“The Crimson Pirate?” Yarrrrr, there’s a pirate picture with teeth!

Gore Verbinski borrowed from a parade of pirate movies when he concocted Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franhcise, none more than this jaunty romp from 1952.

Warner Bros. gave star Burt Lancaster the keys to the bank for this 1952 Technicolor, Italian-location spectacle, with sailing ships and satin shirts and Burt and his lifelong pal and acrobatic partner Nick Cravat put on a stunt show worthy of its own theme park attraction.

It’s barely more piratical than those singing, dancing “Pirates of Penzance,” a sailing saga that’s silly down to its knickers — or pirate “petticoat breeches.” But boy oh, is it a hoot.

Lancaster, with Cravat, faces the camera in the film’s opening scene and addresses the crew and the audience.

“Remember, in a pirate ship, in pirate waters, in a pirate world, ask no questions. Believe only what you see. No, believe half of what you see!”

But those stunts? All that climbing and swinging and tumbling? Believe that.

Lancaster is Captain Vallo, who leads a crew of twenty or so swabs on his trusty barkentine, the Lydia, in the late (ish) 18th century. They’re doing what pirates did back then, preying on Spanish galleons and men-of-war.

How does a crew from a tiny, flying jib two-masted ship capture a three-masted 30-gun Spanish frigate? By playing dead, “a scurvy ship” taken in tow by the Baron Gruda (Leslie Bradley). Those corpses come to life when the timing’s right.

“You may be over-confident, Captain Vallo. There are 200 of the King’s marines aboard this vessel!”

“And only 20 pirates. That puts the odds slightly in my favour. Better surrender the ship!”

Captain Vallo polishes off this bravado with a toothy grin. Lancaster grins so much in this action comedy he’s practically a parody of his “image” — lithe, athletic, tossled reddish blonde hair and teeth.

The cunning captain hears what Gruda’s mission is and is all ears. (And teeth.) The Baron is traveling to some (fictional) islands in a sea that may or may not be Caribbean with orders and troops enough to put down a rebellion. The locals want independence, and a figure nicknamed El Libre may be close to providing it.

What if the pirate sails into port on the baron’s ship, takes over the baron’s mission and sells the baron’s guns and powder to the rebels? How about kidnapping El Libre and selling him to the baron in the bargain?

“Gather round, lads!” I tellya, there’s FLORINS to be make if we play all the angles.

But of course El Libre has a daughter, the fair Consuelo (Eva Bartok, fiesty). That has the skipper figuring that maybe there’s another angle to play here, one with curves.

The baron and assorted officials must be foiled and fooled, and a “by the (pirate) book” piratical first mate Humble Bellows (Thorin Thatcher, magnificent) must be placated or fended off.

“We got regular pirate business to settle. We got the plank, the culprit and the verdict. All we need’s a trial, an execution and a sentence!”

Vallo and his mute lieutent Ojo (Cravat) cheat death a dozen times, shimmy up masts and swing from ropes, tumble through town and dress in drag. All in a good day’s fun.

“This one can’t talk, and this one can’t keep quiet!”

“The Crimson Pirate” closed out the golden age of the “Swashbuckler,” which Douglas Fairbanks ushered in with the silent era’s “Black Pirate” and Errol Flynn & Co. relaunched with “Captain Blood” and “Robin Hood” less than a generation later. Hollywood was pretty much done with pirates by ’52.

Director Robert Siodmak was behind the camera for Burt Lancaster’s big break in “The Killers,” and made his name in film noir, a genre Warner Brothers pretty much invented and perfected. Here, his major achievement was ensuring that the stunt team and cast performed every simple gag and “Yeah, Burt and Nick really did that” stunt to perfection.

Roland Kibbee’s script left room for endlessly inventive bits of business that gets our heroes in and out of one jam after another. Having the heroes capsize a dinghy at the behest of a scientist they’re shackled to (delightfully played by James Hayter) so they could “walk” underwater, to the shore on the oxygen stored inside the hull is merely the cleverest twist among many.

Paul Sheriff’s lush art direction, blending Italian coastal (pirate) village scenes with vividly realized soundstage sets, proved a great training ground for assistant art director Ken Adam, who’d go on to fame making the James Bond movies the most spectacular action spectacles of their day.

Cravat does his best Harpo Marx here, an acrobat who morphed into a physical comic and amusing mime of great wit and skill. Cravat had a thick “dese-dem-dose” Brooklyn accent and played a lot of mutes, especially in period pieces like this one.

“Ojo, you took the words right OUTTA my mouth!”

Short, swarthy, athletic and spry, he made the perfect comic foil for long and lean Lancaster in this film, with his pal ensuring he got second billing in the bargain.

One supporting player amongst all of the colorfully costumed soldiers, royal officials, pirates and dancers stands out in most scenes, even though he barely has a melifluous line that gives away the Dracula, “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” icon Christopher Lee was to become.

But “Pirate” is most is notable for being Lancaster as we almost never saw him — jolly and athletic, shirtless and swashbuckling and plainly enjoying everything this star vehicle indulged and demanded of him.

The talent and presence pointed him towards Oscar glory, but the twinkle with a hint of menace carried him into his motion picture dotage — “Atlantic City,””Field of Dreams” — and sealed his legend. He’d coast on the Burt we see here in the playful “Tough Guys” and “Local Hero,” and show us those teeth when cracking a joke, right up to the end.

“Nothing’s as good as a midnight peeeee in the ocean,” he’d grin in “Rocket Gibraltar.” “The Crimson Pirate” couldn’t have said it better.

Rating: “approved,” TV-14, violent action

Cast: Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat, Eva Bartok, Leslie Bradley, Torin Thatcher, James Hayter, and Chrisopher Lee.

Credits: Directed by Robert Siodmak, scripted by Roland Kibbee. A Warner Bros. release on Tubi, other streamers.

Running time: 1:45