The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd

Though it came at a time when interest in serials had nearly reached the point of extinction, the production values of "Captain Kidd" look a bit better than one might expect. They're "modest" rather than "cheap."

The main faults of this serial lie in areas other than the budget. Its script, for example, lacks a compelling storyline and tends to drift from incident to incident without a clear, overriding purpose. Since Captain Kidd turns out to be a "good guy," the script also fails to provide us with a suitably-hissable villain, and the cliff-hangers at the conclusions of its chapters lack imagination and style.

What's more, Richard Crane makes a woefully inadequate hero. He's not particularly attractive, looks a bit overweight, and has virtually no charm or charisma.

Fans of the multi-chapter serial may find this of mild interest but those first-timers wishing to sample the genre are advised to skip it in favor of, say, "Spy Smasher."

For the record, here are the titles of the 15 chapters: (1)Pirate vs. Man-of-War (2)The Fatal Shot (3)Attacked by Captain Kidd (4)Captured by Captain Kidd (5)Mutiny on the Adventure (6)Murder on the Main Deck (7)Prisoners of War (8)Mutiny Unmasked (9)Pirate against Pirate (10)Shot from the Parapet (11)The Flaming Fortress (12)Before the Firing Squad (13)In the Hands of the Mohawks (14)Pirate Gold (15)Captain Kidd's Last Chance.