Treasure Island (1934)

I've never read the book Treasure Island so I can't compare this 1934 adaptation to the source material but rather give a point of view as someone who watched the film out of admiration for the stars involved. Treasure Island doesn't have the unmanufactured feel or the neo- realism of the pervious pairing of Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper of The Champ (then again few films do) but I was satisfied to get my fill of another Beery-Cooper pairing. The chemistry they share, what a pure and natural delight.For me Cooper's performance in Treasure Island is priceless; a little kid trying to act tough. I can't help but let out an "awwwww!!" at any moment when he's in over his head. I can see how his performance would rub others the wrong way but I can't get enough of it. Cooper's relationship to Beery in reality was nothing like it was in fiction but watching him on screen you would never think otherwise. You can see the admiration Jim Hawkins has for Long John Silver on his face and likewise, when he discovers the truth about Long John, just look at the pure horror that bestows his face. Wallace Beery on other hand looks just like a true, rugged seafarer and a beast of a pirate. Being an actor of the silent era he has a beat up face which says so much. Beery simply had the look this role required. Treasure Island saw the return of the swashbuckler to Hollywood, popular during the 1920's but almost nonexistent during the pre-code era. Coming from MGM, the production values are second to none, even throwing some exotic animals into the mix and a taster of what was to come in MGM's Mutiny on the Bounty.Before Beery appears on screen Lionel Barrymore as Billy Bones steals any scene he's occupies and when I say steals, I mean steals. I can't determine whether or not his performance is supposed to be funny or not but his scenery chewing grounceness, rambling and his constant desire for rum cracks me up ("Bottle of rum ya old hag!!").The ending is an emotional punch to the gut albeit one of mixed emotions. It's not clear during the film whether or not Long John has any affection for Jim or is just manipulating him and taking advantage of his naivety. Regardless watching Jackie Cooper crying his little heart out as Beery embarks of the ship, you would need to have a heart of stone not to be moved.

"Jim Hawkins" (Jackie Cooper) is a good lad who does his best to help his widowed mother manage "The Admiral Benbow Inn" which is situated on the shore overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Everything appears to be running smoothly until one particular evening when a seedy man by the name of "Captain Billy Bones" (Lionel Barrymore) appears with a large chest and demands a room. Although his very presence is rather disturbing it soon becomes obvious that he is quite nervous about something. Not long afterward some other rogues come after him and their mere appearance causes him to have a heart attack and die. Unfortunately for them, Jim finds the hidden treasure map before they do and soon he and the local magistrate, "Doctor Livesay" set off in a ship in search of the island where treasure is buried. What they don't realize however is that the recently hired cook—and Jim's new friend--named "Long John Silver" (Wallace Beery) knows quite a bit more than he lets on and he has a secret agenda all of his own. Now, rather than reveal any more of the film I will just say that this was a pretty good pirate movie which is suitable for the entire family. I should probably also add that even though the movie I saw happened to be in color from what I understand it was originally filmed in black and white. So if that makes a difference then it might be best to check which version is available if necessary. That said, while I cannot comment on how good the original black and white version was I can say that the colorized version managed to capture the surroundings in a superb manner. In short, while this movie may be old it's still fairly decent and I recommend it for a family night at home should the opportunity presents itself.

In my opinion, the only good thing about this 1934 film was the wonderful relationship that developed between Jackie Cooper and Wallace Beery. The year before they had that same type of relationship when Beery won the Oscar for "The Champ." (He tied Frederic March for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.")As always, Lionel Barrymore was terrific, but his part was relatively so brief. Despite showing the relationship, I wish that the film had concentrated on the treasure itself. Instead, we see people turning against one another for it.Beery, with his raspy-nasal like intonation, gave a gem of a performance as the pirate with a heart.

TREASURE ISLAND is the sort of film that cries out for Technicolor since it deals with pirates, treasure maps, ships at sea and a fort under attack--the sort of thing done in scores of other movies (and other versions of the story), but usually in color.Here the B&W photography is handsome enough, the sets look sturdy, the ship masts are full and the acting is strictly from the '30s era of overacting--not too much of a flaw in this case because the story cries for some good old melodramatic turns.During the opening sequences, LIONEL BARRYMORE acts up a storm as Billy Bones, the man who has the whole tavern singing "Sixteen Men On a Dead Man's Chest". His look of astonishment at seeing his assassin enter the tavern is priceless. Unfortunately, his role is a comparatively brief one.JACKIE COOPER resorts to too much pouting (in Shirley Temple style) to be truly effective as Jim Hawkins but does a decent enough job; WALLACE BEERY steals every scene he's in as the one-legged Long John Silver with a parrot on his shoulder; LEWIS STONE and NIGEL BRUCE do well enough in more conventional roles as high-blooded men from aristocracy; and even OTTO KRUGER, an actor I'm not particularly fond of, does one of his best jobs as Dr. Livesey, protector of the Hawkins boy, and DOUGLAS DUMBRILLE does a brilliant job as a master villain.Among the pirates, there's a good sense of adventure all the way through and the Robert Louis Stevenson story is faithfully rendered except for the sentimental ending. Nevertheless, it never quite overcomes the feeling that you're watching actors going through the motions of a pirate tale and lacks the lusty swordplay and swashbuckling fun of another sea epic, CAPTAIN BLOOD, which came out a year later. Michael Curtiz, it seems, had a better handle on this sort of adventure than Victor Fleming.