I watched this over the weekend and in the introduction, the host stated that Robert Newton's way of speaking, dressing and acting in this Pirate movie provided everyone with their view of pirates. Prior to this, no one thought of Pirates with the "aye, matey" and mispronouncing of words such as "pillar" instead of pillow. I found that rather amusing.
My memory foam pillow says it can't remember my face. I can tell its lying.
Hmmm --- I wonder --- I saw Princess and the Pirate (1944) Bob Hope vehicle and Victor McClaglen played "The Hook" and his Pirate talked very much like Black Beard in this film --- I wonder the true origin --- the shiver me timbers aaaay matey and all that --- pretty good movie you should see it ---
shareNo, McLaglen's character in Princess and the Pirate lacked some of the key elements of today's common pirate stereotype.
It was Newton, first as Long John Silver and then as Blackbeard, that created that unmistakable "talk like a pirate" dialect.
However, Newton certainly took some of his cues from the book "Treasure Island".
WE GOT MOVIE SIIIIIGN!
I think you'll find that Robert Louis Stevenson's Long John Silver from Treasure Island was the wellspring of most pirate stereotypes but Robert Newton certainly took them to new heights. By the time Blackbeard was filmed, Treasure Island had already seen 2 screen productions and innumerable stage productions.
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