Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)

It is a performances centric movie

Best movie ever!

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Abbott and Costello got to skewer a lot of different film genres like Westerns, horror, high society and the military branches, so I guess it was time to turn their attention to pirates on the high seas. Quite honestly, I don't know how Charles Laughton got maneuvered into appearing here, although if you keep an eye on his facials, he seems to be having a good time in a bunch of spots. Even so far as to descending into slapstick and breaking the fourth wall once to address the viewer directly. Maybe he needed a break in between serious roles.Laughton also portrayed the infamous sea pirate in 1945's "Captain Kidd", but this time he wasn't going up against Randolph Scott. With the comedy duo you're bound to get caught up in all manner of dubious circumstances, and it was no different here. The story is loosely built around the misplacement of a treasure map, with a supporting cast of characters jostling their way through one pratfall after another on the way to Skull Island. Speaking of which, I had to wonder if maybe King Kong might have been right around the corner. Say, that might have been another film for the boys, "Abbott and Costello meet King Kong".If the idea wasn't so far fetched, one might consider this picture to be a musical, there were certainly enough songs in it. I counted six myself, but when all is said and done, none of them were noteworthy or even all that memorable. A couple of them were performed by supporting players Fran Warren (as Lady Jane), and Bill Shirley as her paramour Bruce Martingale, but if you think about it, the pair didn't really seem to be involved in any romance to speak of.Rounding out the cast was a mainstay from the Abbott and Costello TV series, Hillary Brooke, looking fetching as ever as a rival pirate captain. Given her name in the story, I'm surprised the film makers missed a huge opportunity by not referring to her character Bonney as one who lies over the ocean.

Capt. William Kidd (Charles Laughton) and his rancorous crew have descended on the port city where Oliver "Puddin' Head" Johnson (Lou Costello) and Rocky Stonebridge (Bud Abbott) work as tavern waiters. Lady Jane asks the two idiots to deliver a love note to the Bruce Martingale. Capt. Kidd takes Capt. Anne Bonney (Hillary Brooke) to find his treasure on Skull Island. Puddin' Head mistakenly switches the treasure map with the love letter. Capt. Kidd shanghais the two idiots for the map but the bumbling continues.This is a pretty broad old comedy. It's not a classic by any means but it has its cute moments. The duo is fun although not terribly funny. Laughton is great as Kidd. I don't think I laughed but I smiled at a lot of it.

While Abbott & Costello don't make much swash buckling in this story, the color in this color feature is horrible, & the musical numbers even worse, they did one thing right.Charles Laughton as Captain Kidd is easily the films greatest asset. The way he plays off Costello is great. Too bad there is not enough of it to save the film. There is way too little of the boys, & way too much horrible music in a short 70 minute film.Sad thing is the idea could have been so much more. This is one film where the tickets were sold on the title, but the viewers were disappointed. While it is not their worst because of Laughton, it is no where near the teams best film.At least it is the boys in color. Besides Jack & The Beanstalk which also has terrible music & color, this is the only other color film they did. Color me blue that a great idea gets wasted.

I have just finished watching this film 30 seconds ago and I must make a few comments.Abbott and Costello on the High Seas in full color. The High Seas: a good idea. The full color: a bad idea. The cinematography ends up being grainy and the color washed out. In the end, this detracts from the film and actually makes some of the gags fall flat, simply from being distracted. As far as A+C are concerned, this is a slightly below par outing. The gags aren't that great to begin with, and there are really no scenes of the characteristic A+C bantering. Not that it is terrible, mind you. But the overall performance is subpar.What is truly fun to watch is Charles Laughton. Admittedly, I am a Charles Laughton fan. I think he has largely been overlooked for what a great actor he was, and it is rather unfortunate that his directing output was limited to the one masterpiece, Night of the Hunter. What is so wonderful about his performance? The fact that the filmmakers decided to make it humorous.If you think about it, Charles Laughton cast in the role of Captain Kidd really screams for a Kidd-cum-Bligh from Mutiny of the Bounty. I expected Laughton to spend the entire film shouting and talking tough in that clipped manner that he used for Captain Bligh. And while there was plenty of shouting and tough-talking, there were plenty of moments of comedy on the part of Captain Kidd. It seems that the filmmakers, instead of being completely serious, tried to go for the gag whenever possible. I love that.It also shows off the comedic possibilities of Charles Laughton that went almost completely unnoticed during his career. Only every once in a great while did they manifest themselves, such as his wonderful performance in Witness for the Prosecution. It is rather unfortunate that many great actors got pseudo-typecast in serious roles and never got to explore their comedic talents in full. Such as Bogart, who got very few comedic roles but shined in the ones he did have (such as Sabrina and We're No Angels). Why is that these great actors, while well-renowned for drama, could and should have excelled at comedy? Because great actors excel at the most critical element of comedy:Timing.Timing is essential to all comedy and they had it. This shows itself most in snappy banter. Just as Humphrey Bogart was able to banter well with William Holden in Sabrina, Charles Laughton banters well in brief flashes with Lou Costello. Take the scene where Lou draws a mustache on the portrait of Captain Kidd, only to have it roll away while Lou turns and the real Captain Kidd appears.Lou: I could've sworn I drew a mustache on that pictureKidd: Well you didn'tLou: I didn't?Kidd: NopeIs this exchange something that Captain Bligh would've done? Absolutely not. But they did it here. And text nowhere near does justice to the splendid timing of this exchange, though sadly it only took 2 seconds of film. There are a few other brief moments like this that demonstrate what a comedic talent Charles Laughton could have been. And there are moments of slapstick as well. When Charles Laughton does a little sailor dance after what seemed a victory over Lou, I nearly hurt myself laughing. It was such a silly and wonderfully outrageous thing to do.Don't get me wrong, this is not to say that Charles Laughton's performance was a comedic gem, no. For the most part is was bellowing and shouting that you would expect. But the fact that the filmmakers did not take it that seriously throughout the entire film made it wonderful to me. In every movie, there are moments for each character where they are faced with a choice: do I go for the serious portrayal, or do I go for the gag? It was my pleasure that with Charles Laughton's mostly serious role, when these choices arose, he went for the gag. And I loved it.So, overall, this film is a meh. But if you do decide to watch this film, (and why not?) then keep an eye out for Charles Laughton and I'm sure, like me, you'll wish he had done more comedy.P.S. I would also like to go on the record as stating that Hillary Brooke is, indeed, hot. Actually, she's not just hot. She's HAWT.