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Swordplay Aloft: A Fictional But Entirely Enjoyable Pirate Trope

September 18, 2019 9:42 pm / 9 Comments on Swordplay Aloft: A Fictional But Entirely Enjoyable Pirate Trope

Cutthroat Island finale, Morgan Adams (Geena Davis, right) versus Dawg Brown (Frank Langella). Carolco, 1995.

Originally written in advance of my forthcoming series on “The Duel on the Beach,” here’s a fun look at the Hollywood trope of swordplay in the rigging.

We can probably blame Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island for the trope’s ultimate inspiration. In the novel [Spoiler Alert!], Jim Hawkins climbs aloft aboard the schooner Hispaniola to escape the murderous pirate Israel Hands, ultimately burning the salty thug’s brains with a brace of pistols. Why the hungover, perhaps even still-besotted, sea-thief didn’t simply use a musket to murder the lad is unknown. Perhaps he was too fogged by rum to think of it, or he didn’t have a musket at hand, or knew he wouldn’t be able to hit the bold lad. More likely, it’s simply a much better scene to have a murderous pirate armed with a knife slowly climb aloft while his victim waits at the extreme point of retreat.

“One Step More, Mr. Hands” by N. C. Wyeth for the 1911 Charles Scribner’s Sons edition of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Doubtless inspired by Treasure Island, Charles Boardman Hawes includes a scene of fighting aloft in his Newberry award-winnning novel, The Dark Frigate.

Dark Frigate — Illustration by Howard Pyle student Anton Otto Fischer from the 1936 Little, Brown, and Company “Beacon Hill Bookshelf” edition.

But the primary origin of the trope, whether for Mr. Stevenson or Hollywood in general, is almost certainly the simple fact that the masts and rigging are too enticing not be used: a vast network or “jungle gym” overhead with boundless possibilities. It’s simply impossible to ignore the setting towering aloft above a vessel’s decks. It’s a nautical gymnasium begging to be used! And so it often has.

Before going further, we should quickly examine what sailors did, and still do, aloft. They set, take in, and furl sail. They hoist spars and masts aloft, and strike the same as necessary. They stand lookout. They man the tops in battle, enabling armed seamen to fire on the enemy below. They make repairs. They skylark.

Rigging — Seamen climbing aloft. Detail from “Shipping in a Calm” by Peter Monamy, early 18th century. Yale Center for British Art.

Dutch Seamen Aloft — Dutch seamen on the lowered main-topmast yard, with another seamen climbing the main shrouds. Detail from “Dutch Ships in a Calm Sea” by Willem van de Velde the Younger, c. 1665. Rijksmuseum.

Spanish detail — Activity at sea, including a lookout in the maintop. Note also the boatswain using his “call” as he directs seamen hauling on a line. Detail from “Fragata ‘La Purísima Concepción'” 1754. Archivo Histórico Nacional, Spain.

Getting a better view at anchor of the Doge’s barge of state in Venice. Detail from “The Bucintoro Departing from the Bacino di San Marco” by Luca Carlevarijs, 1710. J. Paul Getty Museum.

My middle daughter (second from right) helping furl the mainsail aboard the Flagship *Niagara* one recent summer. Author’s photo.

Although fighting aloft was routine–men firing from above at men below–there’s no evidence of anything other than with firearms, grenades, and sometimes swivel guns occasionally fired at the enemy also aloft. No swordplay on yards, in other words. Note that in the painting below, no one aloft is wielding a sword, nor are there lines rigged from which to slide down or swing across (another popular but false Hollywood pirate trope). However, note the third image below in which two seamen slide down a forestay.

Actual fighting aloft would look something like this:

num-9-OA-17-D-a-0311-H — “Combat de la Bayonnaise contre l’Embuscade, 1798.” The twenty-gun French corvette defeated the larger English frigate by boarding, a tactic at which the French were quite adept and well-known for. Musée national de la Marine, Paris.

num-9-OA-17-D-f-0314-H — Detail from the painting above, showing fighting aloft, composed entirely of firearms. Musée national de la Marine, Paris.

Capture-of-HMS-Ambuscade-by-the-French-corvette-Bayonnaise-14-December-1798 — Another painting of the capture of the HMS *Ambuscade* by the *Bayonnaise*. Louis-Philippe Crépin. Private collection.

The painting just above, although it has many accurate details (including the grappling hook hanging by chain from the yardarm (although it should have two lines attached), appears to be rather romanticized, with seamen sliding down a forestay, another with his cutlass between his teeth, apparently having just slid down the stay, details lacking in the previous two images. Doubtless seamen did slide down stays during routine operations, but during action?

Moving on to film, the earliest scenes of swordplay aloft I’m aware of are those in the 1924 silent version of Peter Pan: a brave Michael — played by Phillipe de Lacy, six or seven years old! — climbs the shrouds after a pirate. The entire melee of lost boys, John, and Michael versus pirates is extraordinarily well-choreographed, far superior to the hack and slash knife sharpening melees of most pirate films, even those with well-choreographed duels between hero and villain. The quality here is no surprise: Henri Uyttenhove was the fencing master and choreographer. The children’s fencing and enthusiasm is a joy to watch.

Even so, when it comes to film, The Black Pirate (Vitagraph, 1926) starring Douglas Fairbanks set the standard for action aloft–but not for swordplay aloft, of which it alas had none. The film included circus-like aerial stunts and a famous scene in which Fairbanks slips a sword or dagger into a sail and slides down its face, cutting the canvas as he does. The stunt was repeated in Against All Flags (Universal-International, 1952), The Goonies (Warner Bros., 1985), Peter Pan (2003 & 2023) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Disney, 2006), although in the the last film it appears heavily CGI’d, and may have been in the 2023 Peter Pan as well.

In Captain Blood (Warner Bros., 1935) starring Errol Flynn, the action aloft is more mundane, although it does include some brief swordplay, and includes a lesser trope: pirates sliding down on ropes during boarding actions, swinging from ship to ship, and occasionally from yard to yard, none of which actually occurred to ship to ship combat. Still, it’s fun.

In Double Crossbones, a 1951 Universal International Pictures pirate comedy starring Donald O’Connor (and from which Disney borrowed some scenes and character development for its pirate franchise), O’Connor as pirate Danny Crandall duels aloft with John Emery as Governor Elden of Charleston, South Carolina. At one point, Hope Emerson as Mistress Anne Bonney hoists him aloft a few times, almost Peter Pan-fashion) to avoid the governor’s cuts and thrusts. One wonders if this inspired Disney’s dueling aloft in its 1953 Peter Pan (see below), although the trope is an obvious one. Even so, I’ve yet to find an illustration of Peter Pan and Captain Hook dueling aloft prior to the 1953 film.

In the end, the governor falls off the yard into the sea; good guy Danny Crandall, who spends much time in the film fencing with broomsticks and candlesticks, is allowed to avoid running his enemy through. Several scenes in the film, and Crandall’s character as well, inspired scenes in Disney’s The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Notably, John Emery starred as one of the villains in The Spanish Main (1945). In the finale he falls to the sword of Paul Henreid as Captain Nicolas Van Horn, even though Emery was the far superior fencer (although when he first picked up a sword in The Corsican Brothers he knew little if anything — clearly Fred Cavens taught him well). Basil Rathbone could commiserate.

Blu-ray screen captures. In the last image, Donald O’Connor, facing John Emery, is hoisted aloft to avoid his adversary’s cuts and thrusts.

In Against All Flags (Universal International, 1952) Errol Flynn as Brian Hawke climbs aloft via the lubber’s hole (for shame!) to cut down the main-yard. He’s lucky the pirates were lazy, otherwise the yard would’ve been slung with chain in time of battle and his rapier of little use in cutting through. When he sees pirates coming at him from aloft and alow, rather than fight them he escapes instead, using Douglas Fairbanks’s famous technique. The film was remade, almost scene for scene, as The King’s Pirate (Universal, 1967), but an acrobatic escape was substituted for the sword-in-sail trick. Against All Flags was one of Flynn’s last films, certainly one of his last good ones (arguably a tie among these last films with Crossed Swords, The Master of Ballantrae, and a more serious film, The Warriors). Against All Flags also starred Maureen O’Hara in her last swashbuckler. She’s as dashing as Flynn in the film, and as good if not better with a sword.

Script LR — Excerpt from an original *Against All Flags* script.

AAF 02 — The lubber’s hole… Again, for shame, Flynn!

Against All Flags Flynn Sail LR — Studio publicity still of what appears to be Errol Flynn “cutting” the sail as a means of escaping from aloft. What appear to be lowering lines and part of the lowering tackle or device are visible, and there appear to have been at least four prepared “cuts” in the sail. Curiously, a wire “rope” appears to be attached to the (probably) backstay block at the left. Note also the wooden rungs on the shrouds rather than the historically correct ratlines. Author’s collection.

The Crimson Pirate (Warner Bros., 1952) showcased Burt Lancaster’s acrobatic skills aloft, but lacked swordplay. That said, the antics aloft in the finale are real, not CGI’d, and far more spectacular than anything done before or after, arguably superior even to the gymnastics of Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate:

Disney’s Peter Pan (1953) had plenty of action aloft, including an homage to Treasure Island:

But the real action was between Pan and Hook on the main-topsail yard:

And also in Return to Neverland (Disney, 2002):

The action is included on the Disney theme park attraction:

And even in the Disney theme parks Fantasmic! show:

The trope also made it into a series of Dominica Peter Pan postage stamps in 1980, shown below as a Disney pin:

Hallmark has even introduced (July 2023) a 70th anniversary ornament with Pan and Hook swordplay aloft!

Christmas tree ornament featuring Peter Pan and Captain Hook engaged in swordplay on a yard aloft. Hallmark image.

Peter Pan (2003) even included a brief homage to the slide down a sail by cutting it. Here, Hook uses his hook to do the deed. Nearly all of the swordplay aloft was literally in the air, given that Hook was permitted to fly in this version, at least in the finale.

Disney added the same classic pirate trope to its 2023 live action, and rather disappointing, at least in script, sets, and settings, version of Peter and Wendy. A cool move, but unnecessary, as above, given that Peter can fly — unless he’s briefly lost his ability to do so.

Peter Pan — Screen capture from the Disney trailer.

The Goonies (1995) reprised the sliding down the sail with cutlass or dagger stunt, first on a television in a scene created on set and added ostensibly to Captain Blood watched by Sloth, then near the end of the film when Sloth slides to the deck of the Inferno, Chunk on his back. In the recent Lego build of The Goonies, which includes ship and major scenes, the sliding down the sail scene is recreated.

Scene, ostensibly of Captain Blood sliding down a sail, added to the film version watched by Sloth. Detail from a Blu-ray screen capture.

Sloth and Chunk sliding down the same sail as in the image above. Blu-ray screen capture.

Sloth and Chunk sliding down the sail in the Lego build set. Lego image.

But it was Cutthroat Island (Carolco, 1995) that did it’s best to include a sword fight in earnest on a yard aloft. The film was a box office bomb. Even so, Geena Davis did a creditable job, the soundtrack is excellent, and it has earned a deserved cult status as a guilty pleasure, so much so that a 4K release is available.

Cutthroat 06 — Publicity still, UK release. Author’s collection.

Even Shaggy and Scooby Doo got into the action aloft in Scooby Doo! Pirates Ahoy! in 2006.

Shaggy in action: swab versus cutlasses! Screen capture from *Scooby Doo! Pirates Ahoy!* (Warner Bros. Animation, 2006).

Not to be beat by previous adventure aloft, and surely as an homage too, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) included swordplay between Davy Jones and Jack Sparrow on a yard aloft during a storm while dueling ships were whipped around at the edge of a giant maelstrom:

Tales of Monkey Island (2009), a five chapter sequel to the previous Monkey Island games, includes swordplay aloft during the opening puzzle of Chapter 2.

Detail from a screen capture from Chapter 2, *Tales of Monkey Island*.

The Adventures of Tintin (Columbia Pictures et al, 2011) featured animated if improbable-but-exciting swordplay aloft:

Swordplay, or at least swords, aloft has continued in recent pirate films. Below is Son Ye-jin as Captain Yeo-wol in The Pirates (Harimao Pictures, 2014), engaging in aerial swashbuckling.

The trope made its way even into the recent Thugs of Hindostan (Latina Pictures, et al, 2018), a pirate-ish, Bollywood, stick-it-to-the-English Indian film:

Action aloft also made its way onto television in the form of the final episode in season four of Black Sails, in a scene in which I, as historical consultant, not to mention as a swordsman of nearly fifty years and a fencing teacher for nearly thirty, had some input.

BillyBones-BlackSails-Pirates — From Sinful Celluloid.

But the trope has found its way into more than just film. A significant but largely unstudied contribution to pirate culture is that of various collector’s cards: tobacco, bubble gun, and arcade. Typically inspired by popular illustration, film, and general cliché, the cards often include images of swordplay and other fighting aloft, invariably via contrived circumstances often involving pirates or merchant seamen attempting to escape aloft. In the 1930s card just below, failed mutineer-pirates retreat aloft to little avail.

Below, in a 1930s Holloway Pirate Treasure trading card, merchant seamen flee aloft to make their last stand, again to no avail.

Below, a Swedish/French bubble gum card dating to the 1930s. This time it’s not a merchant seaman retreating aloft, but a duel over the plunder on a night “full of stars, the air calm, the sea tranquil.” One of the pirates, Mulrooney, has hidden a brace of pistols in the rigging. He drops his cutlass and climbs aloft, followed by his armed adversary Hawkins. Mulrooney, in most dishonorable fashion–even for a pirate–arms himself with his hidden pistols and shoots Hawkins dead.

Comic books are another significant source of modern pirate culture, and like the cards above they typically reinforce existing tropes. Below, Yellow Beak and Black Pete cross cutlasses (or rather, knife and parrot cutlass) in “Donald Duck Finds Pirate Treasure!” (1942, from an original film concept that was never green-lighted).

Below, the sword fight is on the bowsprit, one man armed with an anachronistic rapier (unless he’s an Iberian or perhaps an Italian under Spanish rule) with quillons in the wrong place, the other armed with an anachronistic “soup ladle” cutlass.

And it’s even made it to a book cover!

Hans Leip Cover — The aerial action continues on the spine and back cover! Hans Leip, *Bordbuch des Satans (Log of the Satans)*, 1959.

And even onto a 1000 piece puzzle!

Aerial Antics — Detail from the poster for the puzzle by Heye, “Corsair,” by François Ruyer, 2012 & 2020.

But just how easy would it be to fence aloft on spars? It wouldn’t be. By way of experiment I’ve attempted footwork on a balance beam, much as in the photograph below but with much less danger. At first it’s not easy to maintain balance and any “fencing” done is best done by way of slow choreographed movements. Put simply, I fell often, more even than the time more than forty years ago a friend and I fenced with sabers at midnight in New Orleans under live oaks on a carpet of acorns (it was a mast year). Still, after a bit of practice one can move conditionally well on a flat beam–but still not sufficiently to prevent a likely fall. A rounded spar would be much more difficult to fence upon.

Aerial fencing, usually on rooftops or on beams or scaffolding attached to them, and usually as stunts or photo opportunities, is not uncommon:

Times Square Saber — Star and Isabelle Jones stunt fencing atop the Times Square Hotel circa 1925. The Jones’s were members of a famous theatrical family. Getty Images, Hulton Archive.

a86d8909-91b4-479f-aa25-7f8a540bee06 — NYU fencing team practicing on a rooftop, or, given the lack of masks on several fencers, pretending to for the sake of a photograph. NYU Archives, 1923.

60526061_2309646342609693_6809468585191855972_n — A safe thrill: fencing aloft with harness. Photo borrowed from the Dunwoody Fencing Club page, no attribution given.

72171593_2465446570445542_4292757853153787904_n — Balloon fencing prior to skydiving–and maybe fencing in freefall too? Source of images unknown, I copied them from the Facebook page of French fencing master Gerard Six.

IMG_20200327_175059219 — My wife and son practicing balance–or for starring roles in a pirate film circa 2000. Photo by Marguerite BreeAnne Little.

My youngest daughter (four years) and I on the beam this summer of 2023. Photo by Mary Crouch.

Any real fencing on a beam or spar would obviously quickly result in a fall. Many years ago I saw a fencing high wire act performed at the Ringling Bros & Barnum &Bailey Circus: it was composed of simple, if impressive, choreographed movements, as expected.

In similar fashion, the modern aerial troupe Pirates of the Colombian Caribbean performs a tightrope fencing act on tour, including this past summer at the Miami Seaquarium:

5254749_orig — Members of the Pirates of the Colombian Caribbean performing.

58efe14475666.image — Pirates of the Colombian Caribbean.

But could swordplay aloft have happened in reality? Even rarely? The answer is akin to that of the myth of buried pirate treasure. Did pirates bury treasure? No, although it’s possible to find a rare instance of a couple of shipwrecked pirates burying their plundered shares to keep other pirates from stealing it. Further, it’s possible to imagine a rare similar but more significant exception, for example the shipwreck of pursued pirates who bury their plunder to prevent a pirate hunting landing party from finding it. But there’s no evidence anything like this ever happened. Similarly, there’s no evidence of swordplay aloft among pirates or anyone else at sea, as thrilling and pregnant with possibility the prospect is. Even so, it’s possible to imagine a rather contrived, but still possible, circumstance. Hollywood does it all the time.