whpratt1 This story was written by a famous writer Kenneth Roberts and this story takes place at the beginning of the War of 1812. An American merchant ship was sailing from Maine and was attacked by the British Navy and the captain was killed and his daughter, Corunna Dorman,(Louise Platt) took command of the ship and Corunna wanted her boyfriend, Daniel Marvin, (Victor Mature) to be the first mate, however, Dan had different ideas. Corunna then decides to make Dan jealous and becomes close to Lehrman Slade,(Bruce Cabot) who is a man that is self-centered and only cares about his own future and disregards anyone else on the ship. Leo Carrillo,(Lucien Argandeau) gives a great supporting role as a first mate to Daniel Marvin. There is plenty of cannons going off and ships colliding with each other and plenty of swords flashing. If you look real close, you will see a very young Alan Ladd playing a very minor role, but Hollywood was watching him and his next role would be "This Gun for Hire". Nice entertaining 1940 Class film.

wes-connors This misty, seafaring film looks and sounds very beautiful, and atmospheric. I just couldn't get involved with the story; and found the acting fantastically uneven. I can imagine the direction given to Victor Mature before he enters the French tavern - "Enter left and look startled!" - The ship had a sort of "beatnik/hippie" type character on board. The French waitress was cast against type, I though. The characters really treat her poorly! I wonder, is the film's message that women are "bad luck"? It's a fair film - probably, kids in theaters would have enjoyed spending an afternoon in the theater on the "Captain Caution" ship. If I was a 10-year-old kid boy the '40s, I would have liked this movie more. **** Captain Caution (1940) Richard Wallace ~ Victor Mature, Louise Platt, Leo Carrillo

Neil Doyle VICTOR MATURE was an actor on the rise in the early '40s and here he gets his star turn in what is essentially a "B" picture, more lavish in its appearance than most low-budget films, and interesting because it gives us a glimpse of the early ALAN LADD in the background. LOUISE PLATT is too demure in appearance to play the spitfire type the script designates, as the feisty daughter of slain sea captain ROBERT BARRAT.BRUCE CABOT and LEO CARRILLO are among the Americans that get caught up in the skirmish aboard ship when the British attack during the War of 1812. The action sequences are robust enough but sub-standard in presentation. Cabot plays his usual role as a scheming villain with romantic notions about the captain's daughter and Carrillo is supposed to serve as comedy relief but gets on the nerves with his accent and obvious comic ways.With plot complications that are typical of Kenneth Roberts' historical novels, none of it stirs more than ordinary interest--routine film-making at best from the Hal Roach studios.Summing up: Action film ruined by a boring cast of cardboard characters not worth caring about and a very miscast leading lady.

bkoganbing Kenneth Roberts, newspaperman and writer of some marvelous historical novels about early America, got lucky in 1940 when two of his best selling novels were adapted into film. The first was Northwest Passage which MGM gave the A treatment with Spencer Tracy. And then there was this film adaption of Captain Caution which takes place in the opening weeks of the War of 1812.Roberts's novels are long and complex and I got the feeling that a lot of character development was sacrificed for action. Certainly the action sequences were well done and Victor Mature in one of his earliest films made a dashing hero. And the film got an Oscar nomination for Best Sound recording.Yet things seemed to move a little too quick. MGM when dong Northwest Passage wisely decided the novel was too long to make an entire film out of it. They concentrated on the first part about Roger's Rangers and their contribution to the French and Indian War. There were plans for a sequel, but they eventually came to naught. But they had a complete film in just what they used.I got the feeling in Captain Caution that they tried to get the whole book in and did a slipshod job in adapting it. It's not a bad film, but it could have been a whole lot better.Louise Platt was fresh from her triumph in Stagecoach and plays the lady owner of an American merchant vessel that gets attacked by a British navy frigate. The Americans don't know they're at war and get attacked by surprise. Louise's father, Robert Barrat, is killed and she develops an understandable case of anglophobia. And she's put out quite a bit that her intended Victor Mature isn't all fired up to turn their merchant vessel into a privateer. She gravitates towards the villainous Bruce Cabot who has his own ideas and they don't necessarily mesh with Louise's.Alan Ladd has a small bit role as an American who was impressed into the British Navy. That was done quite a bit right before the War of 1812. He's a prisoner because he resisted the idea. I'm sure the folks at Paramount must have noticed this part because two years later, Ladd made his break out film for Paramount in This Gun for Hire.I look at Captain Caution and wonder what might have happened if it had been done at MGM the way Northwest Passage was done.