The Princess and the Pirate

A pirate captain known as The Hook Victor McLaglen buries his treasure on a sunburned island and silences the map maker to make sure no one else can hunt it down. He and his ruthless crew then set their sights on the Mary Ann, a ship carrying Princess Margaret Virginia Mayo, who is fleeing her father, the King Robert Warwick, in a bid to marry a commoner. The Hook intends to seize the princess for a hearty ransom, turning her peril into a bargaining chip that could change the balance of power on the seas. The Mary Ann’s passengers and crew are thrown into chaos as the pirate crew storms aboard, and after a brutal clash, most of the ship’s defenders are either slain or forced to walk the plank. In the midst of the carnage, Sylvester the Great Bob Hope, a cowardly actor lodging in the next cabin, miraculously survives by slipping away in disguise as a gypsy woman and is dragged aboard The Avenger alongside Princess Margaret.

The old tattooist of the ship, Featherhead Walter Brennan, takes a curious shine to the disguised Sylvester, and his eccentric loyalty proves pivotal. He discerns that the supposed gypsy is really a man, and he hatches a plan to exploit the Hook’s treasure for himself. Featherhead passes the vital treasure map to Sylvester and aids the couple as they escape by small boat, intending to pass the map to Featherhead’s cousin on the pirate island of Casarouge. The plan brings them to a bloodthirsty outpost where they check into the Boar’s Head Inn and stage a show at the Bucket of Blood to earn money for their stay, hoping to reach the cousin who could help them unlock the pirate hoard.

Soon enough, trouble finds them as Margaret is kidnapped, forcing Sylvester to seek help from the Governor, La Roche Walter Slezak. Sylvester’s plea quickly turns to a shock when he discovers La Roche is the kidnapper himself, intent on extracting a ransom of a million doubloons for the princess, while planning to turn Sylvester over for a cut of the prize money. Sylvester is treated well enough for a moment, and he finds an ally in Margaret as she endures a hunger strike, but the real danger lies in La Roche’s scheme to keep the treasure map out of reach. Featherhead, ever the schemer, slips into the scene under Sylvester’s bed and knocks him unconscious long enough to tattoo the map onto Sylvester’s chest, and then the two conspirators briskly swallow the evidence of their deed.

After a tense confrontation, the Hook returns to the Governor’s house to finish the job he started, only to be blocked by Featherhead’s sudden intervention. The Governor, who has now seen the map tattoo on Sylvester’s chest, confronts the intruders, and the Hook is forced to retreat, wounded but alive. Pedro [Marc Lawrence], the Hook’s second-in-command, leads a raid to rescue the Hook, but the raid ends up rescuing Sylvester instead, who has secretly disguised himself as the Hook, and he is once again joined by Princess Margaret. The two impostors waver on the edge of discovery as the real Hook lurks nearby, wounded and ready to reclaim his power.

Back on The Avenger, the two Hook figures—Sylvester in disguise and the real Hook on deck—spend a delirious stretch of time giving mixed orders, creating chaos among the crew until Sylvester is finally unmasked. The ship careens toward disaster as tensions escalate and an all-consuming confusion erupts, culminating in an attack on the pirate vessel itself. The appearance of the King’s ship shifts the balance once more, and the captives are finally released; La Roche is captured, and his entire scheme is laid bare for all to see. The moment of truth arrives as Princess Margaret chooses to follow her heart and heads toward a life with a commoner, much to Sylvester’s chagrin. In a bittersweet, almost comic finale, the princess steps forward into her chosen future, while Sylvester—ever the showman—stares in disbelief and quips, “That is the last picture I do for Goldwyn,” sealing his career with a wry acknowledgment of the moment.

“That is the last picture I do for Goldwyn”

Onlookers are left with a bustling flotilla of sails, the echo of mounted pistols, and a filmic fever dream of swashbuckling bravado and comic misfortune that only a Goldwyn production could muster. The island of Casarouge remains a perilous, sun-bleached backdrop for a tale of treasure, deception, and love that refuses to settle for a tidy ending. The human cast—ranging from the blustering Captain Barrett to the uncredited comic interludes—keeps the tempo brisk even as the fate of the treasure and the fate of Margaret’s heart swing wildly between the deck and the inn, a carnival of pirates, governors, and actors brought together by a single map and a pirate’s reckless dream.