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. In any case, if a person is looking for a solid pirate movie then this one might be worth consideration.
Review of Captain Kidd
