X-Nico

8 unusual facts about The Crimson Pirate


The Crimson Pirate

Burt Lancaster and his old partner Nick Cravat made nine films together, the most popular being The Crimson Pirate and The Flame and the Arrow (1950).

Unknown to Vallo, his first mate, Humble Bellows (Torin Thatcher), overhears them.

In the Caribbean, late in the 18th century, Captain Vallo (Burt Lancaster), a pirate known as "The Crimson Pirate", and his crew capture a ship of the King's navy.

Torin Thatcher as Humble Bellows, Vallo's rebellious first mate

Leslie Bradley as Baron Jose Gruda, the main antagonist

It stars Burt Lancaster, who also co-produced the film, as Captain Vallo, the eponymous pirate, and is set in the Caribbean late in the 18th century, on the fictional islands of Cobra and San Pero.

Burt Lancaster as Captain Vallo, the leader of the pirates and main protagonist

The ship is carrying Baron Gruda (Leslie Bradley), the special envoy to the King, who is on his way to the Island of Cobra to help crush a rebellion by rebels opposed to the King's rule.


Roland Kibbee

Some of his best known films were A Night in Casablanca (1946), The Crimson Pirate (1952), The Appaloosa (1966) and Valdez Is Coming (1971).


see also