Coming quite late in the costume adventure cycle popular in Italian cinema during the late 1950s and early '60s, The Masked Man Against the Pirates stars the ubiquitous George Hilton as Suarez, a noble buccaneer plying his dishonest trade on the high seas. When his ship captures a Spanish galleon, he finds his loyalties to Captain Garcia (John Vari) tested by his fondness for part of the booty: icy beauty Princess Anne (Blood and Black Lace's Claude Dantes). Meanwhile, Spanish captain Ruiz (Tony Kendall) is plotting rebellion against his captors, with the help of a mysterious masked man in green. The film has a distinctly Pirates of the Caribbean attitude, with its outrageously clad pirates generally behaving quite well, and there's comic relief in the form of a pirate turned monk who stutters. It's entirely unexceptional, but reasonably entertaining, especially for those of us grew up watching this kind of stuff on the late, late show. IMDb lists a 105 minute running time, but the Greek PAL tape sourced for this review clocks in at a mere 86.
Review of L'uomo mascherato contro i pirati
