German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1024/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Paul Richter in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
French postcard. Photo: Mon. Cawa-Film. Aud Egede Nissen and Paul Richter in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 992/1, 1925-1926. Photo: Ufa. Paul Richter in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
The strict rules of the Corsairs
In Pietro, der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925), Paul Richter plays Pietro, the son of an oil trader (Fritz Richard) on the Italian coast. Pietro would like to be a corsair, and he constantly observes their fort on an offshore island.
When the corsair Salvatore (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) raids his father's house, Pietro overwhelms him. The corsair can flee. From then on, Pietro and his family fear the corsairs' revenge.
However, Salvatore, who owes his life to Pietro, takes him in with the corsairs. With these pirates, he must submit to their strict rules. Meanwhile, Salvatore rises to their leader.
Salvatore is seriously injured while capturing a merchant ship. He is taken to a doctor's house. There he falls in love with the daughter Juana (Aud Egede Nissen). He takes her to his fort.
After a short time, Juana discovers that Salvatore is a weakling. Her only interest is Pietro, and hatred and distrust arise between Salvatore and Pietro. A knife fight should decide. However, Salvatore is shot dead by an invading mercenary and Juana stands between the gun and Pietro to atone for her guilt.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 26/1. Photo: Ufa. Aud Egede Nissen and Rudolf Klein-Rogge in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 26/4. Photo: Ufa. Paul Richter in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 26/5, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Aud Egede Nissen and Paul Richter in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 26/10, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Paul Richter in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
A school of acting dating back to the Spanish Armada
Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925) was produced by Erich Pommer for the Ufa (Universum-Film AG) in Berlin. Director p of photography was Fritz Arno Wagner, and Albin Grau was responsible for the buildings and the costumes.
The shooting took place from August to October 1924 on the coast near Rome and in the open-air site of the Ufa studios in Neubabelsberg. Decla-Bioscop-Verleih GmbH in Berlin distributed the film. The world premiere took place on 19 February 1925 at U.T. Alexanderplatz Berlin. The post-censorship issued a youth ban.
The international critics found only a few kind words for the film. In the New York Times, Mordaunt Hall wrote on 7 January 1927: “Sandwiched in between Chaplin's famous comedy, Easy Street, and three other ancient American films, there is at the Fifth Avenue Playhouse a tedious Ufa picture, known as Peter the Pirate.
It is a story of sea robbers of the dim past, and the aggregation of players appears to be emulating a school of acting dating back to the Spanish Armada. Even Paul Richter, who gave such a distinguished performance in the film version of Siegfried, seems to have found his colleagues' art contagious. Mr. Richter is a pale-faced fighter with gymnastic shoes and a shirt always open at the collar.
As Peter he longs for adventure and, of course, it comes his way. So he becomes associated with a band of ruddy villains, who try and make you think that they would just as soon cut a throat as gulp down a glass of wine. Actually, these followers of the skull and crossbones look as if they had been shanghaied from a modern costume dance. This weak link in the chain of Ufa productions was directed by Arthur Robison, producer of the film version of Manon Lescaut."
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1024/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Paul Richter in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1024/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Paul Richter and Aud Egede Nissen in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1024/4, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Paul Richter and Aud Egede Nissen in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1024/5, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Paul Richter and Aud Egede Nissen in Pietro der Korsar/Peter the Pirate (Arthur Robison, 1925).
Sources: Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.
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