Long John Silver

Calling all fans of the one and only-well, the most famous-Long John Silver! Robert Newton is back in the sequel to Treasure Island to portray the pirate he created in 1950. His "Aaarrrrg!" returns to the big screen, as does his famous red coat, parrot, perpetually squinting face, peg-legged limp, and penchant for rum.

While Treasure Island was mostly a swashbuckling adventure, this film-sometimes referred to as Long John Silver and sometimes called Return to Treasure Island-is more of a shout out to its fans. There's quite a bit of humor in this one, with one of the side plots devoted to a romance between Robert Newton and the local pub owner, Connie Gilchrist. She wants to get married, but he's determined to escape her clutches. The main story picks up where the original left off. Long John Silver is safe on a Caribbean island, but he's asked to rescue the governor's daughter from another pirate ship, and he soon finds out his old friend Jim Hawkins-played by Kit Taylor in this version-is also being held captive on the ship. He heads to sea and takes the audience with him!

Personally, I like Treasure Island better, since the production values are higher, but this one is still pretty cute because of the humor sprinkled in among the script.

The original 1950 "Treasure Island" version is pretty well known, but most people aren't aware there's a sequel. I believe Disney did not have any involvement in this. It shows, but then again, Disney sequels aren't known for their quality. As far as I know, this isn't based on any book Robert Louis Stevenson made. Hey, my last name is Stevenson! It's more or less a retread of the original film. This is by no means awful, it's just okay. The best parts about it are easily the acting. Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver are portrayed just as well as in the original movie. While they're not given that much material, it's still entertaining to see these people again.

The film's main faults are that it isn't paced well and doesn't have much of a new story. I still like how they are trying to expand the mythology of the series. The color stands out really well, too. It seems like this movie had a really good length as well. It's just that the story isn't that interesting. My advice is just see the original, but this one is completely harmless. **1/2

If you have seen the '50 Disney "Treasure Island", there is little point in watching this sequel, which is more of the same, although it is available free at YouTube, in case you are tempted. After a while, I got weary of the thick lingos of Robert Newton, as Silver, and Lloyd Barrell, as Mendoza, often making it difficult to understand what they are saying. Newton, of course, was famous for his portrayal of Silver in the '50 film, and I assume also in the present film. Actually, I liked Newton's portrayal of Blackbeard("Blackbeard the Pirate") better than his Long John Silver. Like the original, this was shot in Technicolor, but in various Australian locations. The main point is the competition between Silver and Mendoza to find a second stash of Captain Flint's treasure missed on the first journey to Treasure Island, in the '50 film.......Have a number of questions pertaining to the screenplay: 1) If Israel Hands is blind, how can he be picking off Silver's men with a musket or stealthily with a knife, when they are all huddled in the stockade, then chase Jim Hawkins all over the island, before toppling off a cliff? 2)How did Mendoza's crew get off Mendoza's Island, when Silver's crew stole their ship, after being marooned by Captain MacDougall for planning a mutiny? Did they manage to use shore boats to navigate from this island to Treasure Island? 3) Why did Jim Hawkins reveal Silver's plan of mutiny to MacDougall, since he wanted to go with Silver back to Treasure Island? 4)Why was Purity so intent on marrying a lowlife such as Silver? Did she think he would agree if she insisted that he drink milk rather than rum? 5)How did the containers of gunpowder work as hand granades if they lacked fuses? 6) It's confusing to me how the treasure map and gold medallion worked together to reveal the location of the treasure.

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.

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