Long John Silver (1954)

Director:

Byron Haskin

Writers:

Martin Rackin (written by) and
Robert Louis Stevenson (characters)

Release Date:

21 December 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

The most rollicking rogue ever to sail the Spanish Main !

Plot:

In this sequel to Treasure Island, Long John hopes to rescue his friend Jim from a rival pirate and return for more treasure.

Plot Keywords:

Treasure | Ship | Pirate | Sequel | Treasure Hunt

Cast

Robert Newton	...	Long John Silver
Connie Gilchrist	...	Purity Pinker
Lloyd Berrell	...	Capt. Mendoza, 'El Toro'
Grant Taylor	...	Patch
Rod Taylor	...	Israel Hands (as Rodney Taylor)
Harvey Adams	...	Sir Henry Strong
Muriel Steinbeck	...	Lady Strong
Henry Gilbert	...	Billy Bowlegs
John Brunskill	...	Old Stringley
Eric Reiman	...	Lanky pirate
Harry Hambleton	...	Big Eric
Syd Chambers	...	Ned Shill
George Simpson-Lyttle	...	Capt. Asa MacDougall (as George Simpson-Little)
Tony Arpino	...	Mendoza pirate
Al Thomas	...	Mendoza pirate
Vladislaus Leonidis
Thora Smith	...	Elizabeth Strong
Billy Kay	...	Ironhand
Hans Stern	...	Reverend Monaster
Owen Weingott
Don McNiven	...	Sgt. Cover
Elwin Daniel	...	Dodd Perch (dying pirate)
Charles McCallum	...	Old naval officer
John Pooley	...	Young naval officer
Frants Folmer	...	Sentry
Fred Goddard
Kevin Healy
Jeffrey Bradley
Nicki Martino	...	Barmaid
Kenneth J. Warren		(as Kenneth Warren)
John Llewellyn
James Workman
Kit Taylor	...	Jim Hawkins
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Valerie Windus	...	Girl with Billy Bowlegs (uncredited)

Directed by
Byron Haskin

Writing credits
Martin Rackin		(written by)
Robert Louis Stevenson		characters

Produced by
Joe Kaufmann	....	producer (as Joseph Kaufman)
Mark Evans	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
David Buttolph

Cinematography by
Carl E. Guthrie		(as Carl Guthrie)

Film Editing by
Manuel del Campo

Production Design by
Bill Constable		(as William Constable)

Costume Design by
Karl Raymond

Makeup Department
Edward Bower	....	wigs
Elsie Dayne	....	hair stylist
Nessa Tait	....	makeup artist
Dimitry Ustrizoff	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hans Adlerstein	....	assistant director
Maurie Power	....	assistant director

Art Department
Desmonde Downing	....	assistant set designer
Keith Gow	....	property
Jerome 'Jock' Levy	....	props
Charles Woolveridge	....	set constructor
Ken Muggleston	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Alan Allen	....	sound recordist
Hans Wetzel	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Carl Kayser	....	camera operator (as Karl Kayser)
Warren Mearns	....	chief electrician
Ross Wood	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
John Wayne	....	costumes (uncredited)

Editorial Department
William Copland	....	assistant editor

Music Department
David Buttolph	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Mark Evans	....	production executive
Valerie Frost	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Distributors Corporation of America (DCA) (Distributor)
• Treasure Island Pictures Pty. Ltd.

Distributors

• Orrin Films (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• New Trends Associates (1966) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Childhood Productions (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Star Baby Family Classics (1991) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• United American Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Hollywood Classics (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Direct Source (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Marengo Films (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Bridgestone Multimedia (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• BFS Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Platinum Disc (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (all media)
• Better Television Distribution (2006) (worldwide) (TV)
• Direct Source (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• VCI Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• ACME-TV (2010) (worldwide) (all media)
• Artus films (2010) (France) (DVD)
• DTP Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1956) (Austria) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Sydney Symphony Orchestra  music performers

Also Known As:

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | Australia:G | West Germany:16 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Distributors Corporation of America (DCA)

Trivia:

Father and son Grant Taylor and Kit Taylor appear together. However Rod Taylor is not a relation.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Silver lays out the plan to 'El Toro' Mendoza 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.

Quotes:

Long John Silver:Milk! I've been poisoned!

Movie Connections:

Follows Treasure Island (1950)

Not Much New, But Entertaining, & Newton Still Makes a Fine Long John

There is not much new in this sequel to "Treasure Island", which has Robert Newton return in the role of "Long John Silver" and getting involved in new adventures that nevertheless have a familiar feel to them, but it is still an entertaining movie. Made four years after the original, it has Kit Taylor replacing Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, but the relationship between the characters is still much the same. Newton is the main strength, since he captures his character very well, and he is fun to watch even when there is not a lot else going on.

The story has Long John meeting up again with Jim and with various old friends and old rivals, while carrying out his usual assortment of schemes. It all has a familiar feel to it, with some of the same settings and many of the same plot devices getting recycled, and quite a few references to events and characters from the original story.

If you enjoyed "Treasure Island", you would probably enjoy "Long John Silver" as well. Although it doesn't have much new material, it has plenty of adventure and the same kinds of scheming and counter-scheming. You could also enjoy it perfectly well, assuming that you have an interest in the genre, without having seem the first movie. The occasional links with the original are probably easy enough to figure out, from the context and/or from a passing acquaintance with the story from literature or elsewhere.