Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd * (1952, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Charles Laughton, Hillary Brooke, Leif Erickson) – Classic Movie Review 12,552

Charles Laughton re-creates his 1945 role as the infamous pirate Captain Kidd for silly laughs in 1952. He signed on for cheap in a career slump. Abbott and Costello found a way to get their film made in colour: they produced it themselves. 

Director Charles Lamont’s 1952 comedy film Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd finds Charles Laughton re-creating his role from the 1945 film Captain Kidd as the infamous pirate Captain Kidd for laughs in a farcical movie starring the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Laughton signed on for cheap while in a career slump. Abbott and Costello found a way to get it filmed in colour: they produced it themselves.

Rocky and Puddin’ Head (Bud and Lou) are stuck on a pirate island and kidnapped by famous cutthroats Captain Kidd (Laughton) and Captain Bonney (Brooke).

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd is a silly but lusty and harmless pirate send-up. Unfortunately, the movie suffers from sub-standard Abbott and Costello lunacy and duff ditties. However, a slumming Laughton enjoys himself in an entertaining, out-of-character, broad-comedy performance as Captain Kidd.

Laughton was in a career slump and agreed to film it for only $25,000. He then appeared with them on an episode of the Colgate Comedy Hour and the three also filmed a two-minute commercial for Christmas seals (labels placed on mail during the Christmas season to raise funds and awareness for charity).

Also in the cast are Leif Erickson, Fran Warren, Bill Shirley, Syd Saylor, Lester Dorr, Joe Kirk, Rex Lease, Leonard Mudie, Paul Newlan, Millicent Patrick, Suzanne Ridgeway, Harry Wilson, and Frank Yaconelli.

It was filmed from 27 February 1952 to 25 March 1952, and released on 27 December 1952. It cost $701,688 and earned $2 million at the US box office.

It runs 70 minutes.

It is the second film in SuperCineColor, a three-colour version of the two-colour Cinecolor process that used an Eastmancolor negative. It follows Abbott and Costello’s first colour film, Jack and the Beanstalk, filmed using Costello’s company Exclusive Productions.

Universal refused to pay to film it in colour, so they decided to do it themselves. Their Universal contract allowed them to make one independent film a year, so they made it using Abbott’s company, Woodley Productions.

English actor Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Hillary Brooke (September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) was born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson. She co-starred in three Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942), Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) and The Woman in Green (1945). She played a tenant at the rooming house where Bud and Lou lived in early 1950s TV’s The Abbott and Costello Show. She also appeared in their film Africa Screams (1949).

The cast are Bud Abbott as Rocky Stonebridge, Lou Costello as Oliver Johnson (alias Captain “Puddin’ Head” Feathergill), Charles Laughton as Captain William Kidd, Hillary Brooke as Captain Bonney, Bill Shirley as Bruce Martingale, Leif Erickson as Morgan, Fran Warren as Lady Jane, Bill Shirley, Syd Saylor, Lester Dorr, Joe Kirk, Rex Lease, Leonard Mudie, Paul Newlan, Millicent Patrick, Suzanne Ridgeway, Harry Wilson, and Frank Yaconelli.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,552

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