The Devil Ship Pirates

In the beginning, SCL's dark features made many filmmakers scratch their heads. 'To dark and to foreign-looking' was their somewhat daft conclusion. As 'not enough Brittish' he got to play lots of exotic characters. Captain Robeles in the Devil Ship Pirates from 1963 is one of them.

"CLOSE THE GUN PORTS!!!!"

This pirateflick is a Hammer production. Mostly associated with horror, this seems to be a bit of an odd one in their wardrobe. Nevertheless it is quite neatly put togehter. Basic plot is: Spanish ship gets badly damaged in the great battle with the Armada in 1588. The crue manages to get the ship close to land to get it repaired. Pirates (as they now are) are terrorising the nearby village. Captain Robeles - a.k.a SCL - is the chief crook and a really bad apple.

"You will have to kill me first!" "-As you wish!"

I enjoy watching this for a couple of reasons (other than Lee of course): The plot is not bad at all. With today's eyes it is a bit difficult to tell how it looked in the 60's when those pirate-flicks was legio. But I find the scenery quite acceptable as well. True, Lee plays his character with the subtelty of a Russian Tiger-tank, but I actually don't mind. It is a film on pirates, not a Bergman drama.

The other reason is actually, that they have contracted lots of the classic Hammer Studio's actors in this film. Well known faces from DPoD, Rasputin, DHRFTG and so on is on this set. Nice!

Besides that, I really enjoy the clothes. Red becomes him.

The Devil Ship Pirates was made just after The whip and the Body, and the Hitchcock production Sign of Satan.

Additional note: Obviously, Hammer Studios built the full- seized galleon on a steel structure that was placed under water. But it was important not to overload one side or the other, or it would tip over. Which it apparently did.

"The cables leading to the lights went into the water, and when the cables went, the lights went into the water and the electricians went with them", Sir Lee comments in The Films of Christopher Lee. "By sheer chance I managed to hold on to the rail and stay on the ship. I considered this a very valid reason for the captain not to desert the sinking ship", he comments.

"I had a pretty tough fight on the deck (...) and was bleeding all over the place."

Poor Chris.