Overlooked Movies: Pirates

"For as far back as I can remember, the line between fantasy and reality has been hopelessly blurred. I have taken most of a lifetime to grasp that this is the key to my very existence". ~Roman Polanski

Captain Red (Walter Matthau) runs a hardy pirate ship with the able assistance of Frog (Cris Campion), a dashing young French sailor. One day Capt. Red is captured and taken aboard a Spanish galleon, but thanks to his inventiveness, he raises the crew to mutiny, takes over the ship, and kidnaps the niece of the governor of Maracaibo(Charlotte Lewis). The question is, can he keep this pace up?

Fun Trivia:
Roman Polanski conceived this film several years before he actually made it. He had hoped to cast Jack Nicholson as Captain Red, and himself as The Frog, but complications arose due to the enormous fees Nicholson was demanding (according to Polański, when Nicholson was asked what exactly he wanted, he replied, "I want more.")

As of 2002 the ship "Neptune" from the movie is anchored in the harbor of the Italian city of Genoa (near the "Molo Vecchio"). It has been made a museum and can be visited.

The film's original estimated budget while Polański was aligned with Paramount on the picture, was $15 million, but the final budget is estimated to have cost US$40 million. The reported gross box office revenues in the United States was $1.65 million. Despite the film's financial failures, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Fun Quotes:
Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red: Holy poker! You son of a double-eyed whore from the reeking gutters of Rotterdam!

The Frog - Jean-Baptiste: I fight for hatred of the spanish, I fight for glory not gold.
Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red: Man fights for what he lacks the most!

The Frog - Jean-Baptiste: Gold would be your ruin, Captain. It would cost ous our heads.
Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red: It's easier to live without a head than without gold, you numskull!

And as a special bonus here is an interview with Roman Polanski in which he discusses Charles Manson and the death of his wife:
Part 1:


Part 2: