Fairbanks is in reliably athletic, charismatic form as the sole survivor of a ruthless pirate attack who manages to infiltrate the marauders’ own criminal ranks to wreak his revenge.

| Apr 17, 2024

The beautiful colors of this picture and the minute attention to detail make them seem like animated "Old Masters" in parade. The days and ways of the pirates are faithfully reproduced.

| Mar 23, 2023

The Black Pirate is wholly -- to steal a phrase from Juno and the Paycock -- a darling film. There is no ostentation, no mock morality, no cheap love-making, no error of taste, and, above all, no stupidity in it.

| Mar 23, 2023

There is something in the gusto with which Doug goes about his work --something of sheer enjoyment in his own performance -- that gives to his pictures an atmosphere of action and thrill that none of his rivals attain.

| Mar 23, 2023

The photography is excellent. The ornate prows of the vessels, the sharp and beautiful silhouettes, shots of small boats pulling across swirling water -- looking down -- and the ever turbulent mob scenes, these make a deep impress on the imagination.

| Mar 23, 2023

The best picture ever made in technicolor is The Black Pirate... It is a thrilling, exquisitely photographed film with Douglas Fairbanks, in the role of the Black Pirate himself, giving one of the best performances of his long stardom.

| Mar 23, 2023

Suspense, real daring, action, love and romance are all revealed in this play.

| Mar 23, 2023

Advantage has been adroitly taken of the opportunities for sea and shipboard pictures, which are enhanced by a use of subdued color that is vastly more effective than the artificial... hues of earlier efforts at colored movies.

| Mar 23, 2023

Nothing exceeds that dazzling bit of athletic prowess of his when he seems to slide from the top of the masts clear down to the deck, cutting a slash the while athwart a sail.

| Mar 23, 2023

The Black Pirate is a fascinating, humorous, and improbable romance of the high seas. It is beautifully done from every point of view.

| Mar 23, 2023

Marvelous beyond words!

| Mar 23, 2023

The Black Pirate stands at the top of all the movies that I have seen in point of rich, glamourous beauty.

| Mar 23, 2023

It is a tale, in toto, we recommend lustily to all children aetat eight to eighty-nine.

| Mar 23, 2023

As for the stunts that are so dear to the heart of the Fairbanks’ fans -- they are here in abundance.

| Mar 22, 2023

In our opinion, it reveals the best color job ever shown. There are some beautiful scenes showing the moon kissing the Water, the pirates swarming on the decks and clambering about in the rigging, and burying their treasure on the tropical isle.

| Mar 22, 2023

The prismatic shades, soft toning and artistic lighting are simply marvelous. Also, the story, a straight piratical romance, vibrating with tense melodrama, is a wonder of suspense and whirling action, with Doug at his best.

| Mar 22, 2023

Fairbanks plays the part of the duke in his accustomed brisk and agile manner. Billie Dove does well what little she has to do as the heroine, and Donald Crisp, as a humorous and friendly old Scotch pirate, supplies the comedy relief.

| Mar 22, 2023

The Fairbanks picture is just that -- a Fairbanks picture. Doug Is the entire show, in 90 per cent of the scenes, and even dominating during his absence. He Is probably the only movie actor who can do it.

| Mar 22, 2023

Into the conventional movement of the costume romance [Fairbanks] has brought the velvet movements of a trained athlete, leaping, climbing, sliding, diving through the clear water.

| Mar 22, 2023

[Fairbanks] climbs to the cross-arms and slits the big sail by jabbing it at the top with his sword and letting his own weight carry it right through to the very bottom. The execution of this feat is one of the high lights in the star's performance.

| Mar 22, 2023