There, forgotten in a dusty corner of a warehouse in New
Jersey, was the original 35mm color negative of director Alan H. Miner’s 1954
film release of The Black Pirates. Film
distributor, producer and preservationist Kit Parker had the rights to the film,
but the material he had in possession was sketchy at best — certainly not
usable for home entertainment distribution.
After years of tracking down this scrap of information or
one dead end lead after another, he had finally found what he had been looking
for. As it turned out, the 35mm
negative had been sent down to Mexico to strike prints for theatrical
exhibition in Central America and had then been returned to New Jersey, where
it was stored and forgotten.
The Sprocket Vault announced this past week that on Mar. 7, The
Black Pirates — starring Anthony Dexter, Martha Roth, Robert Clarke and
Lon Chaney Jr. — will be making its debut as part of the double-feature DVD
release titled Swashbuckler Double Feature.
Teamed with it is director James Tinling’s 1951 film
adventure, Tales of Robin Hood, also starring Robert Clarke as Robin Hood,
with Mary Hatcher as the Maid Marian and Tiny Stowe as the corrupt Sheriff of
Nottingham.
Both of these films wereth Century-Fox. Counted among the films that he had a hand
in during the period are the likes of Samuel Fuller’s The Steel Helmet,
director Samuel Newfield’s 1951 adventure, Lost Continent, Little Big Horn and Rocketship
X-M.
produced by Robert L. Lippert of
Lippert Pictures — he produced over 100 films between 1948 and 1955, before
cutting an exclusive production deal with 20
Of note, The Black Pirates was shot on
location in San Salvador during the middle of political unrest in neighboring Guatemala
and due to budgetary considerations, the pirates are never seen aboard ship …
they land via rowboat during the opening sequence and spend the entire film
looking on land for the lost treasure.
As to bonus goodies, a reconstructed interview session
between actor Robert Clarke and Robert L. Lippert, Jr. (preserved in transcript
form) has been recreated using voice actor Tom Weaver.
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