LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

weezeralfalfa A decade earlier, Charles Laughton had played a 'monster' Captain Bligh, in "Mutiny on the Bounty". Here, he plays another 'monster' sea captain, in Captain Kidd: a greedy, treacherous, privateer and pirate captain. He would rob and sink British merchant ships in his pirate phase, and literally stab some of his crew in the back. Don't hold the real Captain Kidd accountable for any of the specific crimes dramatized There is little historically accurate about him in this film. To what extent he was, in fact, a dangerous pirate, is still controversial. As dramatized at one point in the King's court, Laughton didn't have the physique or bearing expected of a notorious pirate. I don't know how he compares in these regards with the real Kidd... Laughton also played Kidd in the later "Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd" which, with its comedic features and periodic songs, I find a more pleasing experience than the present film.Randolph Scott, using the pseudonym Adam Mercy, is the stereotypical hero of this era, besting the scoundrel played by Gilbert Roland, in a rapier duel over Roland's unwelcomed amorous pawing of Lady Anne(Barbara Britton). As in the cases of "The Adventures of Robin Hood", and "Captain Blood", for example, Scott is characterized as having been a gentleman, but circumstances dictated that he play rogue during much of the film. He also plays an important role in countering Kidd's lies to King Charles, leading to Kidd's hanging.I must say, Mercy seemed to have more lives than a cat. He was knocked unconscious, then pushed off a small cliff into the sea. He wasn't observed to surface, yet somehow managed to avoid drowning, and swam to the ship. A little later, he and Anne stole a landing boat during the night. They were spotting and several cannon balls shot at them, one blowing the boat to bits. Yet, the 2 survived with no apparent injuries. Apparently, they were picked up, once onshore by a friend of Mercy and put on a ship going to England. Surprisingly, they arrived in London before Kidd, and thus had a chance to tell about his sinking of 2 British Merchant ships, robbing of their treasure chest, and murder of some of his crew. He robbed and blew up the very merchant ship the King had sent him to protect from pirates! Thus, one reason I don't much like this film is the improbability of Mercy surviving intact all these challenges. Also, the B&W photography and frequent scenes in near darkness contributes to a depressing mood. The last part is so rushed, you have the feeling the director had to catch a train....Suggest you watch "The Captain's Kid" instead. Both are viewable at YouTube.

Bill Slocum Any Charles Laughton vehicle involving the actor playing an outrageous villain holds definite promise. More the shame that any treasure here is consigned so quickly to Davy Jones' locker.History suggests the historical William Kidd was either an ethically challenged but decent-for-his-day privateer or a traduced innocent. Laughton dispenses with subtleties and portrays him as a fiendish scoundrel, bent on gold and glory any way he can get it. To that end, he enlists inmates of Newgate Prison, including chained-up Adam Mercy (Randolph Scott), as his crew, wanting a company of cutthroats while telling the king they will be motivated by the promise of a pardon."Between their conduct and mine, your majesty, there will be little to choose," he assures King William III (Henry Daniell).Such a mordant sensibility speaks well for the approach taken by director Rowland V. Lee and writer Norman Reilly Raine, accomplished studio veterans both. With Laughton chewing the scenery in his enjoyably hammy way, you might reasonably expect a decent comic adventure to unfold. But things fall apart once Kidd sets sail with his new crew.A big problem for the film is the suffocating performance of Scott, a fine actor when the part suited him, which it doesn't at all here. The Virginia accent is only the surface issue. Deeper still is the fact his character is supposedly a crafty one playing a part, which is more than can be said for Scott himself, hitting his marks and saying his lines with dull efficiency. There's no energy, no reactive spark, rendering his performance deadweight in any film but more so with Laughton playing his part with eye-blinking, lip- smacking glee. They don't belong in the same film.The film makes matters worse by keeping nearly all the action inside Kidd's vessel, as he does away with dim lackies and crosses them off a list he keeps in a secret desk compartment, so even the slowest viewers can keep track. "People have such an awkward habit of getting in my way," he sneers. As other reviewers here note, there's little in the way of swordfights or sea battle to distract you from the rote story.Kidd's big play involves sailing up to a Royal vessel transporting valuable cargo, stealing said cargo, and blowing up the ship, something he seems to think he can get away with even with the captain's daughter, beautiful love interest Lady Anne (Barbara Britton) along for the ride as an honored passenger. A better film would show some real plotting. Lee just gives us close-up after close-up of the ruthless captain curling his lips. We get it already; he's a bad, bad guy.At least in the first half his comic possibilities are decently teased out. Kidd tries his hand at gentlemanly behavior with the huffy tutoring of a valet (Reginald Owen) and exchanges veiled threats with John Carradine as the one subordinate not so foolish as to trust him. Laughton even endures a few fat jokes. A royal aide scoffs at Kidd's play for nobility: "The fellow treats of a title so lightly he must be bursting with noble blood…though I confess he keeps it well-hid."But the more the film goes on, the lazier it gets. Kidd kills with ridiculous ease. Mercy's heroism is presented so squarely Scott with his unpiratey mien and silly wig begins to look like George Washington come off Mount Rushmore. Occasionally he exchanges stage whispers with a valet (John Qualen), detailing a ludicrous backstory about seeking to redeem and avenge his father.The ways Mercy keeps ahead of Kidd's wrath likewise cry plot convenience, except in this case the plot is so thin already it can't bear any strain. The finale is so rushed and nonsensical that it seems clear that everyone associated with "Captain Kidd" was ready to call it a day.That is, except Laughton, who gets to deliver one final soliloquy. Like the character he plays, his tragedy in this film is failing to notice his ship has long since sailed.

Rainey Dawn This film is a fictional story of a real man in history: Captain William Kidd. The real Captain Kidd lived from c. 22 January 1645 – 23 May 1701 (death by hanging for piracy) but that is another story.Captain Kidd (1945) is a worthy sea adventure - a pretty good drama. Great casting lead by Charles Laughton as William Kidd, supported by John Carradine as Orange Povey, Randolph Scott as Adam Mercy & Barbara Britton as Lady Anne Dunstan.The film is what you would expect from a film of this nature: gold, swashbuckling fight scenes, sunken ships, back-stabbing, treachery, stormy seas, stealing -- just an all around fun adventure film.8/10

zardoz-13 The pirate movie "Captain Kidd" opens with narration over an explosive battle at sea that establishes the setting, the characters, and the rationale for action on the part of the Randolph Scott hero. Interestingly, this sea battle is the only one that occurs in this otherwise formulaic pirate movie that concerns stolen treasure, an abducted female aristocrat, and honor. Indeed, "Captain Kidd" has more dialogue sequences than it has action sequences with cannons being fired and ships sinking into the briny deep. Granted, it isn't the best, nor is it the worst."Madagascar," booms the narrator, "for centuries the bloodiest cockpit of all the seas where the infamous brotherhood of the damned waited to plunder the treasure laden galleons of India and . . . then return drunken with slaughter to their pirate stronghold of the last hope. Most ruthless of all was Captain William Kidd. He encountered the great London galleon The Twelve Apostles commanded by Admiral Lord Blaine and approaching unsuspected in the guise of a peaceful merchant by a sudden treacherous salvo reduced her to a burning hulk. When night fell, the Twelve Apostles was only a blazing funeral pyre on the placid surface of a Madagascar lagoon." At this point, Captain Kidd (Oscar winner Charles Laughton of "The Private Life of Henry VIII") and his accomplices bury the booty from The Twelve Apostles as well as prizes from other ships. Before they lower the treasure chest into a hole that they have dug in a cave, Kidd's cutthroats want one more glance at the treasure that they have acquired through acts of piracy. No sooner does one pirate observe that the pit is deep enough to bury a man than Kidd shoots him and they bury the dead man with their loot.The year is 1699. At Hampton Court Palace, one of King William II's advisors proposes that His Majesty authorize Captain Kidd to sail under the British flag. At this point, the English believe Kidd has attacked only Spanish ships. Kidd tells the King that he fell into the hands of a ship commanded by Blaine, a high-ranking British officer that had turned pirate. Of course, Kidd is lying. Nevertheless, William outlines Kidd's task: "And now captain, the main mission of your cruise is to meet a great ship, the Quida Merchant, sailing from India with vast treasures and to give her safe conduct in my name past the waters of Madagascar." As his reward, Kidd requests that William give him Admiral Blaine's castle and lands. Initially, William reacts with horror at the notion that Kidd plans to recruit a crew from Newgate Prison. Kidd defends himself, "There's none would be so loyal, nor fight so desperate, as cutthroats under sentence of death... if they knew that at the end of the voyage a royal pardon would be in their pockets." Among the pirates imprisoned in Newgate Prison is Adam Mercy (Randolph Scott of "Virginia City") and his best friend Bart Blivens (John Qualen of "The Searchers).Meanwhile, the scheming captain contemplates more than merely protecting one of his Majesty's ships. He keeps a list of comrades that he aims to kill and tries to figure out a way to serve best the King and himself. No sooner has Mercy come aboard than Kidd suspects that he is an agent of the King William, particularly when Mercy refuses to drink a toast to the sovereign. Meanwhile, the treacherous Kidd whittles down his accomplices so that none will survive to share the booty from The Twelve Apostles. At the same time, we learn that Mercy isn't really Mercy, but he is the son of Admiral Blaine. Mercy/Blaine wants to clear his later father's good name. It seems that William branded him as a pirate, as a result of the encounter between Kidd and him.Anyway, Kidd has an ocean rendezvous with the treasure ship. He sends his cohort Jose Lorenzo (Gilbert Roland of "Any Gun Can Play") into the powder magazine to supervise the transfer of ammunition. In fact, Lorenzo leaves a burning candle attached to several fuses. Not long afterward, the British ship vanishes in a terrific explosion and sinks. Before the ship goes down, the captain, Lord Fallsworth (Lumsden Hare of "Rogue's March") and the comely Lady Anne Dunstan (Barbara Britton of "Bwana Devil"), are climbing aboard Kidd's ship. Kidd doesn't waste time with Fallsworth. As the treasure chest is hoisted up in a net, Kidd pushes it and the net with its chest flies back and strikes the captain, knocking him overboard to his death into a long ship below. Appropriately, Lady Anne is horrified. Later, Lorenzo makes a play for her affections. She screams, and Mercy comes to her rescue. Kidd and another comrade Orange Povey (John Carradine of "The Grapes of Wrath") watch as Mercy defeats him in a swordfight."Captain Kidd" boasts a fine, first-rate cast including Gilbert Roland, horror icon John Carradine, and several notable character actors, but the action is confined to ship sets, prison interiors, and no sea battles take place after the battle at the beginning of the story.Laughton later reprised his role as the nefarious pirate in the 1952 Universal Studios' comedy "Abbot and Costello Meet Captain Kidd." Director Roland V. Lee, who directed a hodgepodge of every genre in Hollywood, keeps the action moving ahead—especially when there's nothing but dialogue—so that "Captain Kidd" is more than tolerable entertainment, nothing great, but watchable on a rainy day. Laughton with his hammy chops chews the scenery with relish, while Randolph Scott does nothing to conceal his Virginia accent. Interestingly, this was director Roland V. Lee's last movie to direct and the last one that his brother Robert N. Lee to provided with a story. Norman Reilly Raine, who penned two Errol Flynn features "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex," wrote the screenplay that contains some clever dialogue.