''Morgan the Pirate'' ( it, Morgan il pirata) is a 1960 Italian-French international co-production

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

, directed by André de Toth and Primo Zeglio, and starring

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagon ...

as Sir Henry Morgan, the pirate who became the Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica.

Plot

1670 Events January–March * January 17 – Raphael Levy, a Jewish resident of the city of Metz in France is burned at the stake after having been accused of the September 25 abduction and ritual murder of a small child who had disa ...

freeborn "Freeborn" is a term associated with political agitator John Lilburne (1614–1657), a member of the Levellers, a 17th-century English political party. As a word, "freeborn" means born free, rather than in slavery or bondage or vassalage. Lilbur ...

Welshman, Henry Morgan, is enslaved by the Spaniards in Panama and sold to Doña Inez, daughter of Governor Don José Guzmán. Morgan falls in love with his mistress, much to the dismay of her father, who punishes him by sentencing him to a life of hard labor aboard a

Spanish galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wa ...

. Morgan leads his fellow slaves in mutiny, takes command of the ship, and becomes a pirate, without knowing that Doña Inez was on board, on her way to Spain. She becomes his prisoner, but spurns him when he declares his love in Tortuga. Not long after, Morgan's daring exploits on the

Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of America, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to di ...

pique the interest of King Charles II of England, and Morgan agrees to attack only Spanish vessels in return for English ships and men. Fearing for the security of Doña Inez, after the pirates discover her identity, he permits her to return to Panama. Once there, she warns Don José of Morgan's planned invasion, and the pirate ships are either easily sunk or routed by the alerted Spanish. Not giving up, Morgan leads his men overland and attacks the city from the rear. The maneuver succeeds, Panama falls to the pirates, and Doña Inez finally admits her love for Morgan.

Cast

as Sir Henry Morgan * Valérie Lagrange as Doña Inez * Ivo Garrani as Governor Don José Guzmán *

Chelo Alonso Chelo Alonso (born Isabel Apolonia García Hernández, 10 April 1933 – 20 February 2019) was a Cuban actress who became a star in Italian cinema, and ultimately a 1960s cult film heroine and sex symbol in the U.S. She was well known for pla ...

as Concepción *

Lydia Alfonsi Lydia Alfonsi (28 April 1928 – 21 September 2022) was an Italian actress. Life and career Born Lidia Alfonsi in Parma into a wealthy middle-class family, Alfonsi interrupted her accounting studies at a young age to pursue a career in theate ...

as Doña María * Armand Mestral as

François l'Olonnais Jean-David Nau () (c. 1630 – c. 1669), better known as François l'Olonnais () (also l'Olonnois, Lolonois and Lolona), was a French pirate active in the Caribbean during the 1660s. Early life In his 1684 account ''The History of the Buccaneer ...

* Giulio Bosetti as

Sir Thomas Modyford Colonel Sir Thomas Modyford, 1st Baronet (c. 1620 – 1 September 1679) was a planter of Barbados and Governor of Jamaica from 1664 to 1671. Early life Modyford was the son of a mayor of Exeter with family connections to the Duke of Albemarle ...

Angelo Zanolli Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...

as David * George Ardisson as Walter

Release

''Morgan the Pirate'' was released in Italy on 17 November 1960. It was released in the United States on 6 July 1961 with a 93-minute running time.

Reception

Turner Classic Movies' Jeff Stafford writes, "Largely due to de Toth's direction, ''Morgan the Pirate'' is a lively, fast-paced entertainment with moments of tongue-in-cheek humor that is several notches in quality above the usual turgid, Italian-made spectacle. The striking cinematography, filmed in garish Eastmancolor, is by the award-winning Tonino Delli Colli who has lensed such art house classics as Pasolini's '' The Gospel According to St. Matthew'' (1964), Marco Bellocchio's '' China Is Near'' (1967), and

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cin ...

's '' Once Upon a Time in the West'' (1968). And the amusing, Ravel-inspired score by Franco Mannino strikes the perfect mock-epic tone. Among the more memorable set pieces are an exotic voodoo dance performed by Cuban sex bomb

(a former dancer at the Folies Bergère in Paris), a battle at sea in which Morgan's men, disguised as women, storm a Spanish galleon in full drag, and the bloody, climactic sacking of Panama with shootings, stabbings and explosions galore."Jeff Stafford
Turner Classic Movies: Entry for ''Morgan the Pirate''
tcm.com; accessed November 1, 2016.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* * * * {{André de Toth 1960 films 1960s historical adventure films French swashbuckler films Italian swashbuckler films CinemaScope films Pirate films French historical adventure films Italian historical adventure films 1960s Italian-language films English-language French films English-language Italian films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Andre de Toth Films directed by Primo Zeglio Films set in 1670 Films adapted into comics Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Cultural depictions of Henry Morgan Cultural depictions of Charles II of England Lux Film films 1960s multilingual films French multilingual films Italian multilingual films 1960s Italian films 1960s French films