On paper, Captain Kidd looks quite presentable. Laughton, Scott, Owen, Carradine, Daniell in a scenario by Norman Reilly Raine (Emile Zola, Robin Hood, Elizabeth and Essex, Fighting 69th, Captains of the Clouds, A Bell for Adano, etc), directed by Rowland V. Lee (Son of Frankenstein, Tower of London, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, etc.).However, in actual fact the script is awful, the direction pedestrian and excitement somewhat meager. The acting is atrocious too - but at least it's entertaining. Laughton must have signed for the film without first reading the shooting script. Certainly it's great to see him in the star part (the hero played by Randolph Scott is definitely subsidiary, while the heroine doesn't even come on till the halfway mark), but handed such impoverished lines and woeful business! However much this assignment would have defeated a lesser actor, Laughton sets to with a will, hamming up the part with such lively gusto and infectious enthusiasm as to turn the bird-droppings of an almost featherless screenplay into a veritable feast of robust entertainment. Laughton is greatly helped in his endeavors by Reginald Owen, another seasoned performer who knows all the tricks of inflection and demeanor to strike sparks of histrionic excitement from the driest pasture. John Carradine also has a nicely insinuating way with words, but the rest of the players are far less able to spin their spidery lines into threads of gold. Henry Daniell is miscast as good King William. Gilbert Roland tries hard and does most of his own fencing (while an obvious double substitutes for our hero) but misses the ingratiating charisma of a true-born villain. Mr Scott's resourceful hero signally lacks a tongue in his cheek. Miss Britton is a bland and featureless heroine.As for the production itself, it sweeps high on promise but considerably short in actual achievement. A few of the sets are remarkably lavish, but a general air of cheese-paring pervades. The pacing is slow, the action spots few and far between, the direction flat and the photography colorless. In short the film bears every sign of being soldered together in budget-conscious haste.For Laughton fans who are oblivious to all else, Captain Kidd offers a reasonably entertaining romp through the pages of piracy. For the rest of us, it's a definite disappointment.

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.

Captain Kidd (1945) starring Charles Laughton is a wonderful movie.It is stagy, and hurray for that. Stage plays with main actors like Laughton are nowhere to be seen anymore, and "stagy movies" like this one keep us reminded about the wonderful art of staged drama and great stage actors.Laughton's actor work is breathtaking...he's the star, and other actors are supporting actors.Barbara Britton, the lead actress, is physically beautiful and that's all. Good. It's a man's movie, a swashbuckler, and she's decoration. Not more. That used to be a frequent tradition in swashbuckler movies, but since women have been "liberated" and are always, and must always be..."important".....just beautiful and otherwise agreeable and quiet is not longer seen. Hurray for Barbara Britton and her leading lady character....one can understand why the leading romantic male...Randolph Scott.....was interested in her, and ended up with her.This movie is available (2009) at WalMart in bins which offer cheap, older movies. I got it for $4.00 along with twenty other movies (several very good) in a "family pack" movie which had poor labeling....I took pot luck, and lucked out! Many good movies of the past ended up "slipping through the cracks" and were never available in video stores, or ranked as "great movies," including some truly great movies! Captain Kidd (1945) starring Charles Laughton is a truly great movie. See it.How many others are "out there" unhonored and cheap to buy, sold by the likes of WalMart (the chain store we all "love to hate" but buy from frequently....and with good reason, it turns out)?-------------------Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Com and choose "Tex Allen" "resume" for contact information, movie credits, and biographical information about Tex Allen. He has reviewed more than 42 movies posted on WWW.IMDb.Com (the world's largest movie information database, owned by Amazon.Com) as of January 2011. These include: 1. Alfie (1966) 29 July 2009 2. Alien (1979) 24 July 2009 3. All the Loving Couples (1969) 17 January 2011 4. All the President's Men (1976) 16 November 2010 5. American Graffiti (1973) 22 November 2010 6. Animal House (1978) 16 August 2009 7. Bullitt (1968) 23 July 2009 8. Captain Kidd (1945) 28 July 2009 9. Child Bride (1938) 24 September 2009 10. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) 22 September 2010 11. Destination Moon (1950) 17 January 2011 12. Detour (1945) 19 November 2010 13. Die Hard 2 (1990) 23 December 2010 14. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) 19 November 2010 15. Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) 26 July 2009 16. King Solomon's Mines (1950) 1 December 2010 17. Knute Rockne All American (1940) 2 November 2010 18. Claire's Knee (1970) 15 August 2009 19. Melody Ranch (1940) 10 November 2010 20. Morning Glory (1933) 19 November 2010 21. Mush and Milk (1933) 17 January 2011 22. New Moon (1940) 3 November 2010 23. Pinocchio (1940) 6 November 2010 24. R2PC: Road to Park City (2000) 19 November 2010 25. Salt (2010) 24 August 2010 26. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) 21 January 2011 27. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 1 December 2010 28. The Forgotten Village (1941) 21 January 2011 29. The Great Dictator (1940) 1 November 2010 30. The King's Speech (2010) 19 January 2011 31. The Last Emperor (1987) 20 January 2011 32. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) 9 January 2011 33. The Man in the White Suit (1951) 5 August 2009 34. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 5 November 2010 35. The Social Network (2010) 19 January 2011 36. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) 1 August 2009 37. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) 14 August 2009 38. The Witchmaker (1969) 21 July 2009 39. Thousands Cheer (1943) 3 December 2010 40. Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) 24 November 2010 41. Wake Up and Live (1937) 27 July 2009 42. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 1 August 2009 A full list of Tex Allen's movie reviews appearing on WWW.IMDb.Com with links to full texts of reviews is accessible via: http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments Tex Allen's email address is [email protected] Tes Allen Movie Credits, Biography, and 2012 photos at WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen. See other Tex Allen written movie reviews....more almost 100 titles.... at: "http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments" (paste this address into your URL Browser)

Charles Laughton offers an over the top performance which spices up what's otherwise a low budget Pirate yarn now circulating the bins of various dollar stores. John Carradine's performance's unusually restrained while Barbara Britton gets little to do other than be frightened and weep. The largest crowd scenes are saved for the prison and hanging at the end of the movie. There is one decently staged fencing sequence near the end where Randolf Scott dispatches Gilbert Roland as Jose Lorenzo. The ship models and occasionally painted backdrops are very obvious, as is the reuse of an exploding ship in both prelude and middle of the flick. Keep an eye out for Sheldon Leonard in his before "I Spy" producer days.