Captain KiddStarring Charles Laughton • 1945 • 90 Minutes • B/WCaptain Kidd (1945) starring CharlesLaughton is a wonderful movie.It is stagy, and hurray for that.Stage plays with main actors like Laughtonare nowhere to be seen anymore, and "stagymovies" like this one keep us reminded aboutthe wonderful art of staged drama and greatstage actors.Laughton's actor work isbreathtaking...he's the star,and other actors are supportingactors.Barbara Britton, thelead actress, is physicallybeautiful and that's all.Good.It's a man's movie, aswashbuckler, and she's decoration.Not more.That used to be a frequenttradition in swashbucklermovies, but sincewomen have been "liberated"and are always, andmust always be..."important".....justbeautiful andotherwise agreeable andquiet is not longer seen. Hurray for BarbaraBritton and her leading lady character....onecan understand why the leading romanticmale...Randolph Scott.....was interested in her,and ended up with her.This movie is available (2009) at WalMartin bins which offer cheap, older movies. I gotit for $4.00 along with twenty other movies(several very good) in a "family pack" moviewhich had poor labeling....I took pot luck, andlucked out!Many good movies of thepast ended up "slippingthrough the cracks" and werenever available in videostores, or ranked as "greatmovies," including some trulygreat movies! Captain Kidd(1945) starring CharlesLaughton is a truly greatmovie. See it.How many others are "outthere" unhonored and cheapto buy, sold by the likes ofWalMart (the chain store weall "love to hate" but buy fromfrequently....and with goodreason, it turns out)?-- Reviewed by Tex AllenKILL FOR THE RUMDIE BY THE BLADELIVING THE PYRATES WAYÂPrevious Page <strong>Issue</strong> 19 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Pyrates</strong> <strong>Way</strong> 23 www.pyratesway.com Spring 2013 Next PageÂ
KILL FOR THE RUM“Watch yer step mate,” warns the stripe-shirtedbuccaneer at the door. Your steps navigate the tightstairway as your hand hugs the crumbling brick.You know you’re in for an eclectic evening’s entertainment,to say the least, as you spy the sharp cutlasshanging from the door man’s belt and theKentucky long-rifle clutched in his hands.He bids you enter with a long, thin, smile and hislonger earring hoop catches some of the candlelightin the room. <strong>The</strong> musty smell you noticed at the doorof this expansive basement is gone, replaced is the sensoryoverload of treasure, skulls, flintlocks, and rumbarrels. Loose wood flooring creaks as you pass a few“Bohemians” sharing coffee at the bar rail .<strong>The</strong> place has it’s own ceiling fog of smoke, someof it a bit more “exotic” than tobacco. You find achair and immediately, a beautiful young wench slidesup to your table hand hands you a long, seven-foldedmenu. You give her your drink order just as a sevenpiecejazz band, all dressed as pirates, begins an upbeattune.Now you wouldn’t bat an eye at any of this afterthe populous-grabbing pirate popularity of 2003’s Piratesof the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl moviewith Johnny Depp.DIE BY THE BLADELIVING THE PYRATES WAY<strong>The</strong> thing is, it’s not 2003.Nor is it 50 years earlier, 1953, when the similar,but a bit more low-key, popularity of pirate ErrolFlynn in Against All Flags had folks of all ages choosingto be a pirate for Hallowe’en.It’s not even 1933 and the pirate theme is all therage due to Wallace Beery’s performance in TreasureIsland.<strong>The</strong> fact is, it’s 1917 and you were just greeted atthe door by the owner of this pyrate pub, the legendary“Captain Don” Dickerman.Your serving wench returns with the drink andtakes your order of the house special, the beefsteakdinner for $1.25.<strong>The</strong> band finishes its number and a fight breaksout between Captain Don and one of the bartenders,they duel in a staged swordfight to the death, in theirpirate garb, welding real weapons. <strong>The</strong> dead bartenderis dragged off by two unshaven and scruffy--looking scallywags.<strong>The</strong> room breaks out in applause and you noticeit’s filling up with folks from all walks of life.After all, it IS Greenwich Village in New YorkCity and the excentric Dickerman loves to show off.It’s his artistic side that turned the tea room that heopened a few years earlier to highlight his handpaintedtoys into <strong>The</strong> Pirate’s Den. It was not justthe first pirate-themed pub, it was touted in the newspaperswith a new word . . . <strong>The</strong> Pirate’s Den was thefirst “nightclub.”Commercial success as a novelty pub was not theonly reason that Don Dickerman wore a tricorn, asash, and a fancy pair of slops. Don was a pirate inevery way but criminal, much like some die hard folksin our pirate hobby today. . . such as yours, truly.<strong>The</strong> buccaneer in Don climbed out of his personality’shold when he was very young. In his highschool years, he started a pirate band. He dressed asa pirate all through art school, much to the chagrinof his roommate and close friend, Norman Rockwell.Later, when rooming with fellow illustrator<strong>The</strong>odore Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss), was having a verytough time in finding a well-paying job that wouldalso allow him to delve into his piratical lifestyle.With money via several loans from friends andfamilies, he opened his tea shop in Greenwich Villagewhich was transformed later into <strong>The</strong> Pirates Den.His success with the nightclub turned him into alocal celebrity, but even with all of the fame, his sense ofadventure was nipping at his heels. He wanted action.ÂPrevious Page <strong>Issue</strong> 19 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Pyrates</strong> <strong>Way</strong> 24 www.pyratesway.com Spring 2013 Next PageÂ
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