The Black Pirate

And it was advertised on the internet, so one thing led to another and more things happened, more, more films came my way.

We were asked to do The Black Pirate.

That was the first film that I ever did real s- s- I was gonna say swashbuckling.

[laughs] Playing with lots and lots of drums and things.

... to keep going.

[laughs]

It's, it always fascinates me though, Hazel, when you were asked to have a go on the, on The Black Pirate with, as a percussionist, what did you think? I mean, is that a question you expected to be asked when you became a musician or was it something you were-

Not at all

For many years, if you were to watch any media or pick up any book featuring the Caped Crusader, you would see the credit Batman created by Bob Kane.

Bob Kane often cited a love for the black and white Zorro film featuring Douglas Fairbanks and a description of a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci as his main inspiration for creating Batman.

However, there's far more to the origin of the Caped Crusader and Dark Knight Detective than initially presented by Bob Kane.

Kane's original design for Batman actually featured a blond-haired, domino mask, red tights, and bat-ringed character.

The genesis of Batman is a curious exploration when you really delve into it.

Bob Kane claims that Zorro served as one of his core inspirations.

In fact, he pointed towards the Douglas Fairbanks black and white silent era film as one of the key inspirations in developing a play by dual identity of Batman and Bruce Wayne.

What's really interesting when you examine this thread is that Douglas Fairbanks also starred in the film The Black Pirate.

But my real double feature suggestions are You could pair it with Captain Blood from 1935 for more classic swashbuckling action with Errol Flynn.

Or go The Black Pirate from 1926 with Douglas Fairbanks for a silent era pirate fun.

Or if you want to do a thematic double feature, watch this and then Muppet Treasure Island from 1996, which is basically this movie, but with Tim Curry doing his own Robert Newton impression with Muppets.

It's actually pretty delightful.