I really like Charles Laughton, but as far as a classic pirate movie goes, my favorite is not Captain Kidd. There's just no comparison with Robert Newton, and once you've seen him, you can't accept anyone else's Cockney accent as true pirate-age. Captain Kidd came five years before Treasure Island, though, and at the time it was a classic.Charles Laughton leads a band of pirates, including Randolph Scott, Gilbert Roland, and John Carradine, and captures a ship-that's what pirates do. And naturally, there's a beautiful woman with beautiful, tantalizing clothes on board who never gets bothered by the very lonely crew-also always present in pirate movies. Barbara Britton falls for Randolph Scott, of course, and there's a constant power struggle among the rowdy band of misfits. If you really liked the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty you can give this one a try. I actually did like the 1935 adventure flick but found Captain Kidd pretty boring.

A black-and-white pirate yarn with Laughton as the treacherous Captain Kidd and Randolph Scott as the aggrieved son of a nobleman, looking for revenge. Barbara Britton is the beautiful hostage.First, what a cast. Every character actor in Hollywood must have a part in this production. Second, Charles Laughton is sweaty, plump, and relishes his villainy like Richard III. He turns evil into a joke.The dialog is stilted, flowery, and a little intricate, which, I guess, is the way we think ordinary people used to speak in 1666, but it's fun to listen to. "More wine, you waddling toad" -- that sort of thing, but better. The whole movie is kind of fun, including the musical score which is definitely not by Eric Wolfgang Korngold, but rather less tuneful and with more dissonance.If you're looking for a romantic swashbuckler, this isn't it. See "Captain Blood" or "The Sea Hawk" instead. This is more of a fictionalized passage from the life of William Kidd, terror of the high seas, liar compleat, and wily slob. Since Kidd is played by Charles Laughton, Captain Kidd does not swing from ropes.

There have been many movies about pirates, some better than others. This is certainly one of the all-time silliest and most farcical. Randolph Scott looks a bit like a stuffed shirt version of Errol Flynn. His buddy, John Qualen, doesn't have much to say. He usually plays Scandinavians with a funny accent. He was the Norwegian in Casablanca. Henry Daniell was quite convincing as William III, and looked the part. There was a pretty girl, who had almost nothing to do. Otherwise the story, the script and the performances were truly laughable: so bad they were good. Only missing were Abbott and Costello, and I believe they turned up in a later version. Sample dialogue. Last pirate alive on Laughton's hilariously hidden hitlist says: "You can't kill me. I've left a letter with my lawyer, to be opened if I don't come back to London." Captain Laughton: "Spoil sport." Wink, wink, blink. I kid you not! Reminds me of "The Outlaw".However, there is one brief scene which I've watched over and over. Just about 20 minutes into this total nonsense (a better title would be "Carry on Pirating"), a gang of dirty, filthy pirates have been told to get cleaned up, and they are waiting their turn in the hot tub. One of those in the queue is a bloke with a towel round his nether parts. Stap me vitals, and shiver me timbers if this shipmate ain't Charlton Heston! Features --- both face and physique --- are a perfect fit. All that bothers me slightly is the hair, but his hair, if it was his, always did seem to sit a little oddly on his head.This film was made in 1945. In that year, according to Wikipedia, Chuck Heston had just left the army and got married, and was doing some modelling work. It does look as if he picked up a few more pennies as an extra. Can someone confirm or refudiate the possibility? It's one of the main reasons for watching this shipwreck. Three stars for the laughs.

Anyone who's thinking that they will get the story of Captain William Kidd is in for one disappointing viewing. This is not the story of the real William Kidd who in fact some say, may not even have been a pirate, merely a British privateer. There's some controversy raging to this day about whether he left some buried treasure in and around the New York City area. In fact colonial New York is where the captain's base of operations was, though New York gets the barest mention in the beginning of the film.This version of Kidd has him as a cockney with a burning ambition to rise in class. Actually Kidd was born in Scotland in either Aberdeen or Dundee depending on what source you use. He's a clever rogue, after sinking a king's ship and then accusing that noble captain of piracy.Giving that story to King William III of Orange, Kidd gets a ship and he picks a crew of cutthroats and sets sail to do more plunder.Captain Kidd suffers from two faults mainly. It's badly edited, the film clearly begins at a point where some previous action took place explaining some of what we see. Probably something of New York where Kidd began his career. A whole lot of things are left up in the air because of this. Secondly, Randolph Scott is horribly miscast in a part that Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power or Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. should have played. My guess is that none of these gentlemen could be secured for a loan out from their studios. Even Cornel Wilde or Louis Hayward would have been better.But what enjoyment you get in the film comes from Charles Laughton's florid performance as Captain Kidd. Basically what he's done is taken his Horace Prin character from White Woman and set him to sea. Laughton's overacting is nicely counterbalanced by Reginald Owen as a valet he's hired and takes to sea to teach him the fine art of being a gentleman. Laughton overacts outrageously, but I'm sure he realized that without it, the film would have been dull as dishwater.Gilbert Roland, John Carradine, and Sheldon Leonard are all part of Laughton's gang of thieves. Barbara Britton looks properly demure as a heroine caught up among them. And Henry Daniell, the man with the built in sneer in his voice, for once plays a good guy as King William.Charles Laughton fans will love Captain Kidd. And Laughton was even more outrageous when he reprised Captain Kidd when he met up with Abbott and Costello. But that's a whole other movie.