"blackbeard the pirate" is roul walsh's realistic interpretation of authetic piracy whirling around the abyss among the ocean, the ferocious avarice of men.
robert newton's blackbeard is obnoxious, schemefully sordid, and also beastly gruesome. the bushy blackbeard of his looks as if it's full of crawling louses hiden
in between that parallels his snaky backstabbing character which is utterly no good. he doublecrosses everyone for his own interests and he slaughters every possible man who might jeopardize his personal interest. he's lecherous, vulgar and mostly incorrigibly ruthless.
the only decent character maynard who is the lover of beautiful linda darnell is a timidly weak character who strives for merely survival and the companionship of his beloved lady who could inspire a bit of chivalry in him. maynard is no hero but an clever little mouse who always tries to manage to escape the devilish palm of blackbeard, but not a charming nor glorious character.
"blackbeard the pirate" could be by far the most realistic flick upon piracy with a group of scum-alike mobs and one despicable gunsel butchering each other. except linda darnel's striking beauty, there's absolutely no glamour or dreamy beautification of idealism in "blackbeard the pirate", even darnel's character is a oportunistic female thief who once intends to devour the treasure all as her own possession.
January 28, 2008
