(1940)
2.5
Craig Butler
A middling little swashbuckler, Captain Caution is a good enough way for fans of the genre to pass and hour and a half, but it doesn't offer enough rewards to be a really memorable experience; coming across it while channel surfing, one might want to watch, but it's not the kind of film one actively seeks out or awaits with anticipation. Part of the problem is that the fairly lengthy novel has been adapted in a rather haphazard fashion. Producer/scenarist Grover Jones apparently decided that keeping as much action and as many plot twists as possible needed to take precedence over character development; as a result, a great deal happens in its relatively brief running time, but one isn't drawn in enough by the characters to care as much as one might. Partially because of this, and partially because lead actress Louise Platt simply lacks sufficient charisma, one gets a bit irritated with Corunna, who comes across as a bit unreasonable. There also isn't a lot of charisma between Platt and leading man Victor Mature. Mature's acting is satisfactory; not great, but certainly fine. But he knows how to handle the he-man duties he is assigned and does those very well. Brice Cabot and others, including Alan Ladd in a very minor part, score well, and Richard Wallace's direction keeps the pace up to good effect.
Captain Caution on AllMovie
Captain Caution (1940)
