Be a Clown!

Six years after For Me and My Gal, MGM finally re-teamed Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in a starring vehicle. They had both appeared in the all-star musical revues Thousands Cheer and Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 but The Pirate was the first time they shared the screen together since Gene Kelly’s movie debut in 1942.

Although the final product is flawed, on paper The Pirate had everything going for it; the immensely talented Vincente Minnelli (Garland’s husband at the time) directing, the great Arthur Freed producing, the inimitably sophisticated Cole Porter writing the score and a script based on the celebrated play of the same name by S.N. Behrman, which had starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne on Broadway. Throw in the incredible Nicholas Brothers and how could you miss?

By a fairly wide mark apparently as The Pirate would eventually lose two million dollars. The production was beset with problems, most noticeably Miss Garland’s ill health. She missed so many days of work that the shooting schedule stretched from two months to six. Looked at today, The Pirate is a colorful, splashy (if a bit overdone), musical comedy that brilliantly showcases the talents of its stars. Gene Kelly never looked more athletically imposing and Judy Garland was never funnier.

Set in the Caribbean sometime in the 19th Century, the silly plot involves the over-used device of mistaken identity. In a nutshell Kelly (a traveling actor) poses as the infamous pirate Macoco to woo Garland who is, unbeknownst to her of course, engaged to the real pirate (the underrated Walter Slezak) who has been posing as the mayor of her small village.

The highlight of the comedy is a scene where Garland hysterically throws vases, paintings, and anything else she can get her hands on at Kelly after discovering the truth about his identity. Garland also belts out the catchy “Mack the Black” (supposedly under hypnosis) and she and Kelly team for a reprise of the movies’ most famous song “Be a Clown” (which Arthur Freed would shamelessly plagiarize four years later as “Make ‘Em Laugh” in Singin’ in the Rain).

Kelly has a famous fantasy sequence as Macoco; dressed in black and swinging a torch in one hand as he is lifted by a rope he is holding onto with his other hand, while fires rage around him and dancers gyrate. He dances and sings “Be a Clown” with the Nicholas Brothers, Fayard and Harold. It is an incredibly athletic and energetic number that leaves all three of them on the floor panting for breath by the end.

Vincente Minnelli’s celebrated eye for color is evident in every shot. Unfortunately the sets are claustrophobic and the stars (and supporting cast for that matter) are all playing to the back row in the balcony. The Pirate was considered a memorable failure upon its release. Now it fares slightly better and contains several moments of undeniable genius.
 

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