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: I like this boy, and if you understand the King's English, you better not lay a hand on 'im!
[the pirates seem to react aggressively]
Long John Silver: . You want to have it out with me?
[They back down]
Long John Silver: . That's better, George Merry. Why, this boy's got more fight than the whole of you!

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May

Accomplished Film For this era

It is easy to spot great acting in this movie. Wallace Beary is great cast as Long John Silver. Jackie Cooper gives another fine child performance. As a matter of fact, the entire cast does very well.

What might be over looked often is that part of the reason this is so so good is that it is well based on the Robert Lewis Stevenson novel. The rest goes to the most often overlooked Direction of Victor Fleming.

Fleming proves in this early film that his work in the films Wizard of Oz & Gone With The Wind is no accident (some critics have called him an erratic Director for hire). He does a great job directing this cast & this story. Some of the sequences show how good a director Fleming really is.

After seeing this film recently, I am now convinced that Victor is a much better director than his detractors give him credit for. While this film does not have all the whiz bang special effects that newer pirate films have created, the great acting & directing more than makes up for that.

Add to that the amazing fact that this film brings in so much good stuff that it only needs 101 minutes to cover a major novel is enough to make you wonder if some of the new longer films about pirates just aren't very efficient in telling their tales.