The Film Detective has detailed its upcoming Blu-ray release of Lloyd Corrigan's film
Dancing Pirate (1936), starring Charles Collins, Frank Morgan, Steffi Duna, Luis Alberni, and Victor Varconi. The release will be available for purchase on February 22.
Label description: Charles Collins stars in Dancing Pirate as a dance teacher from Boston who is tricked into joining a band of pirates, leading him to be fitted for a noose in California. Compared to "Douglas Fairbanks in his most acrobatic days," Collins catches a break when the mayor's daughter (Steffi Duna) demands the hanging be postponed until he teaches her to waltz.
Dancing Pirate earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Dance Direction and was billed as "the first dancing musical in 100% new Technicolor."
The film features many familiar faces from Hollywood's Golden Age, including Frank Morgan (The Wizard of Oz) as the mayor, Steffi Duna (Waterloo Bridge) as his dancing daughter and Rita Hayworth (Gilda), in an early performance as a specialty dancer.
"We are delighted to release our first Blu-ray from the recent acquisition of the late Alexander Kogan's Film's Around the World Library," said Phil Hopkins, president of TFD. "This particular title was his prized possession, obtained from the famous film collector Wade Williams more than a decade ago. This important piece of film history is finally getting the proper attention it deserves."
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION from rare 35mm original elements
- NEW Audio commentary and original insert essay from author Jennifer Churchill
- NEW Glorious Pioneers: The Birth of Technicolor, an interview with author/historian, David Pierce
- NEW Ambushed by Mediocrity: Remembering the Dancing Pirate, an interview with film producer/historian, Michael Schlesinger
- Optional English and Spanish subtitles for the main feature