Review of The Pirate (1948) by Greg W — 17 Aug 2011

OK, fine, I'll admit it, I actually liked "The Pirate". Judy Garland is a bored islander living with her sisters, and she dreams of marrying the rebellious pirate Macoco. Her aunt Gladys Cooper wants her to marry Walter Sleazak instead, and because Judy doesn't really have any reason to refuse, she goes along with it.

But on day, actor Gene Kelly sees Judy and [of course] falls in love. He finds out that she wants to marry Macoco, so he does the whole charade to win her heart. But there's two problems-- Walter is the real Macoco, and the town is ready to hang Gene for all of the deeds the bad pirate did.

Fine fine, "The Pirate" is an extremely stupid musical comedy, and I don't even know how I liked it. Judy and Gene were some of the biggest stars in musicals, so of course THEY get the Technicolor and THEY get the expensive looking sets and costumes.

That looked good, but when you're talking about these two, there's one thing I have to say-- how can you not like them in a movie together? As always, the two show off their skills by dancing and singing, and while the songs aren't that memorable, I can always remember Judy singing them (?).

Gene did some very impressive dance numbers that I can say were the highlight of the film, and Minnelli surely worked hard to please the audience (even though this movie wasn't that popular). Still, I liked "The Pirate", but the only way you can is to get into a 6 year old's mind.