Burt Lancaster’s ‘The Crimson Pirate’ Helped Pave the Way for Pirate Satire

With the advent of TV in the 1950s, nervous studios began to shy away from costly historical epics, but there were exceptions — none more enjoyable than 1952’s jocular The Crimson Pirate, starring former circus acrobat Burt Lancaster as the most agile of scallywags, often boldly bare-chested and always flashing a dazzling smile as he soars from mast to mast.

In one unforgettable scene, he drops down long enough to plant a kiss on a jaded lass who has just declared, “If only there were something to break up the monotony of this voyage.”