Treasure Island (1950)

This is a movie I have a very basic and deep-seated love for. I'm not going to claim that it's one of the best films ever made, but it's one of the best of it's kind, and it's one of my all time favourite films to watch. It's from a period where Disney really excelled at making live action adventure film for children, and one of their hallmarks is that they didn't pitch the film at children. They chose material that was well-suited for children, and just adapted it in a fairly straightforward manner. As a result, a film like this has the appropriate grime and menace and never feels dumbed down. Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver is so iconic it casts a long shadow over every portrayal of a pirate on film since. It's a very mannered and big performance, but he never fails to capture the subtle nuances necessary to essentially carry the film. Director Byron Haskin was a genre craftsman who helmed a lot of really fundamentally good genre films. This is one of his best pieces of work.

Filmed in England, this was the very first live action movie made by Walt Disney after a long string of animated features. Up till now I've never seen any of the films based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, so I'll have to go with the majority on this board stating that this is probably the finest effort. Robert Newton of course makes for a quintessential pirate, though I could see Charles Laughton in the role quite favorably. His take on Captain Kidd in the 1945 movie of the same name was classic.I don't think I've ever read the Stevenson book, or if I had, it's been so long in the past I can't even remember. Other viewers feel that this film version follows pretty closely, so that will probably save me the effort. With Newton's character, I was waiting for him to show his true colors, and it was quite a while into the film before he managed to take out Mr. Arrow (David Davies) with the plum duff and the old heave-ho overboard. If you didn't know Long John Silver was a pirate, that sequence would probably come off as a complete surprise.What I didn't get though was the ending of the story, in as much as Long John basically got away with the gold treasure, and the two principals, young Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) and Dr. Livesy (Denis O'Dea) didn't seem to mind that much. I realize Silver had a soft spot for the adventurous lad, but it was really touch and go there for Hawkins the entire time with no assurance of safety. Maybe I'll have to read the book after all.

A deadly boring, badly acted movie that has not stood the test of time at all - although it probably wasn't that good when it was made over sixty years ago. Robert Newton overacts as Long John Silver and Bobby Driscoll was badly miscast as Jim Hawkins. His American accent was totally out of place, an English boy should have been cast. Most of the movie takes place in the studio even when they're supposed to be at sea. The worst part of all was a completely unfunny and embarrassing Ben Gunn - thankfully, he wasn't in the film for very long.The 1972 version with Orson Welles is far better, despite the dubbing of the international cast.

Byron Haskins 1950 adaptation of Robert Louis Stephenson's classic novel is not bad at all and is still great fun for audiences today.True it doesn't keep 100 percent to the novel and this may well irk fans of the story.However the basics are there and it succeeds well as a children's adventure.Plus where would pirate films be today without that famed Cornish accent done so famously by Robert Newton here?.The west coast of England 1765 finds young local lad Jim Hawkins(Bobby Driscoll)tending the bar of his mums pub,while trying to keep Captain Billy Bones(Finlay Currie)off the rum on the orders of kindhearted Dr Livesy(Denis O'Dea).One night a blind man enters the pub and gives Billy a piece of paper with the feared Pirates black spot upon it.Billy in terror then gives Jim a treasure map that he has had since his pirate days begging him to keep it safe.He also warns Jim to beware of a one legged man.Jim goes to fetch the Dr and Squire Trelawney(Walter Fitzgerald).Upon their return Billy is dead and the pub ransacked.Jim shows the men the map and they discover directions upon it to a secret island upon which a stash of treasure is stored.The Squire makes sailing arrangements and the three travel to Bristol where they put word around that they need a crew.Help comes in the form of one legged former sailor and cook,Long John Silver(Robert Newton)who gathers together some former shipmates and joins them on the voyage.He strikes up a friendship with Jim until it's revealed he and the crew he put aboard are pirates who also seek this treasure.It then turns into a coming of age story as Jim must step up and do things normally not asked of someone so young to save the lives of his friends and stop the pirates getting the treasure.With small but memorable appearances by Geoffrey Keen as pirate Israel Hands,Basil Sydney as fearless ships captain Smollett and Geoffrey Wilkinson who is very funny as hairy pirate cast away Ben Gunn.Plus lots of thrills and action,Treasure Island is great fun for all the family.And who could forget Long John Silver's teeth?so white and pristine I'm surprised nobody(be they pirate or not)noticed them(he must have had some amazing dentist in Bristol or maybe he just flossed an awful lot).A solid film as usual from Disney,now who's up for a treasure hunt?.