Captain Caution (1940)

Director:

Richard Wallace

Writers:

Kenneth Roberts (novel)
Grover Jones (screen play)

Release Date:

9 August 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Plot:

When her father dies, a young woman helps a young man take command of the ship to fight the British during the war of 1812. |

Plot Keywords:

Fight | War Of 1812 | Betrayal | Boxing Match | Jumping Into Water

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Victor Mature	...	Dan Marvin
Louise Platt	...	Corunna
Leo Carrillo	...	Argandeau
Bruce Cabot	...	Slade
Robert Barrat	...	Capt. Dorman
Vivienne Osborne	...	Victorine
Miles Mander	...	Lieut. Strope
El Brendel	...	Slushy
Roscoe Ates	...	Chips
Andrew Tombes	...	Sad Eyes
Aubrey Mather	...	Mr. Potter
Alan Ladd	...	Newton
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Fish Peddler (as Pat O'Malley)
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Capt. Stannage
Ted Osborne	...	Capt. Decatur
Ann Codee	...	Landlady
Romaine Callender	...	English Officer
Pierre Watkin	...	American Consul
Clifford Severn	...	Travers (as Clifford Severn Jr.)
Bud Jamison	...	Blinks
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ted Billings	...	Prisoner in Brig (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	Tough Sailor in Brig (uncredited)
Sven Hugo Borg	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Jack Curtis	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Jean Del Val	...	French Officer (uncredited)
James Dime	...	Barfly in Pub (uncredited)
Martin Faust	...	Marty - Lookout (uncredited)
Budd Fine	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Bud Geary	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	English Ship's Brig Officer (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Stannage's Officer Aide (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Jim - English Ship's Brig Officer (uncredited)
Frank Lackteen	...	Mr. Furneaux - Slade's Mate (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw	...	Prisoner in Brig (uncredited)
George Lloyd	...	Sailor Drinking Emetic (uncredited)
Colin Mackenzie	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Anthony Marsh	...	Lt. Briggs (uncredited)
Francis McDonald	...	French Seaman in Pub (uncredited)
Gene Morgan	...	Hatch (uncredited)
Carl Mudge	...	Sailor (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	English Sailor Who Pleads for Water (uncredited)
Philip Sleeman	...	Barfly in Pub (uncredited)
William Sundholm	...	Bill - a Sailor (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Wallace

Writing credits
Kenneth Roberts		(novel "Captain Caution")
Grover Jones		(screen play)

Produced by
Grover Jones	....	producer (uncredited)
Hal Roach	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Richard Wallace	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Phil Ohman

Cinematography by
Norbert Brodine		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
James E. Newcom		(edited by) (as James Newcom)

Art Direction by
Nicolai Remisoff

Set Decoration by
William Stevens		(set decorations) (as W.L. Stevens)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harve Foster	....	assistant director

Sound Department
William Randall	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Charles D. Hall	....	special effects photography designer
Roy Seawright	....	special effects photography
Frank Young	....	special effects photographer

Stunts
George Suzanne	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Walter Plunkett	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Irvin Talbot	....	orchestra conductor

Other crew
Bernard Carr	....	associate director
Hal Roach	....	presenter
Richard Talmadge	....	associate director

Production Companies

• Hal Roach Studios (A Richard Wallace - Grover Jones Production)

Distributors

• United Artists (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (released through)
• Favorite Films (1946) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Walter Reade Organization (1969) (USA) (TV)
• Constantin Films (1946) (Denmark) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

86 min | West Germany:79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6439) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

J. Pat O'Malley's first film.

Soundtrack:

On a Little Island by a Sun-Lit Sea

United Artists did not proceed with caution.

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.