Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl | 2003
A movie in a long dead genre (The Pirate Movie, Roman Polanski’s Pirates, Yellowbeard...), based on a theme park ride. Didn’t look too promising, did it? But a good script and a great cast save the day.
‘Fort Charles, Port Royal’ was built on a three-acre bluff on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, south of Los Angeles, on the site of Marineland, a one-time amusement park (near the Point Vicente Lighthouse seen in Pearl Harbor). The Governor’s mansion was also built here (the interior being a set at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, a little further north up the coast).
St Vincent in the Grenadines, part of the Windward Islands in the south Caribbean, was the production base in the southern Caribbean. The harbour of ‘Port Royal’ was built at Wallilabou Bay on St Vincent (the dock and a facade have been left), and the small town set (which has now gone) at Chateaubelair.
The outer Grenadine island of Petite Tabac became the deserted isle where Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) are abandoned by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush).
If you want the full Depp experience, stay at Young Island, a 35-acre resort, ten minute’s boat ride from St Vincent, where the star stayed for part of the filming.
See also:
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End
Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
