Charles Laughton had wanted to do a knockabout physical comedy for some time, but could never find anything appropriate. He had long been an admirer of Lou Costello's abilities as a slapstick comedian, and--as he remarked some time later--he decided "If you want to learn something, learn it from the best" so he let Costello and Bud Abbott know that he was interested in doing something with them. This picture is the result.
As Universal Pictures would not spend extra money to make a Bud Abbott and Lou Costello picture in color, the duo opted to do it themselves. Using a contractual agreement with Universal that permitted them to make one independent film per year, they made this film using Abbott's company, Woodley Productions. The Technicolor process was too expensive, so they opted for the less costly SuperCinecolor.
Anne Bonny could never have been a rival to William Kidd. He was hanged in 1701. She was born in 1702.
Charles Laughton was well known for sea-going roles: a skipper, Capt. Grossman, in Down River (1931); Naval commander Charles Sturm in Devil and the Deep (1932); Capt. Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935); Rear Adm. Stephen Thomas in Stand by for Action (1942); and leads in an unhistorical Captain Kidd (1945) seven years before the Capt. William Kidd of this movie.
Although Hillary Brooke plays Anne Bonny with an English accent (even though Brooke is American, not English), the real Anne Bonny was Irish (born Anne Cormac). Bonny's name is usually spelled without an "e," but sometimes--as in this film--it is spelled with the "e".