Die Schatzinsel

Yes here is a good adventure yarn from a famous novel; a treasure map, a seafaring trip to an island with pirates too, lost treasure, and characters with names such as "Black Dog" etc etc However what distinguishes this version of the tale in my opinion is the relationship between cabin boy Jim Hawkins and the wily old one legged sea lag Long John Silver with the parrot on his shoulders. Childhood trust and innocence is constantly revealed yet betrayed by the adult against the child. Both these characters dominate the movie and quite a study in how an understandably gullible youngster is constantly hoodwinked by the older rogue. Outstanding performances from both actors and all in all this is an entertaining and thoughtful picture. 7/10.

Victor Flemming, famous helmer for bigger films such as Gone With The Wind, conducts this adventure story with a pleasant, confidant ease, if not a touch of true inspiration.

Wallace Beery is brilliant as Long John Silver while Jackie Cooper as Jim plays the perfect sounding board to Beery's loud, large, charismatic performance.

Faithful to Mr. Louis Stevenson's chirography of the same tile; in this writer's humble opinion this incarnation of the film captures, most closely, the tone of the original novel - maybe it being closest to the novel chronologically can account for that.

Beery delivers a truly classic American performance here, that anyone, even the most media jaded of our day, should have fun following the old tar and his young friend in their adventures across this terraqueous globe.

Every generation sees a new adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson's eternal classic Treasure Island. It's a timeless adventure story that will always appeal to the young and young at heart. And it has one of the great acting roles of all time, one you can really eat a whole living room set with and still be in bounds.

For a scene stealing actor like Wallace Beery playing Long John Silver is no stretch at all. He dominates this version over the entire cast and as he's in most of the scenes after Lionel Barrymore as Captain Billy Bones dies and leaves his map to that intrepid band of treasure hunters. Barrymore gets his innings in as well as the bloodthirsty pirate captain who double-crossed his crew and had the presence of mind to die in Dorothy Peterson and Jackie Cooper's inn.

It's a real toss up between who is loudest, biggest eyerolling, larger than life Silver, be it Wallace Beery or Robert Newton in the later version done by Walt Disney. Both these men were remarkably similar in acting styles. But Beery was a cheap soul who had few friends in Hollywood and Newton was the life of that alcoholic party that was his life. I wouldn't want to choose which was better.

Beery and Cooper had their act down pat from The Champ. It's always a source of amazement to me how Cooper couldn't stand Beery and Beery among his dislikes was children in general. Yet you'd never know it seeing them together as Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver.

Otto Kruger as Dr. Livesey, Nigel Bruce as Squire Trelawney, and Lewis Stone as Captain Smollett are perfectly cast in their roles. But they really have trouble keeping up with Beery.

MGM gave the film the usual high gloss production values and Treasure Island is one of those films that always seems to be so right for screen that few variations are ever made on the book. A great tribute to the visual quality of Stevenson's writing.

And you can enjoy this and the Disney version for generations to come.

I noticed, like some of the other reviewers, that few in the film had the necessary British accents needed to play these characters well. However, despite this, the movie is an excellent version of the Stevenson novel--mostly due to good acting, great sets and the nice MGM polish you'd expect from one of their top productions.

As far as the film goes, it's one of the earliest of the Wallace Beery films that teamed him with a cute kid--a formula that was repeated again and again up until Beery's death in 1949. Considering that according to his co-star, Jackie Cooper, Beery hated children and did little to hide it off camera--so I am sure in some ways Beery probably wished this and "The Champ" hadn't been so successful!!

As for the story, it's the often told story of "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's reasonably faithful to the story and is better than other versions I have seen. However, I have NOT seen the very famous Robert Newton version (by many seen as the best), so I cannot say the 1934 version was the best--though many of the newer versions tended to be a bit more dull. Like it or not, the Beery-Cooper schmaltz was entertaining--and I can see why audiences fell for it by the millions!

By the way, like so many releases from Turner Entertainment, this film includes many wonderful extras from the same studio (MGM) from the same year as this feature's release. Turner also does this with many of their classic Warner Brothers releases as well--making them excellent values for customers.

... based on Robert Louis Stevenson's book, from MGM and director Victor Fleming. Jackie Cooper stars as Jim Hawkins, a boy working in his mother's seaside inn. One night a crusty old sea dog named Billy Bones (Lionel Barrymore) arrives with a large chest which he zealously guards. When circumstances lead to it being opened, a treasure map is inside, which inspires Squire Trelawney (Nigel Bruce) to sponsor a sea voyage to look for the hidden booty. Jim goes along for the journey, and befriends a one-legged sea veteran named Long John Silver (Wallace Beery) who may turn out to be more than just a ship's cook.

I read Stevenson's book as a kid, but I never watched any of the many film adaptations until fairly recently, when I watched the 1990 TV movie version starring a young Christian Bale as Jim and Charlton Heston as Long John Silver. This MGM version manages to do more in less time, and I liked Beery in the Silver role much more than Heston. Cooper, on the other hand, gives an awful "movie-kid" performance that pulled me out of the story with almost every line he uttered. I tend to be overly harsh on kids in movies (I'm not a fan), so letting that slide, this is an enjoyable adventure tale with excellent costumes and settings. This was a big hit for MGM, and helped spur a boom in nautical films and other period adventure movies, such as the following year's Captain Blood and Mutiny on the Bounty.