Review of Captain Kidd

Anyone watching this movie expecting epic sea battles and nonstop action will likely be disappointed, but for those viewers who grasp that it's essentially a black comedy, there is much entertainment to be found. Charles Laughton plays Kidd as a conniving buffoon who seeks to finagle his way into a peerage. John Carradine steals the show as Povey, the satanic looking henchman to Kidd. His basso profundo voice and intense eyes have seldom been put to better effect. The other scalawags in the crew include character actors Gilbert Roland, Abner Biberman and Sheldon Leonard, with a nice bit by John Qualen as hero Randolph Scott's loyal sidekick. Scott seems a bit out of place on a ship's quarterdeck instead of a horse, but he manages to do a good job with his heroic role anyway. The film shows its minuscule budget through the repeated use of stock footage, cramped sets and more talk than action, but it compensates with colorfully written and played characters.SPOILERS AHEAD: Two of the best scenes occur near the beginning and end. In the first, a crew of cutthroats led by Kidd haul a treasure chest into a cave to bury it. One of the rogues remarks that it's deep enough to bury a man in. An argument ensues when Kidd gets annoyed at his underlings having the nerve to demand to inspect the chest first. He finally loses patience with the most demanding sea dog, and shoots him. When the dead pirate falls into the hole with the chest, they bury him along with it. Later, Kidd, Povey and hero Adam Mercy ( Scott) dig up the chest. When Mercy finds a human skull, he asks, "Who might this be?" and Carradine replies in a menacingly polite growl, " Perhaps a man who asked too many questions!" There's great fun to be had with this movie for lovers of pirate flicks. Mention should also be made of the dry, comic turn by Reginald Owen as the valet hired by Kidd to teach him respectable society ways. He takes this small part and makes the character into a believable, appealing individual, and not just for comedy alone. Anyone who likes old pirate movies ought to check this one out for a very good time.