Watch Captain Kidd For Free

Just perfect...

Instant Favorite.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Absolutely Brilliant!

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

After looting the ship "The Twelve Apostles" in the waters near Madagascar, "Captain William Kidd" (Charles Laughton) destroys it with everyone on board. Dead men tell no tales. He and a handful of remaining pirates then bury the treasure chest in a cave and head back to England. Once there he convinces King William III (Henry Daniell) to allow him to escort the ship "Quidagh Merchant" through the same waters near Madagascar. Obviously, Captain Kidd has no concern for this ship and he is only interested in himself. As a matter of fact, the reason he is so interested in this particular ship is because it is laden with treasure and as an extra bonus it also carries a noblewoman by the name of "Lady Anne Dunstan" (Barbara Britton). But before he can set sail he is allowed to recruit some prisoners for his crew and among these is a particularly astute one named "Adam Mercy" (Randolph Scott). Anyway, rather than disclose any more of the story I will just say that this was a decent pirate movie all things considered. Although I thought Charles Laughton was rather miscast for the role of Captain Kidd I thought he performed it well enough all the same. I also liked the performances of John Carradine (as "Orange Povey"), Gilbert Roland ("Jose Lorenzo"), Reginald Owen ("Cary Shadwell") and the aforementioned Randolph Scott. Also worth mentioning is the talented and beautiful Barbara Britton (as "Lady Anne Dunstan"). In any case, if a person is looking for a solid pirate movie then this one might be worth consideration.

There have been many movies about pirates, some better than others. This is certainly one of the all-time silliest and most farcical. Randolph Scott looks a bit like a stuffed shirt version of Errol Flynn. His buddy, John Qualen, doesn't have much to say. He usually plays Scandinavians with a funny accent. He was the Norwegian in Casablanca. Henry Daniell was quite convincing as William III, and looked the part. There was a pretty girl, who had almost nothing to do. Otherwise the story, the script and the performances were truly laughable: so bad they were good. Only missing were Abbott and Costello, and I believe they turned up in a later version. Sample dialogue. Last pirate alive on Laughton's hilariously hidden hitlist says: "You can't kill me. I've left a letter with my lawyer, to be opened if I don't come back to London." Captain Laughton: "Spoil sport." Wink, wink, blink. I kid you not! Reminds me of "The Outlaw".However, there is one brief scene which I've watched over and over. Just about 20 minutes into this total nonsense (a better title would be "Carry on Pirating"), a gang of dirty, filthy pirates have been told to get cleaned up, and they are waiting their turn in the hot tub. One of those in the queue is a bloke with a towel round his nether parts. Stap me vitals, and shiver me timbers if this shipmate ain't Charlton Heston! Features --- both face and physique --- are a perfect fit. All that bothers me slightly is the hair, but his hair, if it was his, always did seem to sit a little oddly on his head.This film was made in 1945. In that year, according to Wikipedia, Chuck Heston had just left the army and got married, and was doing some modelling work. It does look as if he picked up a few more pennies as an extra. Can someone confirm or refudiate the possibility? It's one of the main reasons for watching this shipwreck. Three stars for the laughs.

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.