Evening star., 1945-12-14
BY HARRY MACARTHUR.


Along In the latter moments of
Captain Kidd" the pirate chieftain
and his last remaining crony are
seated in a ships cabin, the latter
happily inspecting gems while the
former ponders means of getting rid
of him. IF you are thinking what
I think you are thinking" says the
henchman, forget 1t. There is a
slight matter of that letter I left in
London" The captain, imperson-
ated by Charles Laughton, turns
sullenly and sputters, "Spoil sport"
This should give you an idea Of the
things that are being done in Capt.
Kidd's name on the Capitol The
ater's screen this week.
Some one, possibly Producer Bene-
dict Bogeaus, apparently recalled
"Mutiny on the Bounty" and came
up with the thought that this would
be fine time to cast Mr.. Laughton
as cold-hearted old scoundrel Of a
sailing master with not an iota of
compunction to his name. 1t is a
thought which probably sounded
better at a story conference than it
turns out under the ministrations Of
Mr.. Laughton, who makes Capt.
Kidd the most petulant pirate you
ever saw. and Director Rowland v.
Lee, who has turned Norman Reilly
Ra1ne's script into as dull an ac-
count OF thrilling adventure" as has
lulled you in long time.
Altogether this combination pro-
duces a rather dolorous effect. Mr..
Laughton's smirking and blubbering
burlesque OF his skillfully-drawn
portrait Of Capt. Bligh is depressing
enough. But 1t is truly saddening
when there is added the disillusion-
ment OF the disclosure that a bucca-
neer's life had more of dullness than
OF rollicking adventure about it.
X X X
The episodes which have been Sc
lected here to show us what knave
Capt. Kidd was may or may not
have been based on actual events in
his career. If they, or anything
closely resembling them, did happen
it is certain that the old captain
must have found them boring
cliches even at that early date in the
history of theatrical cliches. He
could have been excused for going
around muttering grimly that his
life was just like the plot of a class
B movie.
The film takes up Capt. Kidds
career late, sending him of on a
final voyage as an apparent hench-
man of King William III of England,
dispatched to provide escort through
pirate waters for a richly laden
British merchantmen. 1t Is a COM
mission the pirate undertakes hap
pily, for he has a plot to loot the
ship, do away with 1t, then return
to claim a promised peerage. He
also (this may get get complicated,
so hold Tight has been assigned the
chore Of tracking down a British
nobleman turned pirate, who has not
really turned pirate at all but has
been done in and had his ship sunk
by Capt. Kidd several years pre-
viously.
You would never guess. would you,
that the son of this unfortunate
lord would ship aboard Capt. Kidd's
vessel seeking clues about his
fathers disappearance. Just coinci-
dence, the long arm of which Is
given a further crunching twist
when pretty girl turns up of Mad
agascar to be captured by Capt.
Kidd and saved by the hero. RAN
dolph Scott and Barbara Britton
portray these two people, inciden-
tally, and it is fate they do not
deserve. On the other hand, this
picture probably is fate Justly de-
served by John Carradine, for ham
acting pirate with such evident
relish.
This is Joey Adams week on the
Capitol stage and that means that
the stage entertainment provides a
goodly amount Of more or less rowdy
fun. Mr.. Adams is a considerably
comic fellow a large part of the
time as he clowns his way through
session as monologist, performs
a skit with Tony Canzoneri. acts as
master Of ceremonies and finally
reaches high point sitting on Gene
Archer's knee through such rendi-
ton of Sunny Boy" as you never
heard and saw before.
Mr.. Canzoneri, incidentally, Is not
one of the worlds great actors. but
the skit which presents him to
vaudeville audiences is well-tailored
land he approaches it with the sin