hyped garbage

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

One of the worst Abbott and Costello films. It's a boring drag of a movie to sit through. I didn't laugh once but the movie seems less interested in comedy than adventure and romance, both of which are weak at best. Dreadful songs as well. Beautiful Hillary Brooke's career was on a downward slope here and it shows. Charles Laughton appears to be having some fun as Captain Kidd. Unfortunately, I didn't really have fun along with him. I wish I could point to one thing and say "remove that and you have a good picture" but unfortunately I can't. It's just a poorly made unfunny comedy with bad songs and way too much focus on everybody who isn't Abbott and Costello. For A&C completists only.

I'm a huge fan of A&C and realized that the Captain Kidd story was not part of my collection. I have noticed from other comments that the viewing copies of both Jack and The Beanstalk and A&C Meet Captain Kidd are horrendous...I did get to see the Jack and the Beanstalk..and was appalled at the transfer. My being a cinematographer here in Hollywood I know that if these films were brought to a decent telecine house that amazing improvements can be made to the original color. It's a matter of getting the original negative from the print to start with then having a good colorist to work on it! So that being said...if anyone knows if and when the A&C Meet Captain Kidd will be on DVD...or if it has already been out there. I would love to see it. Noticed that Rio Rita is not available on DVD either. Also is A&C Meet Captain Kidd public domain?

Charles Laughton did a badly edited biographical film of Captain Kidd in 1945 although his performance as the cockney captain with aspirations to class is memorable. We don't often get a second crack at roles when they don't become mega-hits, but Laughton got it and made the most of it.Laughton got one here although he had to take on Abbott and Costello as co-stars. But I will say that the distinguished Mr. Laughton more than held his own with those two burlesque comics. Especially when you consider that his co-stars names were in the title of the film.Of course it was fans of A&C who went to see the film, but you get your audiences from where they come. Check Laughton's deadpan face when he's doing the old handcuff gag where Costello thinks he's got Captain Kidd cuffed behind his back and helpless. They did the same routine on their television show with Gordon Jones as Mike the Cop and the results are just as hilarious.Speaking of the television show, Hillary Brooke from the cast of their show is also on hand as Laughton's rival, Captain Bonnie. Fran Warren and Bill Shirley have a great pair of voices, too bad the songs that they got to sing in the film aren't worthy of them.Abbott and Costello were on a downward slide of their careers, but this film does hearken back to their early days at Universal when they were grinding out a whole bunch of comedy gems. But the thing that has always gotten me about this film is the way Charles Laughton just dove right in to the slapstick spirit of this movie. Costello was known for not getting along with several of his co-stars, many of them had less than kind things to say. But according to observers, Laughton got along just fine with the boys.You can tell by the side splitting results.

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.