The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964) on Netflix
NR19641h 26mActionAdventureThriller
A Spanish Armada pirate ship puts into an isolated British coastal village for repairs in 1588. The Spanish tell the villagers England's fleet is beaten and that they now rule them.
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- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb6.1/101,030 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1588 a pirate ship fighting with the Spanish Armada is badly damaged and has to put into a small, isolated village on the British coast for repairs. Its crew is led by Captain Robeles. The Spanish tell the villagers that England's fleet has been defeated and that they are the masters now, and the villagers give them sullen cooperation.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- According to Christopher Lee, Hammer built a full-sized galleon on a steel structure under water in sand pits. Warned not to crowd the ship, cast and crew rushed to the tea boat one day and the galleon capsized, throwing most of them into the water.
- Christopher Lee was on the poop deck and held on to the rail when the ship capsized; no one drowned or was seriously hurt. Lee said he saved the continuity girl's typewriter.
- The opening scene was shot in a flooded gravel pit near Bray Studios, but council workers were building a motorway on the other side of the road, so Don Sharp had the crew lay smoke to hide the trucks in the background.
- Director Don Sharp clashed with producer Anthony Nelson Keys over the pirate captain's costume: Keys wanted Christopher Lee dressed in blue, and Sharp mocked the idea of "Little Boy Blue" before insisting on gray, arguing it was threatening enough for the Nazis.
- The film was aimed at the school holiday market and needed a "U" certificate, but Hammer wanted it to look like an X film. Don Sharp called the result "an action film with kids in it".
- When the ship capsized, the scaffolding went to the bottom of the gravel pit and stayed there for two years, with the pit's owner still charging hire for it, according to Don Sharp.
- Christopher Lee received top billing for the first time in films with The Devil-Ship Pirates, the Hammer pirate adventure directed by Don Sharp.
