It's every man for himself when Charles Laughton bites into the juicy role of infamous 17th century pirate captain William Kidd. Hoping to further increase his ill-gotten gains, Captain Kidd inveigles King William III (Henry Daniel) into appointing him the "patriotic" protector of a valuable treasure ship. Ostensibly hired to fend off enemy vessels, Kidd intends to steal the ship's cargo for himself with the aid of his swarthy lieutenants William Moore (Gilbert Roland) and Orange Povy (John Carradine). The romantic subplot is carried by "honest" brigand Adam Merry (Randolph Scott) and kidnapped noblewoman Lady Ann Falconer (Barbara Britton). In real life, Kidd was as much victim as victimizer, who once he outlasted his usefulness to the British crown was summarily hanged. Kidd's fate remains the same in this film, but the events leading up to the hanging are purefied so as not to cast the English legal system in an unfavorable light. As hammy as Charles Laughton is in Captain Kidd, he'd be even more out of control in the 1952 farce Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd.