BY BLYTHE-SPINDLER RICHARDSON  

With the star power of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, a riotous score by Cole Porter, sensational choreography, and truly eye-popping Technicolor, on paper     Vincente Minnelli’s The Pirate has all of the trappings of the smash hit musicals of the Golden Era, though went on to be an example that this mathematical equation to success in the film industry was not as predictable as it appeared. As a reinterpretation of S.N Behrman’s play by the same title, which poked fun at the tropes of the swashbuckler genre, the film traipses into the less traversed waters of satire, actively differentiating from the mainstream musical narratives of the time arguably to a fault. Despite being one of Minelli’s most notorious box office flops and having been eroded from cultural consciousness unlike its cinematic relatives such as An American in Paris or Meet Me in St. Louis, a quiet but impassioned debate has survived into modernity; is The Pirate a lost experimental masterpiece that dared to explore the social taboos of 1940s American culture, or a forgettable misstep with glaring tonal and narrative inconsistencies?

The musical interlude of “Mack the Black” over the opening credits fittingly establishes the stark oscillation in the tone of the narrative, beginning with frantic ensemble vocals coupled with throbbing drums and blaring horns, it warns of the pirate Macoco and his tirades, then jarringly dissolves into tender, romantic string instrumentals to guide the audience into the first scene. On a balcony over her candy-coated, dreamy Caribbean hometown, Manuella Alva (Judy Garland) fauns over the story of Macoco much to the chiding of her friends and Aunt Inez, who reveals that she has arranged for her niece to marry the wealthy but utterly drab mayor, Don Pedro. Reluctantly, Manuella agrees to the purely practical marriage on the condition that she is able to visit the Caribbean Ocean during their stay in the coastal town of Port Sebastian while picking up her wedding dress, as the sea to her “means adventure and romance, and [she] won’t have any” after committing herself to the self-admitted homebody Don Pedro. Immediately enchanted by the ocean view upon her arrival with Aunt Inez, Manuella is not prepared for the ruckus of the newly docked thespian troupe in town led by the boyishly charismatic and mischievous actor Serafin (Gene Kelly), who interrupts her sea gazing by ruthlessly circling her and admiring her beauty to her chagrin. Vehemently rejecting both Serafin’s pleas to attend the troupe’s show that evening and to marry him instead of her “pumpkin” of a fiancé, Manuella rushes back to her hotel, only to toss and turn that night due to the sheer volume of the show in the town square. She finally relents and joins the crowd to see the troupe, and Serafin gleefully prepares for his pinnacle act, a hypnosis using the “Great Mesmer’s Revolving Mirror” in order to coax Manuella to confess her love for him, though the plan backfires when Manuella instead raves of the dashing pirate Macoco in her trance, her full frenzied passion conveyed through her rendition of “Mack the Black”. Conflicted with his romantic disappointment and captivation with Manuella’s unbridledly showmanship, Serafin snaps her out of the spell with a passionate kiss and attempts to praise her performance, but she is so horrified by her acts that she immediately flees Port Sebastian with Aunt Inez in tow. Settled back and home, Manuella’s wedding preparations are dashed when Serafin’s company loudly marches into town, and the actor makes a scene of stealing into her room via tight wire. On the surface, Manuella is hysterical about the intrusion, but internally struggles with the feelings of excitement that Serafin prods her to admit. She escapes when Don Pedro barges in, enraged and armed with the obvious weapon of choice, a bullwhip, the licks of which Serafin leaps and frolics to avoid with fiendish delight, quickly utilizing the mayor’s Achille’s heel by bellowing the infamous name “Macoco!” As Don Pedro sinks to the ground in shock and defeat, Serafin reveals that the unassuming bureaucrat is the previously vicious but currently sick and retired pirate, having recognized his true identity due to being a survivor of one of his attacks. Using this delicate information, Serafin blackmails Don Pedro into letting the troupe perform for the wedding, only to exit the room as a powerful and sensual personification of Mack the Black, leading Manuella, her family, and the rest of the villagers to believe that he is the true Macoco. In order to spare the town from his wrath, he must have Manuella as his wife, the grand illusion of power and identity theft that carries the conflict of the film.