![]() ![]() 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. By doing so, he not only expresses the best aspects of his nature but gains the chance to live out the rest of his life with zest and warmth.“Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd” is a strange film. Eventually, Captain Kidd chooses to adopt Johanna rather than leaving her with her relatives, who are cold-hearted and abusive. However, as he becomes more invested in Johanna’s well-being, he begins to take pleasure in everyday life and to care more about his own future as well. At the novel’s outset, Captain Kidd feels alienated from those around him and disillusioned with his work as a news-reader. He has trouble expressing his emotions yet cares for Johanna with great sensitivity, and his greatest aspiration is to reunite his scattered family in a shared home. He fought for a racist regime in a bloody war but is also the novel’s most open-minded character, connecting with others across cultural boundaries. ![]() He’s lived his life in isolated towns and small cities but, because of his career as a printer, has a broad perspective on history and world events. Captain Kidd is a man of many contradictions. Now, as an old man, Captain Kidd agrees to deliver Johanna, a girl who spent four years in captivity with the Kiowa tribe, to her biological family. He goes on to fight in the Mexican-American War and lives through the Civil War as well. There, he meets and marries Maria Luisa, the scion of a venerable Spanish colonial family, and raises two daughters, Elizabeth and Olympia. Born in rural Georgia, Captain Kidd fought as a teenager in the War of 1812 before moving to San Antonio and establishing himself as a printer. The novel’s protagonist, Captain Kidd is an elderly and unsentimental man who makes his living as an itinerant news-reader in backcountry Texas. ![]()
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