5. Patrick McGoohan as Dr. Syn, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, from the "Disneyland" TV-Series, circa 1963. Though not technically a pirate, he was still a smuggler and an anti-establishmentarian. I remember a lot of long boats and tri-corner hats. Plus the sackcloth hood that he wore scared the crap out of me as a kid.
4. Errol Flynn as Dr. Peter Blood in 1935's "Captain Blood." Does it get better than Flynn and Basil Rathbone dueling on the deck of a tall ship?
3. Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red played by Walter Matthau in Roman Polanski's 1986 film "Pirates." I always come back to the final scene of Matthau sitting on his pirate throne precariously balanced in a long boat as it is rowed into the sunset by Frog, his young French companion.
2. Long John Silver played by Robert Newton in "Treasure Island" (1950), the sequel "Long John Silver" (1954) and the TV series "The Adventures of Long John Silver" (1955-1959).
1. My favorite: Tommy Lee Jones as Captain Bully Hayes from 1983's "Nate and Hayes." This is my favorite swashbuckler/pirate movie. If you want to see how to properly do a high-seas romantic triangle, this is it. Miles O'Keefe as the straight-laced, missionary turned swashbuckler is the perfect foil to Jones' rogue captain. All this and it was shot in and around Fiji and New Zealand so the settings are beautiful and exotic.
Honorable mention goes to Jesse Jane as First-Mate Jules in "Pirates" (2005) from Digital Playground. To be honest, though, I can't really remember much of dialogue... Or the plot...
2 comments:
You're the only person *ever* who menitoned Matthau in "Pirates".
I have seen it since the eighties but remember it fondly, and any film with Walt in is a delight.
Ooo - now I may have to watch The Odd Couple and The Taking of Pelham 123 again.
=D
Throw in Hopscotch and Charade and it"s an evening!
Post a Comment