ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD would make an ideal double feature with JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. Both independently produced by Bud and Lou outside of Universal and distributed by Warner Brothers, both released in 1952, both the only features Bud and Lou ever made in color and both take place in a fantasy world outside of (then) modern day America with plenty of musical numbers. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD is also one of the few features where there is a true co-star outside of Bud and Lou, this time being, of all people, Charles Laughton! Yeah, Laughton’s appearance really warms my heart. Laughton in his day was a very serious actor who had a high reputation in Hollywood and here he is appearing with a couple of comics like Bud and Lou. Comedians in general, barring Charlie Chaplin, would never be put in the same sentence as Charles Laughton and by all accounts, this film was something Laughton wanted to do. God bless him for rightly appreciating comics like Bud and Lou and having the desire to work with them. There are stories of actresses of much lower stature than Laughton quitting Fox Studios because they were assigned to work with Laurel and Hardy, to put things in perspective.
As far as the film itself, it’s good as long as you don’t take the plot all that seriously. Things get really ridiculous in the end when Lou knocks out Laughton, steals his clothes and pretends to be Laughton’s Captain Kidd character. The ridiculous part is just about all the pirates who were under Captain Kidd’s command can’t tell the difference between Laughton and Costello in the same outfit. However, and to the point where the plot usually isn’t that important in most of these Bud and Lou films, this scenario is a great excuse for Lou to do a Charles Laughton impersonation, worth the price of admission itself.
Make no mistake about it, Laughton is very much a part of the comedy. He makes the occasional self referential joke, at one point breaks the fourth wall and comments to the audience about the ridiculousness of it all and even gets involved in some of the routines. Ever want to see Charles Laughton eat a bowl of soup laced with soap, spit out bubbles and get angry about it? It’s here. Then there’s the fantastic part where he catches Lou eat the treasure map. There’s a picture of himself on the wall, which he replaces with his real self and sneaks behind Lou, rubbing a pink mustache on Lou with chalk. There’s also a part towards the end where Bud and Lou are digging a hole together and they take turns stepping on one another’s shovels, making the other think the dirt is heavy. This leads to a classic Bud and Lou argument. At one point, they cut to a shot of Laughton looking amused by their antics. Like the looks of joy Bud and Lou had during the “Sons of Neptune” routine in IN THE NAVY, there’s a part of me that wants to think the amused look was not planned and real on the part of Laughton. I don’t know this for a fact to be real, but it’s just a gut feeling. All I know is those two moments feel like no others in the Abbott and Costello filmography.
Another person of note in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD is Hillary Brooke. Probably not so coincidentally, this is the first Bud and Lou film released as the television show was airing and Ms. Brooke was a regular during the first season. Definitely Bud and Lou’s Christine McIntyre, a talented, beautiful and classy lady and it’s nice watching her work together with Lou in their on screen romance. This film is very much like JACK AND THE BEANSTALK with the music. I feel it’s appropriate here due to the fantasy setting and the only time I don’t like it is during the tacked on, mid film romantic number. The tavern musical numbers in the beginning are fun and Stooge fans, Suzanne Ridgeway appears in one of her million extra roles.
So yeah, as long as you don’t take the plot seriously and go to the bathroom during the romance number, ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD is a fun Bud and Lou film with Hillary Brooke and a chance to see Charles Laughton do some comedy. It’s too bad Bud and Lou didn’t make more of these color fantasy films. It seems like in this setting or with monsters, they’re usually at their best.
