Treasure Island (1934)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)
John Lee Mahin (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 August 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

Sail The High Seas Of Adventure Again !

Plot:

Young Jim Hawkins is torn between his loyalty to his benefactors and his affection for lovable rogue Long John Silver in their struggle to recover a buried pirate treasure.

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Treasure | Long John Silver | Young Boy | Map

Cast

Wallace Beery	...	Long John Silver
Jackie Cooper	...	Jim Hawkins
Lionel Barrymore	...	Billy Bones
Otto Kruger	...	Doctor Livesey
Lewis Stone	...	Captain Smollett
Nigel Bruce	...	Squire Trelawney
Charles 'Chic' Sale	...	Ben Gunn
William V. Mong	...	Pew
Charles McNaughton	...	Black Dog
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Hawkins
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Pirate of the Spanish Main (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Edmund Breese	...	Pirate of the Spanish Main
Olin Howland	...	Pirate of the Spanish Main
Charles Irwin	...	Pirate of the Spanish Main
Edward Pawley	...	Pirate of the Spanish Main

Runtime:

USA:103 min (Turner library print) | USA:110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:TV-G | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #9)

Filming Locations:

Alameda, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Quotes:

Long John Silver: Silver's the name, Long John Silver they calls me. At your service, sir.
Squire Trelawney: Mr. Silver, Trelawney's my name, Squire Trelawney. And this is our cabin boy: Jim, Jim Hawkins.
Long John Silver: Aye, Matey. Smart as paint I'll warrant.
Jim Hawkins: Smart enough to see you've only one leg, sir.
Squire Trelawney: Jim Boy!
Jim Hawkins: Yes, sir.
Long John Silver: You're pretty smart, Jim. So was that French gunner who touched off the ball that blew that ol' leg o' mine overboard.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood's Magical Island: Catalina (2003)

Soundtrack:

Rule Britannia

A map, a boy, a ship, pirates, treasure--and friendship.

Yes, 9 stars from me, certain I am! This version's my favorite treasure-hunt-pirate movie, it ought to be on DVD just as it is, not colorized. I know, Beery's basically the same guy he played in most of his talkies. But someone at MGM had a flash of casting genius cuz Beery is the spittin' image of the Sea Cook in Winslow Homer's illustrations for the novel, and he wears the role like his favorite pair of--um--shoe. And even if the only English accents seem to come from Nigel Bruce (most prominently) and (who else? can't recall), somehow this cast makes their variety of UnitedStatesian accents work. They pull it off. There are a few differences between the novel and this movie version, but darn few and so what. There's no shortage of remakes & won't be. I'll take this version! Saw it on TV three or four times in my teen yrs, having read the novel when I was 12, and the differences were never significant to me. I've seen Disney's, which I liked on the Disneyland telecast, but, while Robert Newton is a definitive Long John Silver and the quintessential adventure-tale pirate--people today say Arrrr! because of his performance--Bobby Driscoll's Jim Hawkins never quite did the job in my opinion. (And Jack Palance is another great actor and his Long John Silver terrific but the version he's in is embarrassingly bad. Haven't seen the Charlton Heston.) Gotta go with this MGM version, Jackie Cooper's pout and all (but does Cooper have Presence!). From the opening scene, in which we are introduced to Jim Hawkins and Billy Bones (Lionel Barrymore having the time of his life! and setting the standard for the rest of the cast), and the unfolding story giving us as motley & mangy a bunch of pirates as ever were--among them Charles McNaughton as Black Dog, Charles Bennett as a creepy Dandy Dawson, Douglas Dumbrille as Israel Hands, and "Chic" Sale as loony Ben Gunn--to the last frame of the last scene this is a downright exciting adventure, and I think it does Robert Louis Stevenson proud (yep, even w/the minor differences). To your kids: I suggest finding an edition of the novel w/ Winslow Homer's illustrations, read that first, cuz there's nothing like the original, with justright illustrations for a bonus, and your imagination. Then sit your parents down & watch this MGM version with 'em. You'll have a fine family evening. Yes, you will, sez I!! Now get me a noggin' o' rum!!!