Captain Kidd | |
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Movie poster
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Directed by | Rowland V. Lee |
Produced by | Benedict Bogeaus |
Screenplay by | Norman Reilly Raine |
Story by | Robert N. Lee |
Starring |
Charles Laughton Randolph Scott Barbara Britton |
Music by | Werner Janssen |
Cinematography | Archie Stout |
Edited by | Charles Odds |
Production
company |
Benedict Bogeaus Productions
Captain Kidd Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Captain Kidd is a 1945 adventure film starring Charles Laughton, Randolph Scott and Barbara Britton. It was directed by Rowland V. Lee and produced by Benedict Bogeaus and James Nasser. The music was conducted by Werner Janssen. The film was released by United Artists. It has entered the public domain because the producers neglected to renew the copyright in 1972.
In 1699, pirate William Kidd (Charles Laughton) loots and destroys the London galleon The Twelve Apostles. He and three confederates bury the stolen treasure on a remote island. He then presents himself at the court of King William III (Henry Daniell) as an honest shipmaster seeking a royal commission as a privateer after striking his colors to a pirate. The king is persuaded by Kidd that the captain of The Twelves Apostles was that very pirate who has now disappeared with its treasure and grants the commission. Kidd recruits a crew from condemned pirates in Newgate and Marshalsea prisons, promising them a royal pardon at the end of their voyage. Among them is the quarrelsome though cultured Adam Mercy (Randolph Scott), whom Kidd makes his new master gunner because of his claimed prior service with pirate Captain Avery.
The King sends Kidd and his ship the Adventure Galley to the waters near Madagascar (where The Twelve Apostles met its fate) to rendezvous with the ship Quedagh Merchant and provide an escort back to England. The Quedagh Merchant carries Lord Fallsworth (an uncredited Lumsden Hare), the King's ambassador to the Grand Mughal, his daughter Lady Anne Dunstan (Barbara Britton), and a chest of treasure - a present from the Indian potentate to King William.