The Pirate

Pure fluff, but mostly entertaining fluff. Garland and Kelly are fun to watch and while the numbers may not be particularly memorable, they are very entertaining as you watch them.

Viewed May 25, 2016. Pure fever dream. There's a moment in the first number where Gene Kelly embraces a woman with a lit cigarette in his mouth, swallows said cigarette, kisses the woman, brings the cigarette back out of his mouth and exhales. It feels unhinged in a way that I'd rarely associate with the MGM musicals. The film's flaws and quirks only add to its bizarro feel, while the constant presence of fire imagery makes the film both salacious and hellish.

Gorgeous film. I laughed so hard when Kelly got hit with the chair.

The story is boring, but the music and dancing is watchable--I can't say any of the songs were memorable, but I didn't hate them either. I'd say give this one a miss unless you REALLY want to watch a musical and have seen everything else.

Not quite a classic, but the technicolor is gorgeous, and--as long as Judy is singing or Gene is singing and/or dancing--it works.

Appallingly bad musical, especially for one starring Kelly, Garland, and George Zucco to boot

Mediocre, and even the presence of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly can't save this one. The songs are unmemorable, and the dance numbers seem more self-indulgent than helping to bolster the story.

I found this to be unwatchable.

The power of fantasies!

Star Rating: ★★★★1/2

watched: 2012, 2021

"There you go. I think he's pretty, uh, pretty, uh, pretty good." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2014/06/episode-18.html

"The Pirate takes place in some Caribbean of the mind, with lots of shadows and lace and high mantillas, and it's all about the promise of sex; the film keeps tapping into a nervous, adolescent sort of fear and desire." - Dan Callahan

Very good dancing sequences by Alton-Kelly, and very useful in that you realize the lyrics "Make 'em laugh" are a big improvement on "Be a clown". Judy seemed to have been drunk here.

As weird as it was, this was exactly how I'd imagine a pirate story would be with Judy Garland. Super colorful, all show and pure entertainment!

Judy Garland greatness