Dancing Pirate | |
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Directed by | Lloyd Corrigan |
Written by |
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Produced by | Merian C. Cooper (executive producer) John Speaks (producer) |
Starring | See below |
Cinematography | William V. Skall |
Edited by | Archie Marshek |
Music by | Alfred Newman Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart (songs) |
Production company | Pioneer Pictures |
Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Dancing Pirate is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Lloyd Corrigan. It is the third film shot in the three strip Technicolor process and the first musical in that format. Produced by the makers of Becky Sharp, the film was based on the December 1930 Colliers Magazine story Glorious Buccaneer by Emma-Lindsay Squier[1] a serious and action filled romance that may have been inspired by the story of Joseph Chapman.[2] The film features the debut of stage star Charles Collins and the cast includes Rita Hayworth as one of The Royal Cansino Dancers. Other dancers in the film were Pat Nixon and Marjorie Reynolds.
The films is set in the 1820s. A dance teacher from Boston is enslaved by pirates, but escapes when the pirate ship lands in Spanish California. The local authorities mistake him for a pirate and sentence him to death. His execution is delayed in order for him to give dance lessons to the local women. When disgruntled former soldiers turn to banditry, the captive teacher counters their efforts by orchestrating a revolt of the indigenous peoples of California.