Over the years, the motion picture industry has never abandoned the pirate genre. Some films, like director Renny Harlin's 1995 Cutthroat Island starring Geena Davis, turned out to be box office bombs, while others like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest have given new meaning to the term blockbuster. The staying power of the pirate genre is undeniable, given that it began during Hollywood's Silent Era with the release of The Black Pirate in 1926, starring swashbuckling legend Douglas Fairbanks Sr. A year later, John Barrymore took to the sword in The Beloved Rogue, and by 1934 the first of many adaptations of Treasure Island hit the big screen. It wasn't until the following year, however, that audiences would begin flocking to theaters to witness the gallant and charming escapades of what have come to be known as true cinematic pirates.

Errol Flynn

In 1935, Warner Bros. studios took a chance on a relative newcomer when they cast twenty-six-year-old Australian actor Errol Flynn in the lead role of Captain Blood. Adapted from Rafael Sabatini's novel, Captain Blood epitomized the image of the romantic rogue with Dr. Peter Blood's tragic and ultimately triumphant journey from doctor to slave to pirate captain. Added to the chivalrous mix was another unknown, actress Olivia de Havilland, who at age nineteen began a legendary on-screen chemistry with Flynn that would last for another seven films. As a doctor and Irish gentleman unjustly found guilty of treason, Dr. Blood was forced aboard a slaving ship headed for the West Indies, and was eventually sold as a slave to the captivating Arabella Bishop. As one might predict, the rebellious Blood endures the trauma of slavery before managing to liberate a Spanish pirate ship and become the notorious Captain Blood.

Sabatini's novel and the subsequent film based on it brought to life a wildly popular adventure that appealed to all generations of audiences. Captain Blood was a hero's journey, enveloped in romance and punctuated with exciting cannon fire and fight scenes pitting Blood against French pirate Captain Levasseur, aptly played by Basil Rathbone. Considered by many to be one of the best pirate films ever made, Captain Blood set the stage for dozens of high seas adventures, each of which portrayed pirates in a variety of manners from brave and cunning to outrageous and cutthroat.

Errol Flynn continued his adventure career as Robin Hood in the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood, with Basil Rathbone and Olivia de Havilland. But by 1940 Flynn once again took to the high seas, playing buccaneer turned pirate Captain Geoffrey Thorpe in an adaptation of Sabatini's The Sea Hawk. Flynn's classic good looks and charisma made Thorpe the perfect charmer of Queen Elizabeth I, and a valiant pirate who fought for England against the Spanish Armada. In true celluloid pirate fashion, Flynn also swashbuckled his way into the heart of Spanish royalty and a stunning beauty played by Brenda Marshall.

Evolution of the Cinematic Rogue

The popularity of Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk brought audiences to the theaters in the 1930s and 1940s for all types of pirate and adventure films and high seas epics. In 1937, Laurence Olivier, Flora Robson, and Vivian Leigh starred in Fire Over England. The following year Cecil B. DeMille brought Fredric March to the big screen as Jean Lafitte in The Buccaneer, a film that would be remade in 1958 with Yul Brynner, Claire Bloom, and Charles Boyer. Not to be outdone, Tyrone Power sailed onto the silver screen in 1942, using his unflinching piratical tactics to woo Maureen O'Hara in Sabatini's adapted novel The Black Swan.

Other popular films of the era include:

• Frenchman's Creek (1944) with Joan Fontaine and Basil Rathbone

• The Spanish Main (1945) with Paul Henreid and Maureen O'Hara

• Captain Kidd (1945) with Charles Laughton

• Three Little Pirates (1946) with The Three Stooges

• Sinbad the Sailor (1947) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Maureen O'Hara, and Anthony Quinn

Black Dots and Acrobats

By the 1950s, cinematic piracy and swashbuckling was all the rage, with a wide variety of rogues and scallywags swinging from rigging with cutlasses in hand and searching for elusive buried treasure. The 1950 remake of Treasure Island featured Robert Newton as Long John Silver in what is arguably one of the best portrayals of the stereotypical pirate. A one-legged trickster complete with parrot on his shoulder and a complex vocabulary of piratespeak, Newton is quite simply unforgettable. Equally enthralling was the infamous black dot, which pirates soberly issued to their mates as warning of their impending death. So good a pirate was Newton that he starred in Blackbeard the Pirate in 1952, and two years later reprised his legendary alter ego in Long John Silver.

One of the more memorable films of its time featured a very dashing and highly acrobatic Burt Lancaster in the 1952 film The Crimson Pirate. Featuring Lancaster and his longtime sidekick Nick Cravat, the film is a send-up of classical pirate films of the day, with pirates swinging from rigging and staving off evil Spaniards in true Keystone Cop fashion. Unlike most cinematic pirates, Lancaster and Cravat were acrobatic partners before they were actors, and their antics, stunts, and swordplay throughout the tale makes Crimson a fun family adventure.

Other popular pirate, swashbuckler, and high seas adventure films of the 1950s include:

• Double Crossbones (1951) with Donald O'Connor, Helena Carter, and Will Geer

• Last of the Buccaneers (1951) with Paul Henreid and Jack Oakie

• Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) with Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, and Charles Laughton

• Against All Flags (1952) with Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara, and Anthony Quinn

• Yankee Buccaneer (1952) with Jeff Chandler and Scott Brady

• Port Sinister (1953) with James Warren and Lynne Roberts

• Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953) with John Payne, Donna Reed, and Lon Chaney Jr.

• Prince of Pirates (1953) with John Derek and Barbara Rush

• The Master of Ballantrae (1953) with Errol Flynn and Roger Livesey

• Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954) with Anthony Dexter, Eva Gabor, and Alan Hale Jr.

• Pirates of Tripoli (1955) with Paul Henreid and Patricia Medina