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1 chapter one The Pirate on Stage The plot, themes, and characters of M-G-M’s classic film musical The Pirate originated in the mind of a German playwright and social critic thirty-seven years before the movie was released in 1948. Ludwig Fulda conceived The Pirate as a sardonic commentary on deception, love, and the unreliability of human nature. His play, Der Seerauber, was written for the German stage, and it had only a brief run in the United States as The Pirate in 1917. But one of the actors in it, a young and still unknown Alfred Lunt, liked the play well enough to encourage Samuel N. Behrman to write a new version which starred himself and his wife Lynn Fontanne in 1942. This production was a resounding commercial success, with mostly positive reviews from critics. The popularity of this version of The Pirate on Broadway led to Hollywood interest, resulting in M-G-M’s purchase of the rights to the play before the end of its run in 1943. Neither Fulda’s nor Behrman’s play was a musical, and the studio initially intended to make a nonmusical comedy as well. In fact, they employed several writers who worked on varied versions of the screenplay until Lemuel Ayers, an art director at M-G-M, had the bright idea to turn this property into a full-blown musical for the screen. Louis B. Mayer, head of M-G-M, agreed; it was then turned over to the studio’s best producer, Arthur Freed, and his star director, Vincente Minnelli. Before diving into the complex stage background that formed the basis for M-G-M’s classic film, it may help readers who have not seen the movie to read a synopsis of the film. Even those who have seen the film long ago may be better able to imagine the plots of the stage versions with the film plot in mind. A Brief Synopsis of M-G-M’s The Pirate (1948) The story is set in the fictitious town of Calvados, supposedly in the Caribbean and possibly in the early 1800s. (Minnelli purposely left 2 • Chapter One the time period and the exact location vague to create the aura of fantasy.) A naïve young woman named Manuela (played by Judy Garland) dreams that the notorious pirate Black Macoco will show up and snatch her away from her boring village to a life of excitement and adventure on the high seas. Unknown to her, the pirate (played by Walter Slezak) has “retired ” from his criminal career and is now known as Pedro Vargas, the dull, staid mayor of her little town. Manuela’s Aunt Inez (played by Gladys Cooper) has arranged a marriage between Manuela and Pedro to secure the family’s material comfort. Manuela is dismayed to hear of this arrangement but accepts her fate stoically. A strolling player, Serafin (played by Gene Kelly), comes to nearby Port Sebastian with his troupe and encounters Manuela. She has come there with her aunt to pick up her trousseau shipped from Paris. Her real motivation is to see the Caribbean Sea, which holds the last promise of romance for her. Serafin falls in love with Manuela and hypnotizes her during his performance that evening, thus learning of her fascination with the pirate Macoco. He pursues Manuela to her village, arriving just before her wedding to Pedro, and tries to persuade her to leave with him but to no avail. When Don Pedro appears, Serafin recognizes him as Macoco from a past encounter and privately threatens to expose him. But then, realizing that Manuela will be only too happy to marry the man of her dreams, Serafin pretends to be the pirate himself in return for keeping Don Pedro’s secret and for a chance to give a performance in the town of Calvados. Pedro agrees to the scheme, but later it dawns on him that he can have Serafin arrested and hanged as Macoco. So he rushes off to fetch the militia to arrest Serafin. Meanwhile, Manuela finds out that Serafin is not really Macoco, and after throwing a fit at being tricked, she inadvertently hurts Serafin during her tantrum. On seeing him prone and motionless, she realizes that she loves him after all. She manages to wake Serafin and tell him so, just before the Viceroy (played by George Zucco) arrives and arrests the actor. Right before his planned execution, Serafin begs the Viceroy...

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