Decades ago I was in England during the Christmas period. On an impulse, I attended an amateur panto for a charitable cause. The panto proved to be a ramshackle but rambunctious affair, filled with enough drag, innuendo and short-for-Richard jokes to last a nightclub a lifetime. The second act, if that's the word, contained a gag which went like this. A curvaceous brunette, announcing her intention to enlist as a sailor in His Majesty's Navy, asks her landlady for help. The landlady, who is the widow of a sailor, says : "I've kept on to all of my husband's things, including his sea chest. Do rummage around, dear, you'll be sure to find something useful." So the brunette disappears into another room in order to look for suitable clothes. Three minutes later she emerges, dressed in tiny slippers, a voluminous ballgown and half a dozen glistening necklaces. Cries the widow, overcome by emotion : "Just like my own sweet Ned !"
If you, dear reader, are wondering why I tell you this anecdote, then it's clear that you haven't seen "Pirates of Tortuga" yet. Otherwise you'd know that the movie - an action/adventure yarn of the seafaring variety - contains a scene in which a saucy baggage hides away in a captain's cabin. As our stowaway looks through the man's belongings, she finds ever more eye-catching silks and jewels. (Later on the same wardrobe will yield complete ladies' outfits.)
It's the kind of scene that throws an intriguing though possibly disquieting light on Great-Britain's nautical traditions. Just how did these hardy sailors while away the long and monotonous evenings ? ("Another year has come full circle and we all know what that means - yes, friends, it's the tenth of July again ! Prepare yourself for our annual rat gymkhana, followed by a 'Walk the plank' contest and an all-you-can-eat buffet. Sadly our 'Elect the most stylish midshipman' event will have to be postponed until Wilkins and Rutherford recover from those shark bites.")
If one disregards these tantalizing hints about captains walking around in gorgeous silks, then "Pirates of Tortuga" turns into a classic seafaring tale about a hand-picked team tasked with cleaning up a dangerous pirate nest. As a swashbuckling movie it's serviceable enough, but it lacks the kind of polish, depth or fire that would lift it up to another level. The happy ending feels very "deus ex machina". Actress Leticia Roman provides most of the charm, with a spirited double performance as a feisty stowaway and an aristocratic lady.
Unsurprisingly, this is not the movie you want to watch if you're interested in a profound discussion about colonization, slavery, the class system and so on. The movie doesn't dwell too much on the concept of state-supported piracy either.
Whether it is wholly advisable to blow up a fortress at the exact moment your friends and allies are assaulting it, is a question I leave to the military tacticians among us.
If you, dear reader, are wondering why I tell you this anecdote, then it's clear that you haven't seen "Pirates of Tortuga" yet. Otherwise you'd know that the movie - an action/adventure yarn of the seafaring variety - contains a scene in which a saucy baggage hides away in a captain's cabin. As our stowaway looks through the man's belongings, she finds ever more eye-catching silks and jewels. (Later on the same wardrobe will yield complete ladies' outfits.)
It's the kind of scene that throws an intriguing though possibly disquieting light on Great-Britain's nautical traditions. Just how did these hardy sailors while away the long and monotonous evenings ? ("Another year has come full circle and we all know what that means - yes, friends, it's the tenth of July again ! Prepare yourself for our annual rat gymkhana, followed by a 'Walk the plank' contest and an all-you-can-eat buffet. Sadly our 'Elect the most stylish midshipman' event will have to be postponed until Wilkins and Rutherford recover from those shark bites.")
If one disregards these tantalizing hints about captains walking around in gorgeous silks, then "Pirates of Tortuga" turns into a classic seafaring tale about a hand-picked team tasked with cleaning up a dangerous pirate nest. As a swashbuckling movie it's serviceable enough, but it lacks the kind of polish, depth or fire that would lift it up to another level. The happy ending feels very "deus ex machina". Actress Leticia Roman provides most of the charm, with a spirited double performance as a feisty stowaway and an aristocratic lady.
Unsurprisingly, this is not the movie you want to watch if you're interested in a profound discussion about colonization, slavery, the class system and so on. The movie doesn't dwell too much on the concept of state-supported piracy either.
Whether it is wholly advisable to blow up a fortress at the exact moment your friends and allies are assaulting it, is a question I leave to the military tacticians among us.