Clothes Make the Pirate

1925 film by Maurice Tourneur

November 29, 1925 (1925-11-29)

Running time

90 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Clothes Make the Pirate is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Leon Errol and Dorothy Gish. The film was written by Marion Fairfax from the novel of the same name by Holman Francis Day.^[1]

Plot

Tremble-at-Evil Tidd is a disgruntled 18th-century Bostonian wishes that he was a pirate. He dons the clothes and play-acts the part. He is mistaken for the real pirate, Dixie Bull whom Tidd, of course, bumps into later. Tidd "slays" the villain and puts his foot upon the pirate's head. This is more than enough and he heads back home to his unappreciated wife.

Cast

Leon Errol as Tremble-at-Evil Tidd
Dorothy Gish as Betsy Tidd
Nita Naldi as Madame De La Tour
George F. Marion as Jennison
Tully Marshall as Scute
Frank Lawlor as Crabb
Edna Murphy as Nancy Downs
James Rennie as Lieutenant Cavendish
Walter Law as Dixie Bull
Reginald Barlow as Captain Montague

Reception

Contemporary reviewers of the time claimed Errol was miscast, perhaps for the comedic cowardice of the part. Variety gave the film a poor review, stating that the children would like it. However other reviews, such as that in the Los Angeles Times of January 10, 1926 gave the film, as a satire, generally good reviews. However, the camera work of Cronjager was critically acclaimed.^[2]

Preservation

With no prints of Clothes Make the Pirate located in any film archives,^[3] it is a lost film. A one minute trailer, however, does survive.

References

^ Progressive Silent Film List: Clothes Make the Pirate at silentera.com
^ "Moviegrams". The Daily Tribune (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin). December 4, 1926. p. 9. Retrieved September 10, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: Clothes Make the Pirate