The Pirate Movie

The Pirate Movie The Pirate Movie film poster Directed by Ken Annakin Produced by Ted Hamilton (executive) David Joseph Written by W. S. Gilbert (operetta) Trevor Farrant Starring Christopher Atkins Kristy McNichol Ted Hamilton Music by Mike Brady Terry Britten (songs) Sue Shifrin (songs) Peter Sullivan Arthur Sullivan (operetta) Cinematography Robin Copping Editing by Ken Zemke Distributed by 20th Century Fox (theatrical) Anchor Bay Entertainment (DVD) Release date(s) August 6, 1982 Running time 105 min./USA: 98 min. Country Australia Language English Budget $5,000,000 Gross revenue $8,000,000 (domestic)

Main cast Actor Role Christopher Atkins Frederic Kristy McNichol Mabel Stanley Ted Hamilton The Pirate King Bill Kerr Major-General Maggie Kirkpatrick Ruth, the ship nurse Garry McDonald Sergeant/Inspector

The Pirate Movie is a 1982 musical and comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol. The film is loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. The original music score is composed by Mike Brady and Peter Sullivan. The movie performed far below expectations when first released and is generally reviewed very poorly.^[1][2]

Plot summary

Kristy McNichol plays Mabel Stanley, an introverted girl yearning for popularity in a seaside community in Australia. She attends a local pirate festival featuring a swordplay demonstration led by a curly-haired instructor (Christopher Atkins), who then invites her for a ride on his boat. She is duped by her acquaintances into missing the launch, so she rents a small sailboat to give chase. A sudden storm throws her overboard, and she washes up on a beach. She subsequently dreams an adventure that takes place a century before.

In this fantasy sequence, the swordplay instructor is now named Frederic, a young apprentice of the Pirates of Penzance, celebrating his twenty-first birthday on a pirate vessel. Frederic refuses an invitation from the Pirate King (Ted Hamilton), his adopted father, to become a full pirate, as his birth parents were murdered by their contemporaries. Frederic swears to avenge their deaths and is forced off of the ship on a small boat.

Adrift, Frederic spies Mabel and her older sisters on a nearby island and swims to shore to greet them. Frederic quickly falls for Mabel and proposes marriage, but local custom requires the elder sisters to marry first. Soon, Frederic's old mates come ashore, also looking for women and kidnap Mabel's sisters. Major-General Stanley (Bill Kerr), Mabel's father, arrives and convinces the Pirate King to free his daughters and leave in peace. The pirates anchor their ship just outside the harbor instead of actually leaving.

Mabel wants Frederic to gain favor with her father so they can marry, so she plots to recover the family treasure stolen years earlier by the pirates. Unfortunately, the treasure was lost at sea, but the location where it lies was tattooed as a map on the Pirate King's back. Mabel successfully tricks the Pirate King into revealing his tattoo while Frederic sketches a copy.

The next day, Mabel and Frederic recover the stolen treasure and present it to her father. The Major-General is underwhelmed as he believes the treasure will simply be stolen again once the pirates realize it is missing. Mabel dispatches Frederic to raise an army for protection, but the Pirate King interferes. The ship nurse (Maggie Kirkpatrick) convinces them to stop fighting, reminding the Pirate King of Frederic's apprenticeship contract. Frederic's birthday is February 29, and he is dismayed to see that the contract specifies his twenty-first birthday, rather than his twenty-first year. As his birthday occurs every four years, Frederic has celebrated only five birthdays and is still bound by contract to remain with the pirates.

That night, the pirates raid the Stanley estate, and the Pirate King orders their execution. Mabel demands a "happy ending" - admitting for the first time that she believes this all to be a dream. The pirates are confused, but they comply. Mabel then confronts her father, but the Major-General is steadfast that the marriage custom remains in effect. Mabel quickly pairs each of her older sisters with a pirate, and she also pairs the Pirate King to the ship nurse. With Mabel and Frederic now free to marry, the fantasy sequence ends in song and dance.

Mabel awakens back on the beach to discover that she is wearing the wedding ring that Frederic had given her in her dream. At that moment, the handsome swordplay instructor arrives and lifts her to her feet. He passionately kisses Mabel, who is still shaken by her dream. She asks if his name is Frederic. He assures her that he isn't who she imagines him to be, but then carries her off to marry her, thus giving Mabel her happy ending in reality as well.

Soundtrack

Polydor records released a soundtrack album and singles from this film.

1. "Victory" - Pirates featuring Mike Brady
2. "We are the Pirates" - Ian Mason
3. "Stand Up and Sing" - Kool & the Gang
4. "The Chinese Battle" - Peter Sullivan & the Orchestra
5. "I Am the Pirate King" - Ted Hamilton & the Pirates
6. "The Sisters' Song" - The Sisters
7. "First Love" - Kristy McNichol & Christopher Atkins
8. "The Chase" - Peter Sullivan & the Orchestra
9. "The Modern Major General" - Bill Kerr & the Cast
10. "Pumpin' and Blowin'" - Kristy McNichol
11. "The Duel" - Peter Sullivan & the Orchestra
12. "How Can I Live Without Her" - Christopher Atkins (also released as a single)
13. "Hold On" - Kristy McNichol
14. "Tarantara" - Garry McDonald & the Policemen
15. "We are the Pirates II" - Ted Hamilton & the Pirates
16. "Come Friends Who Plow the Sea" - Ted Hamilton & the Pirates
17. "Pirates, Police, and Pizza" - Peter Sullivan & the Orchestra
18. "Happy Ending" - Cast
19. "Happy Ending" - Peter Cupples Band
20. "Medley" - Peter Sullivan & the Orchestra

The Pirate Movie: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture

Tracklisting:

• A1- Pirates, The - "Victory" (2:37)
• A2- Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins - "First Love" (4:13)
• A3- Christopher Atkins - "How Can I Live Without Her" (3:08)
• A4- Kristy McNichol - "Hold On" (3:14)
• A5- Ian Mason - "We Are the Pirates" (3:36)
• B1- Kristy McNichol - "Pumpin' and Blowin'" (3:05)
• B2- Kool & The Gang - "Stand Up and Sing" (4:32)
• B3- Peter Cupples Band, The - "Happy Ending" (4:58)
• B4- Peter Sullivan and The Orchestra - "The Chase" (1:33)
• B5- Ted Hamilton and Pirates, The (The Pirate Movie) - "I Am a Pirate King" (2:03)
• C1- Cast of The Pirate Movie, The - "Happy Ending" (4:18)
• C2- Peter Sullivan and The Orchestra - "The Chinese Battle" (2:36)
• C3- Bill Kerr and Cast of The Pirate Movie, The (The Pirate Movie) - "The Modern Major General's Song" (2:00)
• C4- Pirates, The - "We Are the Pirates" (2:18)
• C5- Peter Sullivan and The Orchestra - "Medley" (4:03)
• D1- Gary McDonald and The Policemen (The Pirate Movie) - "Tarantara" (1:53)
• D2- Peter Sullivan and The Orchestra - "The Duel" (4:04)
• D3- Sisters, The - "The Sister's Song" (2:42)
• D4- Peter Sullivan and The Orchestra - "Pirates, Police and Pizza" (3:32)
• D5- Ted Hamilton and Pirates, The - "Come Friends Who Plough the Sea" (2:00)
• D6- Surly Captain Coleslaw, The - "Set Sail the Nostromo, Boys" (8:44)

Historical note

The movie was made soon after the 1980 New York City Central Park and 1981 Broadway theatre production of The Pirates of Penzance produced by Joseph Papp, which re-popularized swashbuckling pirates as a theatrical genre.

Awards and nominations

• AFI Awards

Nominated: Best Achievement in Costume Design (Aphrodite Kondos)

Nominated: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Garry McDonald)

• Golden Raspberry Awards

Won: Worst Musical Score

Won: Worst Director (Ken Annakin)

Won: Worst "Original" Song (Pumpin' and Blowin')

Nominated: Worst Picture

Nominated: Worst Screenplay

Nominated: Worst Actor (Christopher Atkins)

Nominated: Worst Actress (Kristy McNichol)

Nominated: Worst Supporting Actor (Ted Hamilton)

Nominated: Worst "Original" Song (Happy Ending)

Locations

• Loch Ard Gorge
• Werribee Park Mansion
• HMAS Penguin Naval Base, Balmoral, Sydney NSW Australia
• Barquentine "New Endeavour"

References

1. ^ "The Pirate Movie (1982)". IGN Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc.. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pirate_movie/. Retrieved 5 November 2009. 
2. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for August 6-8, 1982 - Box Office Mojo". IMDb.com, Inc.. http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=1982&wknd=32&p=.htm. Retrieved 5 November 2009. 

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Pirate Movie

• The Pirate Movie at the Internet Movie Database
• The Pirate Movie at Allmovie
• The Pirate Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Pirate Movie at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography
• The Pirate Movie at the National Film and Sound Archive

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