The King's Pirate (1967)

Director:

Don Weis

Writers:

Æneas MacKenzie (story)
Paul Wayne (writer) ...

Release Date:

August 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

Lt. Brian Fleming volunteers to be flogged for a contrived offense and then discharged from the British Navy...

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Captain | British Navy | Princess | Undercover Agent

Cast

Doug McClure	...	Lt. Brian Fleming
Jill St. John	...	Mistress Jessica Stephens
Guy Stockwell	...	John Avery
Mary Ann Mobley	...	Princess Patna
Kurt Kasznar	...	Zucco
Richard Deacon	...	Swaine
Torin Thatcher	...	Captain Cullen
Diana Chesney	...	Molvina MacGregor
Ivor Barry	...	Cloudsly
Bill Glover	...	Captain Hornsby
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Gow
Sean McClory	...	Sparkes
Michael St. Clair	...	Collins
Émile Genest	...	Captain Mission
Ted de Corsia	...	Capt. McTigue

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | West Germany:12

Company:

Universal Pictures

Quotes:

Lt. Brian Fleming: [after receiving twenty lashes] You might have warned me flogger Flowers would take delight in having an officer under his cat.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Against All Flags (1952)

An amusing trifle.

This tongue-in-cheek re-make of "Against All Flags" was, alas, one of the last examples of the B-movie "pirate" genre to come out of Hollywood. Fans of the genre will probably not be disappointed. While the movie is thin, nothing more than a throw-away, it's colorful, has a certain zest, and the cast members seem to be enjoying themselves. Doug McClure takes over the role originally played by Errol Flynn and it's both amusing and instructive to contrast their two styles. Both the Flynn version and the McClure version, for example, begin with the leading man, stripped to the waist, receiving an on-board flogging of 20 lashes. Flynn plays it "straight," sweating and suffering in a realistic manner. McClure, on the other hand, indulges in some comic eye-rolling as if to convey the message: "Oooh! That one really hurt!" There's also an intriguing difference in how the two actors are positioned for their floggings. Flynn, about 42 or 43 years old when he filmed this scene, (and not in prime shape), largely keeps his back to the camera. McClure, some ten years younger, faces the camera, thus giving him a chance to show off his still-youthful physique. (And no, despite his boyish, clean-cut image, McClure has not shaved off his chest-hair!) The chest seems to win over the back because in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies," the flogging in "The King's Pirate" ranks 19th whereas the flogging in "Against All Flags" ranks 27th. And while we're at it, Guy Stockwell -- who plays the villain in "The King's Pirate" -- went under the whip in 1966's re-re-make of "Beau Geste." His flogging ranks 85th in "Lash!"