Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . and so is LONG JOHN SILVER--sort of. It's as if the cast of this flick were asked to play their parts as over-sized Muppets (if they had such a thing in the 1900s). The uneven tone of this picture implies that the cast only remembered such a stage direction half of the time. So if ridiculous plot twists mixed together with plenty of mugging for the camera is your cup of grog, then this 1954 offering may be your SILVER lining. While it's tempting to remember Robert Louis Stevenson's Jim Hawkins as a plucky teen, the white-washed character by that name in this movie version of his story is more of a sanctimonious Tom Sawyer than a rebel-with-a-cause Huck Finn. It's really difficult to understand what Long John Silver sees in this wishy-washy Pre-teen milquetoast. Jim Hawkins should be the sort of kid who'd be sneaking his girl out her window in a couple of years--NOT a Brown-Noser type who'll ring her front doorbell and discuss Donald Trump with her dad for ten minutes.

wes-connors After Walt Disney's relatively well-produced version of "Treasure Island" (1950), timber-shivering Robert Newton (as "Long John Silver") returns. He is made to rescue kidnapped Kit Taylor (as Jim Hawkins) along with a damsel in distress, avoid the marriage-minded Connie Gilchrist (as Purity Pinker), and embark on a far less satisfying treasure hunt. This slight, long, and disappointing sequel rests its laurels almost entirely on Mr. Newton's top-heavy characterization. Late in the running time, young Hawkins and a vision-impaired Rodney "Rod" Taylor (as Israel Hands) give Newton a run for the money. Another "Return to Treasure Island" (also 1954), starring Tab Hunter, was even more peripheral to the original. Like Newton says, "Tis a long time since Treasure Island." **** Long John Silver (12/16/54) Byron Haskin ~ Robert Newton, Kit Taylor, Connie Gilchrist, Rod Taylor

classicsoncall With enough references to the original "Treasure Island", I didn't feel lost for not having seen that one yet. Robert Newton is a treat as the 'Arrgghh...ing' Long John Silver, planning one scheme or another to lay his hands on the fabled riches of the titled island.Here's a question - how did Silver manage to get into Billy Bowlegs boat near the beginning of the story without being seen?Here's another puzzler. When Silver lays out the plan to 'El Toro' Mendoza (Lloyd Berrell) to waylay Sir Henry's warehouse of jewels and rum, it called for two signal fires to send the governor's warships south as a diversion, while the pirates would head north toward the warehouse. However only one signal fire was lit, which was the signal for Henry's men to go north as well! When I saw the opening credits and the garish bright blue and orange coloration of the De Luxe format I experienced some trepidation regarding the actual film's rendition. There were alternate sequences of mundane, almost muddy scenes, usually during night time or indoors, whereas outdoor vistas on the ocean, particularly those with Newton's bright red outfit contrasted against the ocean showing up superb. More than anything it probably shows how far camera technology has advanced over the years to even out those wide swings in light sensitivity.With the present day popularity of the "Pirates of the Carribbean" series of films, it's both interesting and fun to see how little has changed in the pirate movie genre over a half century. They still employ treasure maps, secret medallions, skeletons and a character named Mendoza. To that I say - "Arrgghh...men!"

MARIO GAUCI Flavorful but overlong sequel to the Walt Disney version of TREASURE ISLAND (1950), which had given Robert Newton his trademark role of R.L. Stevenson's one-legged pirate Long John Silver; unsurprisingly, being an independent production – filmed on a low budget in Australia – it wasn't up to the standards of the earlier film (or the equally well-regarded 1934 MGM version with Wallace Beery as Silver), despite employing the same actor and director! While I haven't watched the Disney or MGM films in years, the pirate lingo here – and particularly Newton's hammy delivery of it – got to be a bit too much after a while; besides, Kit Taylor is pretty bland as Jim Hawkins (stepping in for Bobby Driscoll) and the DeLuxe color rather unattractive and cheap-looking (though the poor-quality print I watched didn't help matters any)! Slow-starting and altogether juvenile (particularly the subplot involving Connie Gilchrist, a hearty tavern-keeper hellbent on reforming – and marrying – Silver!), the film picks up steam during the second half with the pirates' return to Treasure Island (where they find Israel Hands, played by Rod Taylor – but I'm damned if I recognized him! – still alive but now a blindman and craving Hawkins' blood), which also serves as the site of their showdown with a rival band of cutthroats, headed by a Spaniard nicknamed "El Toro". Still, it's Newton's show all the way: his scenery-chewing antics make the film bearable, and he even went on to reprise his role yet again for a TV series