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

Robert Newton returns once again to his famous role from TREASURE ISLAND, that of Long John Silver. Once more he chews the scenery with gusto and is just grand fun to watch in this particular role any time you can catch him.

This time Long John sets out to save young Jim Hawkins (played by Kit Taylor who sadly doesn't possess the memorable screen presence that his predecessor Bobby Driscoll put into the role) from a cutthroat pirate named "El Toro" Mendoza (Lloyd Berrell) but also added into the mix are a slightly more memorable crew of pirates following after Long John's lead and Long John's frequently comedic interactions with his main squeeze Purity Pinker (Connie Gilchrist), who has her eyes firmly set on marriage and settling down the old sea Captain. Things become truly adventurous when the band of pirates set out for a return to Treasure Island and meet up with some most unexpected surprises and obstacles along the way.

In many ways, this unofficial sequel to the classic Walt Disney film, has a more gritty, real down to Earth feel about it although it really adds little new to the mix. Still any boy who ever dreamed of pirates and searching for lost treasure should find much to enjoy here. Great fun overall, Newton is just a pure delight to watch in this entertaining, surprisingly well-written and executed boys fantasy brought to life.

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

Having already played Blackbeard in Hollywood a couple of years earlier, Robert Newton travelled Down Under with director Byron Haskin to reprise his earlier star turn as Long John Silver, still searching for hidden treasure in an elaborate production in colour & 'scope that paved the way for a TV series.

Jim Hawkins seems scarcely a day older, courtesy of being played by a new young actor, Kit Taylor (son of Grant Taylor, who plays 'Patch'), while a hirsute Rod Taylor as mad, blind Israel Hands - a role previously played by Geoffrey Keen in the Disney version - makes Newton look restrained by comparison.

The scene with him and Master Jim shot on a piece of spectacular coastline near Sydney possibly confirms that the generally studio-bound look of the rest of the film probably owed more to Newton's inability by then to go out on location than budgetary constraints.