Abbott y Costello contra el Capitán Kidd

An underwhelming later entry for the comedy team, this is of interest only because it's a color film which provides a chance to see Charles Laughton yucking it up as the title baddie. But there's very little meat to chew on while watching Bud and Lou act as hapless waiters sailing aboard the ship of the mean old Captain Kidd (Laughton). Of course there are many recycled older gags ... two of them include: Lou accidentally dropping a bar of soap into Kidd's soup and producing bubbles from everyone's mouthes (just how exhausted was that routine by this time?), and also Lou having a chance to rough Kidd up a bit while the pirate's hands are chained behind his back. (This latter bit was so much better performed when it was William Bendix as the recipient back in 1943's WHO DONE IT?). Hillary Brooke is on hand as a tough-acting blonde, easier on the eyes than a crew full of obnoxious men. ** out of ****

I don't mind that the movie has no plot or that it's so noisy my 90-year old grandmother complained or that Charles Laughton thinks he's the one who should supply the laughs and not the menace. What I do mind is that A&C have so little to do. They manage a few bits, but these are crowded out by the chaotic knock-about. It's like someone said we don't have a script or any routines, so let's just run around, make noise, and maybe no one will notice. Maybe the best thing is the really great special effects. The masted ships and sea battle look like they come from an A-production, which they may have. But even the explosions on the sea-shore sets are well done. Too bad the rest of the movie doesn't rise to that level. And pity the poor regally composed Hillary Brooke who looks like she's missing all the mayhem, at the same time Laughton manages more mugs per minute than a race car generates RPM's. In my little book, this is one of the least of the 5 or 6 entries in the A&C Meets... series.

Bud and Lou only made two color films--this and "Jack and the Beanstalk"--and for some reason the color on both of them is terrible, with this the worst of the two. For some unfathomable reason it was shot in shoddy Cinecolor, which was a cheap alternative to Technicolor developed mostly so low-budget producers could afford to make color films (Technicolor was too expensive for those smaller outfits). However, since this film was made by Warner Bros. you have to wonder why the studio didn't shoot it in Technicolor instead of cheap, muddy Cinecolor; it's not like Warners couldn't afford it! Anyway, the lousy photography detracts from what could have been, with a few improvements, a much more enjoyable film. It's good to see Hillary Brooke in color; the miserable quality of the photography can't hide the fact that she's a stunningly beautiful woman, with an icy, regal sexiness reminiscent of Grace Kelly or Eva Marie Saint. However, the romantic subplot between her and the terminally bland Bill Shirley is a complete bust, as the two have no chemistry whatsoever and you find yourself wondering what a babe like Hillary is doing with a slug like him. In addition, everything comes to a screeching halt so they can throw in some interminable, and third-rate, musical numbers. The picture would have been better off with fewer of them. In fact, it would have been better off with NONE of them.

That being said, however, this is still an enjoyable film, although far from prime A&C. The boys are starting to show their age, and their timing is a little off in spots, but they still know how to wring laughs out of a script as lame as this one. Besides, Charles Laughton is really fun to watch. It's said that he agreed to do this film because he thought Lou Costello was one of the industry's best physical comics; he had always wanted to do slapstick, and figured if you're gonna do it, learn from the best. He acquits himself quite well, too, even though every so often you can see where he tries a bit too hard; some of his bits look like they were precisely rehearsed, which they no doubt were, but good comedy isn't supposed to look like it was rehearsed. Still, he seems to be having a whale of a good time, and considering that he had never done anything like this before, does a very impressive job.

As I said, this is hardly Bud & Lou's best, but it's not among their worst ("Dance With Me Henry" holds that honor) or even their not particularly good ("A&C Go to Mars"). The two best things about it, besides Bud & Lou, are Laughton and Hillary Brooke; she's truly gorgeous, and it's easy to see why Costello used her as his love interest in the team's TV series. If you haven't seen this film before, it's worth checking out.

I taped this off UK TV in 1988 – the washed out condition of the print even then made it look as if it could be from 300 years ago, but recently seeing the even more degraded copy TCM US is showing made me think it really was! How did this get into such a state – the wobbly cheap colour and choppy copies from multiple TV dupes haven't helped to be sure, but it all makes it a bit of an ordeal to sit through without rose-tinted glasses on.

At the cutely named Death's Head Tavern Bud & Lou unwittingly join forces with Charles Laughton playing Captain Kidd on the track of a treasure island – much fun is made of the map of Skull Island continually getting mixed up with Lou's supposed My Darling Darling Darling love letter. Add a deliberately devilish Leif Erickson as a sidekick for Laughton and elegant Hilary Brook as a pantomime Captain Bonney for something good to look at and you have the main crew. There's plenty of lusty non-pc songs, maybe too many but some not too bad and all well sung, my favourite being the romantic Speak To Me sung by the corny romantic leads on the pirate ship. It was the 2nd of the two films A&C did for Warners in 1952 (this was Bud's choice, Jack was Lou's), and was amazingly successful noisy slapstick at the time; the reason given by Laughton as to why he accepted the role was to learn how to do double takes from Costello. He generally hammed it up nicely and he and the boys in particular seemed to enjoy themselves, but it all seemed a bit too laboured at times.

For anyone new who might be interested in A&C this is not the film to start with, unless you're under 10 years old. And yet … I still end up watching this jolly nonsense every five years or so, never mind the grotty condition.

This curiosity bears a title liable to raise eyebrows when discerning viewers notice it among Charles Laughton's credits and are too squeamish to investigate any further; the knowledge that Laughton made it simply so that he could afford to purchase a painting increasing their trepidation. But if you are rash enough to actually watch it Laughton seems to be actively enjoying himself.

Although every expense has plainly been spared, it was the top grosser of 1953, benefits from being photographed in colour by veteran cameraman Stanley Cortez; while Laughton is well matched by Hillary Brooke giving a lusty, thigh-slapping portrayal of Anne Bonney in tight britches and principal boy boots.