Douglas Sirk’s Captain Lightfoot, starring Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush, Jeff Morrow
W. R. Burnett’s novel Captain Lightfoot was immediately adapted by Burnett as a screenplay, and production started even before the novel was published. Veteran director Douglas Sirk was brought in to helm the filming, and wisely decided to shoot as much as possible on location in Ireland (including–ironically–the Lord Powerscourt Estate, one of Michael Martin…
A Summary and a Theory
From other articles posted on this site, it should be clear that the central puzzle of “Captain Lightfoot” and “Captain Thunderbolt” is not whether any New England resident might have been Thunderbolt–but instead it is whether Lightfoot and Thunderbolt ever existed; and if they experienced the exploits claimed by Michael Martin in his confession. Martin’s…
Niall Ó Ciosáin on the Context of Michael Martin’s Confession
Irish scholar Niall Ó Ciosáin, a professor of history and philosophy at National University of Ireland, Galway, was asked to assess Michael Martin’s confession in relation to other accounts of 18th and 19th century Irish outlaws. Martin’s confession is not well-known in Ireland, so Dr. Ó Ciosáin brought a fresh perspective to an examination of…
Dr. Wilson’s Injuries
Foremost among the reasons why many Brattleboro, Vermont residents came to believe that their long-time local physician, Dr. John Wilson, had been Martin’s “Captain Thunderbolt” in his former life were the injuries that were found on his body upon his death. John B. Miner’s pamphlet on Dr. Wilson quotes a second-hand account of those wounds:…
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Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 