Based on my reference here
In what classic movie was the knife decent down a sail, and who did it?
I thought it was Captain Blood - thus it would be Errol Flynn. But I also always thought that Douglas Fairbanks Jr was the actor, and now I am not so sure.
Si
Didn’t Burt Lancaster do that in The Crimson Pirate?
That was my first thought as well.
I remember that scene from The Goonies, and the trivia section of IMDB says that The Sea Hawk was playing on the television in the hideout, which is, I think, where Sloth got the idea to do it.
The Mythbusters explored this on their special Pirate episode, broadcast January 17th, 2007. If I remember correctly, they credit Douglas Fairbanks in a Sinbad movie for it’s first use in cinema.
Their not surprising conclusion - it’s unlikely to work in real life.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. or Douglas Fairbanks Sr.?
How about a Nude used to Descend a Staircase?
The Mythbusters episode referenced “The Black Pirate” starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. did it in The Black Pirate (1926)
:shakes fist: Curse you h.sapiens (though I didn’t need no Mythbuster to tell me that! 
)
For 20 minutes.
The Mythbusters should test that one, too. Or rather, Kari should.
ISTR someone doing it on a giant tapestry. Errol Flynn in Robin Hood, maybe?
She is pretty well “busted”… 