but the King's guards are waiting, and El Libre is killed and Consuelo is captured. The pirates mutiny against Vallo, and Humble Bellows is elected their new captain. Baron Gruda takes the pirates prisoner and forces Consuelo to agree to marry the governor of Cobra. Vallo intends to rescue Consuelo, but the professor convinces him to first enlist the island's cooperation. In order to defeat the well trained and well armed troops on Cobra, the professor have the rebels build a variety of futuristic weapons, such as tanks, Gatling guns, flamethrowers, a hot air balloon and a submarine. On the day of the wedding, the people overthrow the governor and his guards. A massive battle ensues, ending with the pirate ship destroyed, the Baron killed, and Vallo and Consuelo reunited. Cast Production The original screenplay by Waldo Salt was rejected by the producers, fearing Salt's Communist ties. Christopher Lee, in his autobiography, claims that director Robert Siodmak changed the original screenplay: Reception A. H. Weiler of The New York Times described the film as "a slam-bang, action-filled Technicolored lampoon ... Any viewer with a drop of red blood in his veins and with fond memories of the Douglas Fairbanks Sr. school of derring-do should be happy to go on this last cruise of the crimson pirate." Variety called it "104 minutes of high-action entertainment." Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times called it "a good, gaudy, robust sort of feature designed for audience enjoyment, at least that kind of audience which enjoys complete release. It has qualities that Douglas Fairbanks made famous in his time, Lancaster being a worthy successor to that mantle." Harrison's Reports wrote, "A very good swashbuckling pirate adventure comedy-melodrama, photographed in Technicolor. Its tongue-in-cheek treatment pokes fun at pictures of this type, and for that reason it should be enjoyed, not only by the action fans, but also by others who are willing to accept it for the good-natured spoof that it is." The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "The jokes are as unsophisticated as the adventure, and the combination of violence and slapstick makes for quite good fun. Burt Lancaster, fighting, swinging from ropes, chased and chasing, and throwing in a little female impersonation, has the acrobatic energy of a Fairbanks and keeps the film going with considerable good humour." Legacy Burt Lancaster and his old partner Nick Cravat made nine films together, the most popular