Douglas Fairbanks returns to the Balboa Theatre screen – this time, in color! He stars as The Black Pirate, a shipwreck survivor hell-bent on vengeance who fights and tricks his way into becoming a pirate captain.
Mae Tinee of the Chicago Tribune wrote in 1926, “The Black Pirate is a fascinating, humorous, and improbable romance of the high seas. It is beautifully done from every point of view.” The film was added to the United States National Film Registry in 1993.
Fun Fact: The moment when Fairbanks slides down the ship’s sail, ripping it with a knife to slow his fall, has been re-created in other films, including The Goonies and Rage of the Buccaneers. However, a 2007 episode of Mythbusters declared the stunt “Busted,” noting it as solely movie magic.