Captain Kidd (The Film Detective Restored Version)

Wildly inaccurate history, but, hey, it's Hollywood. Kidd was innocent. Laughton is great. His scenes with the butler are comedic gems.

Good pirate movie in black n white.

Historically inaccurate but fun just the same. This film features several well known actors: Randolph Scott, John Carradine, Gilbert Roland, Henry Daniell, Reginald Owen, and the incomparable Charles Laughton as Captain Kidd. Kidd is a scoundrel of high order who keeps a hit list. He takes great joy in crossing off the names of those who have crossed him, one way or the other........real or imagined slights. Naturally, Laughton has the best dialog and he knows just how to use it. The plot enjoys more intrigue than action, although there is a dandy, albeit brief, sword fight. A few ships are sunk. It’s a fairly decent pirate adventure. I bought it for my Charles Laughton collection. The transfer is a bit rough in spots but as this film was released in 1945, allowances must be made. (It’s no longer copyright protected so anyone can make and sell copies of it with varying degrees of quality.)

What a great time, if you are a fan of old movies, this is from 1945 and if you are a fan of Charles Laughton or Randolph Scott or Barbara Britton then this is a must see, by the way did I mention Captain Kidd and pirates? There is some fun with the captain wanting to learn to be a gentleman so he can go to the king and get a mission that would put him in a position to hijack a British Frigate. But he is Captain Kidd and his true colors eventually fly. Randolph Scott....the eternal good guy is trying to stop him. The captain has henchmen who know where he has his treasure....guess what? Yeppers, they are in it deep! Charles is without a doubt having a blast and so did I, you will too.

This is one of those, "I can't believe I never saw this before" movies. Charles Laughton is hilarious as the cynical and villainous Captain Kidd and seems to be having real fun in the roll. The rest of the cast is solid.Kidd is captain of a British ship, but unknown to the king, a pirate. His crew are, like him, a bunch of cutthroats, ready to sell anyone out for a bit of treasure - Kidd is just better at it than the rest. Scott is the hero and as good in this roll as I've ever seen him.Although this film isn't as exciting as Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk, or Treasure Island, it's still very good and lots of fun.The dvd quality is average for a public domain film - far from pristine, but perfectly good for those of us who don't mind.

There's never going to be a pristine version of this movie til it's remastered...presuming that original negatives are available andthat's even possible...until then this is the best version of the movie I've seen...it's watchable...even on a big screen TV...and youare able to suspend belief and watch Laughton create another in his seemingly endless supply of historical characters bigger than life.I'd forgotten what a stone face Randolph Scott was. Taking great liberties with the historical facts this is a very entertainingmovie in its own right. If you don't expect hi-def clarity and know the limitations of the original medium you won't be disappointed.

This is a pirate film right up there with The Seahawks and Captain Blood. It has Charles Laughton at his scene chewing best, stars the underrated Randolph Scott. But its glory is in the wonderful character actors that we no longer have. These include the protean Reginald Owen, the evergreen John Carradine, and the also very under appreciated, sardonic Henry Daniell, a literate man, who plays the cold but laser intelligent King William III. The camera work, lighting, sets, and costumes are superb, and strays from the banal historical reality of the real, bumbling Captain Kidd to create a kind of seaborne baroque film noir.

This DVD version is so bad that I couldn't stay 2' watching it...there is no menu whatsoever, the image is blurry and scratched, the sound is horrible...a real shame for this company that falsely claims this is a restored version. Will never buy any product from this company ever again...

There are several different issues of this ripping yarn, starring the wonderfully wicked Charles Laughton, and other reviewers have said they bought poor quality versions. The one I have is in pretty good condition, considering its age, so if you want this very decent print, look for the words DIGITALLY REMASTERED at the top of the DVD case when searching for your item. Highly recommended.

I first saw this in Canterbury in 1945. Although somewhat dated, I was surprised how strong the sound was, and it was brilliant at illustrating the treachery of pirates like Captain Kidd and some of his crew at the time. Loved to see Tower Bridge - which I missed first time round

A change of genre for Randolph Scott on the high seas opposite Charles Laughton another good old film

Anything with Charles Laughton in is good, this is no exception

quick delivery.I purchased this for my father and its a very old film so the picture and sound quality isnt great.But for the price he was quite pleased with it.