Carina Smyth in the Chart House.
- "There's a witch and a pirate in my shop!"
"Well, it's your lucky day!" - ―George Swift and Jack Sparrow on the Chart house
The Swift and Sons Chart House was a chart house in the town of Saint Martin on the island of the same name.
History[]
Established in 1698,[1] the Swift and Sons Chart House was one of the oldest cartography shops in Saint Martin. Sailors from all over the Caribbean went to the shop in search of reliable maps of the seas and stars.[2]
By 1751,[3] George Swift was the owner of the Swift and Sons Chart House, not allowing dogs or women inside the shop. However, during the robbery of the Royal Bank of Saint Martin, the astronomer Carina Smyth, wanted by the British Royal Navy due to false accusations of her being a witch, walked into the shop after escaping from the navy. Thinking she was a witch, George pulled out a pistol on her and yelled for the authorities. Suddenly, a drunken Captain Jack Sparrow walked into the Chart House. He asked if anyone inside had seen "his bank", which confused Smyth and Swift. But, the Royal Bank of Saint Martin, which was being pulled through Saint Martin by the crew of the Dying Gull, soon came crashing through the chart house, destroying all of Swift's work and forcing him to scramble for cover as the wall of the chart house came crumbling to the ground.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
The Swift and Sons Chart House first appeared in media relating to the 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.[4] It was designed by Nigel Phelps who wanted a space that was both a bookshop and an old dusty museum.[5][6]
In Jeff Nathanson's 2013 early screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales, Swift's Chart House was located in Port Royal.[7]
Terry Rossio's original 2012 screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales featured a cartographer named McNally, a reference to the famed map-maker Rand McNally rather than a homage to Kevin McNally the Pirates actor. In Rossio's screenplay, McNally is the owner of the McNally & Sons Chart House in Kingston, Jamaica, where Philip Swift worked as an apprentice.[8]
Appearances[]
- The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth (First appearance)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization
- Pirates des Caraïbes : La Vengeance de Salazar
Notes and references[]
- ↑ The inscription on the map in the Chart House says "Cartographer services & Sales. Est. 1698."
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization, p55.
- ↑ As evidenced by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel, the events of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales are set in 1751.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Behind the Scenes, pp. 4-5
- ↑ POTC5 Presskit
- ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013
- ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES by Terry Rossio
