Trailer
Plot summary
In 1687 the pirate Yellowbeard boards inquisitor El Nebuloso's ship and seizes a hoard from the Spanish Main. His second-in-command Moon devised the raid, yet Yellowbeard cuts off Moon's hand for touching the treasure. Jailed in England for tax evasion, Yellowbeard spends two decades in prison while keeping the hoard's whereabouts to himself. Commander Clement, who heads Her Majesty's Secret Service, extends his sentence, and Yellowbeard escapes to his wife Betty's tavern for the map. Betty destroyed that map years earlier, having inked its contents onto the scalp of their son Dan, now twenty. Dan, whom Lord Lambourne brought up as a gentleman, offers his help, and the group plans to reach Jamaica disguised as a botany expedition led by Dr. Gilpin, with Betty concealing the plan for a share.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Yellowbeard (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The romantic lead role passed through two actors before Martin Hewitt was cast: Adam Ant quit over production delays, and Sting later wanted the part but was turned down because producers worried the film was becoming "too British."
- David Bowie's cameo as the shark-costumed character Henson came about by chance: while on holiday in Mexico after finishing his album Let's Dance, he ran into Graham Chapman and Eric Idle on a beach and agreed on the spot to appear.
SPOILER
Co-star Marty Feldman died of a heart attack while filming in Mexico City in December 1982 with his role nearly complete; only the scene of his own character's death still had to be shot, and it was filmed days later using a stunt double.- Production shut down partway through when financier HandMade Films pulled out, and filming only resumed once new funding was secured from Orion Pictures.
- Graham Chapman's friend Harry Nilsson wrote a preliminary score, including one song made specifically for the film, but producers dropped it because they felt Nilsson could not be relied on to finish the work.
- The film's pirate ship, named Edith after Graham Chapman's mother, was actually the Bounty II, a vessel MGM had built for the 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty.
