Directed by:
Charles LamontCinematography:
Stanley CortezComposer:
Raoul KraushaarCast:
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Charles Laughton, Hillary Brooke, Bill Shirley, Leif Erickson, Fran Warren, Lester Dorr, Frank Yaconelli, Syd Saylor, Harry Wilson (more)Plots(1)
Though out of favor with many Abbott and Costello buffs, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd is actually a lot of fun, so long as the viewer parks logic and dignity at the door. Captain Kidd is played by no less than charles Laughton, who reportedly agreed to sign up for this film because he wanted to learn how to perform a comedy double-take. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are cast as Rocky and Puddn'head, waiters at a pirate hangout on the island of Tortuga. Entrusted with a love letter written by the beautiful Lady Jane (Fran Warren) to cabaret singer Bruce Martingale (Bill Shirley), Puddn'head manages to get this missive mixed up with a treasure map coveted by both Captain Kidd and his rival, lady pirate Captain Bonney (Hillary Brooke). The upshot of all this finds Rocky, Pudd'nhead, Lady Jane and Bruce being shanghaied by Kidd, setting the stage for a climactic treasure hunt and chase on a faraway island. Laughton takes to broad slapstick comedy like a fish to water; indeed, at times he's a lot funnier than Bud and Lou! Filmed in Cinecolor, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd was the second of the team's independent productions for Warner Bros. release; like the first, Jack and the Beanstalk, it was well received by the public, even while critics tore their hair and gnashed their teeth. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Bud Abbott
USA
Best movies:
Who Done It? (1942)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Lou Costello
USA
Best movies:
Who Done It? (1942)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Charles Laughton
UK
Best movies:
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
It Started with Eve (1941)
Spartacus (1960)
Hillary Brooke
USA
Best movies:
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Strange Woman (1946)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Bill Shirley
USA
Best movies:
My Fair Lady (1964)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Flying Tigers (1942)
Leif Erickson
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
Fran Warren
USA
Lester Dorr
USA
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Frank Yaconelli
Italy
Best movies:
It Happened One Night (1934)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Syd Saylor
USA
Best movies:
Gaslight (1944)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Harry Wilson
UK
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Modern Times (1936)
Rex Lease
USA
Best movies:
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
Brute Force (1947)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Suzanne Ridgway
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Millicent Patrick
USA
Best movies:
Limelight (1952)
Lust for Life (1956)
Westward the Women (1951)
Paul Newlan
USA
Best movies:
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
We're No Angels (1955)
If I Were King (1938)
Joe Kirk
USA
Best movies:
Phantom Lady (1944)
The Web (1947)
Who Done It? (1942)
Leonard Mudie
UK
Best movies:
Limelight (1952)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)