Clothes Make the Pirate on AllMovie

After his impressive screen debut in Sally, stage comedian Leon Errol became a full-fledged film star with this picture, set in New England's colonial days. Tidd (Errol) is a henpecked tailor who secretly dreams of being a pirate. In fact, he even makes himself a pirate costume, which unnerves his wife, Betsy (Dorothy Gish). He winds up hiding in a small boat, where he is found by a rough crew and mistaken for notorious pirate chief Dixie Bull. He is taken on board where he gets to live out his dreams. Betsy and Tidd's niece, Nancy Downs (Edna Murphy), board the Frolic in their search for Tidd, and their vessel gets in a battle with the pirate ship. Tidd wins and demands that the women be handed over -- of course, they are Betsy, Nancy, and a vamp, Madame LaTour (Nita Naldi). Tidd finally comes face-to-face with the real Dixie Bull (Walter Law) and he agrees to a duel. When Bull trips and falls, Tidd leaps on him and declares himself the victor. The truth is he is more than happy to go back to his normal, bland life, with one change -- now he can order his wife around. Dorothy Gish's then-husband, James Rennie, has a supporting role as Nancy's sweetheart.