The only genuine point of interest here is seeing Laughton get his wish to play the buffoon. The lovers, the waiters and the two pirate captains all wind up on Skull Island, where a mad scramble for the buried treasure ensues. Through typical bumbling, Costello mixes up the treasure map with a love letter that a young noblewoman (Warren) intended for a singer at the tavern (Bill Shirley). They are witness to the alliance between a pair of notorious nautical figures – Captain Kidd (Laughton) and the female adventurer Captain Bonney (Brooke) – who form an uneasy partnership to locate a buried treasure on the mysterious Skull Island. The film takes place on a Caribbean island where Abbott and Costello are, inexplicably, waiters at a tavern frequented by pirates. The paucity of gags may account for a bizarre surplus of music – “Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd” has six dreadful songs sandwiched into a 70-minute running time. The duo was unwilling to test out new material and preferred to rehash well-worn gags and situations. By the time this was film was shot, the comedy team had been in films for a dozen years and were more than played out. Unfortunately, the very talented crew and the color film stock could not compensate for the lame script or the enervated antics of Abbott and Costello. But due to the film’s low budget, the production used the Super CineColor process, a less-than-satisfactory alternative to the pricier Technicolor. Behind the camera was an ambitious assistant director named Robert Aldrich (who would soon make a name for himself in the director’s chair) and ace cinematographer Stanley Cortez (who was best known for his landmark camerawork in “The Magnificent Ambersons” and would later film Laughton’s 1955 “Night of the Hunter”).Īnd speaking of cinematography, “Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd” was the duo’s only full-color feature. Joining Laughton on-screen was popular singer Fran Warren (in her only film appearance) and Hillary Brooke, the glamorous leading lady in Abbott and Costello’s classic sitcom. I want to be a buffoon!’ I said, ‘Okay, it’s your rear end’” ‘I want to do my own pratfalls! That’s why I’m making this picture. The first day he was on the set, Laughton saw Sailor Vincent dressed in a costume identical to his. “You know, he wouldn’t let a stuntman do his pratfalls for him. “(He) was absolutely marvelous,” Lamont recalled. In the classic book “Abbott and Costello in Hollywood,” Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo quoted director Charles Lamont about Laughton’s dedication to the project. Indeed, Laughton’s willingness to go all-out for the sake of a laugh surprised everyone attached to the film. To Gottlieb’s astonishment, Laughton was excited about doing the film – the actor never did a slapstick movie and he was excited at the prospect of being part of a “low comedy” romp. Gottlieb visited Laughton in Boston, where the star was appearing in a play. Laughton was also celebrated for playing Captain Bligh in the 1935 classic “Mutiny on the Bounty” – thus, audiences already had a strong connection between the actor and high seas action.Ībbott and Costello dispatched their co-producer Alex Gottlieb to approach Laughton. Laughton had memorably played the infamous pirate Captain Kidd in a 1945 film, so it made sense for him to reprise the character. Where things began to get weird was the idea of approaching A-list Charles Laughton to co-star with the B-level comedians. Costello was responsible for the production of the first film, “Jack and the Beanstalk,” while Abbott took charge of the other film, which was intended to be a spoof of pirate movies. Under this deal, the comics would independently produce a pair of feature films that the studio would distribute. The film was part of a two-production deal that Bud Abbott and Lou Costello signed with Warner Bros. The strangeness, however, comes from the highly unlikely conglomeration of talent that came together. This is not because of anything that appears on the screen – the production is fairly quotidian and more than a little disappointing. “Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd” is a strange film.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |