Film Credits

Screenplay by: Alan LeMay

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

Starring: Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix, Keith Andes, Richard Egan, Irene Ryan, Torin Thatcher

Review

Blackbeard the Pirate revolves around Edward Maynard (Keith Andes), spy for the King, who attempts to rid the Spanish Main of supposed pirate Sir Henry Morgan (Torin Thatcher). By going undercover and joining pirate Blackbeard's (Robert Newton) crew, Maynard hopes to gain enough evidence against Morgan to put him away forever. Spicing things up is Edwina Mansfield (Linda Darnell), whom Blackbeard has kidnapped and whom Maynard falls in love with.

Blackbeard the Pirate is fun to view for a while, but the featured pirates and swordplay just aren't enough to keep this film afloat. Before long, the film slows down and begins to drag on without an end in sight. Maybe it's because nothing much gets accomplished storywise, or maybe it's because one soon grows weary of Newton's excessively hammy performance as Blackbeard.

The Image/Turner "RKO Classic Collection" disc edition of Blackbeard the Pirate is okay. While the color transfer is adequate, the colors do lack their original three-strip Technicolor luster. The image has a decent focus, but the print is grainy at times, has several splices, and a fair share of speckles and light scratches. The print also tends to get fairly dirty and scratchy around reel changes. The CX-encoded digital mono sound is fair. The disc was pressed at Kurare (Japan) and contains 14 unlisted chapter markers (color bars appear at chapter #14).