Captain Kidd's Treasure

A man interests some people in financing an expedition to a small island where he tells them that Captain Kidd's treasure is buried in this MGM short subject.

It's a sumptuous short with a long flashback sequence showing Stanley Andrews as Kidd. MGM shorts in this period were elaborate affairs, partly to entice the audiences with top-grade work from the Tiffany of Studios, and partly to serve as training grounds for directors. Here the director - and narrator - is Leslie Fenton, making the transition from actor to the man wielding the megaphone. He would not remain at MGM, but become a director for RKO. He would direct his last of 14 features in 1951 and die in 1978, aged 76.

Treasure hunters have a map to Captain Kidd's Treasure off the coast of Madagascar. In flashback, Captain Kidd is a pirate operating for the British and battling in the high seas. His fortune would turn with the change in the political winds. He buries his treasure but then his crew mutiny and the treasure is lost. Only his map remains.

I have to assume that much of this has been edited from existing footage or even another movie. The old men in suits are completely boring. They could have spent a little money to film on a boat with divers and gear. There is nothing too compelling in this other than the rumored treasure which is probably just a myth.

Captain Kidd's Treasure (1938)

*** (out of 4)

Part of MGM's "Historical Drama" series, this ten minute short takes a look at Captain Kidd (Stanley Andrews) and the possibility of him burying a vast treasure on an unknown island. History says he was an evil pirate but this film brings up the possibility that he might have been a good guy whose men took part in a mutiny and stole the treasure. As with other entries in the series, how much truth there is in this short is up for debate but today this is best looked at as entertainment and not some history lesson. As far as entertainment goes this isn't the best short in the series but it does manage a few good scenes in its ten-minute running time. Andrews is pretty good as Kidd, although he doesn't get too much screen time. There's one action scene with two ships doing battle, which comes off pretty well even though it's clear the swords they're using aren't real.

Captain William Kidd, merchant man operating out of colonial New York and who became the most legendary pirate of all, has been the subject of a lot of speculation about his actual deeds, but even more importantly, did he bury a lot of loot somewhere?

MGM produced this 10 minute short subject using a few well known character actors to offer alternative views to some modern folk planning an expedition. There's a map of an island one of them has, but which of several thousand islands in the world.

In fact one of the islands which has been speculated about is Manhattan island. Kidd in fact was a native New Yorker. I remember first hearing about it as a lad and even speculating our house in Brooklyn could have been sitting on top of it. As if real estate values weren't high enough.

It's a good short subject guaranteed to stir imaginations even now.

CAPTAIN KIDD'S TREASURE apparently was never found. This MGM short is just an excuse to use some stock pirate footage from other films to tell the swift story of Captain Kidd, his capture by the British and his willingness to tell them where hidden treasure was in order to save his life. They executed him the next day.

IAN WOLFE is the only recognizable actor I saw in the cast, in the modern day sequence where he is skeptical about the existence of such a treasure and not inclined to want the search to begin.

Some swashbuckling moments as pirates turn on Captain Kidd in a mutinous moment, but really no new light is shed on Kidd's treasure with this documentary-like short subject.