Imagine being out on the open seas, only pulling into port so you can save a damsel in distress or right some wrong done against your honor.

Hollywood has created the seldom produced but timelessly popular pirate film.

From the silent move "The Black Pirate," with Douglas Fairbanks, to "The Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl," audiences have been swept away with tales of sword fights, rope swinging and plank walking.

"I think stories about the sea and pirates and ships have been popular since history began," said Ken Wlaschin, director of creative affairs for the American Film Institute. "Even Peter Pan has some pirate aspect to it."

Films about piracy and buccaneers were made popular with stars like Fairbanks, Errol Flynn and even Burt Lancaster, Wlaschin said.

"But it has not always been a genre that has been popular," he said. "That is the reason there hasn't been many pirate movies. But the genre won't go away because it is a good genre."

Past box office flops, such as last year's animated "Treasure Planet," and 1995's "Cut Throat Island," have made filmmakers and studios apprehensive about making pirate movies.

But that hasn't stopped the popularity and romance that has surrounded cuffed boots, swords and eye patches.

Halloween USA, 533 Mall Court in Frandor Shopping Center, gets many different styles of pirate costumes during Halloween, manager Lisa Haner said.

"We have a lot more women than men," she said. "Superheros is what is real popular right now (though)."

Superheros may overshadow the pirates again with the release of "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman." The movie is out Friday.

But Haner said people still gravitate every year to dressing up as a pirate. "I think there is a romance to it," she said.

Even if superheros might be more popular than pirates when going door-to-door for candy, some movie-goers were impressed with "The Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl."

David Theis, a 16-year-old East Lansing resident, sat chatting with some of his friends and having popcorn and pop before the movie began at the Neighborhood Cinema Group in the Eastwood Towne Center.

"I liked the sword fights and the action scenes," he said after the film. "It was like the ride at Disney World."