the sole director credit in the copies of their respective countries). It is interesting that both men had backgrounds in the art field, Ulmer being a production designer early in his career, and Scotese starting as a painter and exhibiting his works. The richly detailed sets and costumes, as well as the lush cinematography are more impressive being this a black and white production, and it helped very much filming in Italy, using real and imposing buildings of the past and a majestic ship. Although Louis Hayward was no longer the dashing young man of «Anthony Adverse» (1936) or «The Saint in New York» (1938), first screen outing of the Simon Templar, he was still the agile action man as Captain Sirocco, the swashbuckling alter ego of the effeminate and ironic Count Amalfi. To Hayward's fine characterizations, Massimo Serato effectively counterpoints as the villainous Baron Holstein, the chief of police who wants to seize power of the kingdom of Napoli, ruled by weak queen Marie Caroline, played by Binnie Barnes. Mariella Lotti is the love interest and Mikhail Rasumny provides the comic elements of the plot. Recommended.
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adventure
Kirpianuscus24 July 2017
one of so many adventure films from the same period. seductive for story, for acting and for fight scenes. for noble message, references to Zorro and a form of clever simplicity, mixture of love, revenge and justice. it is a must see for the performance of Louis Hayward. and for Binnie Barnes who gives a vulnerable admirable queen Maria Carolina of Naples, more interesting role if you do not ignore the events of her reign. a charming portrait of an interesting period. this is all.
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9/10
The liberation of Naples from the oppression and intrigues of a Scarpian police
clanciai19 September 2023
Like all Ulmer's films, it gives the impression of a somewhat haphazard shooting all the way, the characters being rather superficial and not all of them convincing enough (the chief of police is totally out of place, acting only with artifice,) while the cinematography is overwhelmingly well carried out and the most professional element of the film. To this comes Nino Rota's slightly Pucciniesque music giving everything an extra lustre, and it is all filmed on location in the most romantic surroundings of Naples and Capri, with almost only Italian actors except Hayward and Bonnie Barnes, the queen. The story is the revolution of Naples around 1800 when the old royal house was disposed of, Louis Hayward leading the rebellion as the Queen's favourite but acting also as a masked leader of the rebels, he gives a good show all the way, and there are some comical instances as well. Naturally you wait through the entire film for the final settlement between the tyrannous police chief and Hayward, and of course it takes appropriate place in the finale. The whole set-up and action is like a classical Italian opera by Verdi or Puccini, and Nino Rota's music closely relates to that tradition. It is a great swashbuckler entertainment in the tradition of Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, who couldn't have done it better.
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