Secrets of the Pirate's Inn

This Walt Disney Wonderful World Of Color presentation is your usual Disney fare about adventurous kids, in this case seeking buried treasure in the Louisiana bayou. Looking at I had a feeling that this might have been originally meant as a feature film, then split in two for the TV program and then reunited again for a feature film for release in Europe which is what happened. The halves don't don't neatly segment as they usually do in Disney features.

Jimmy Bracken and Patrick Creamer are the boys and Annie McEveety is Bracken's tag along and tomboy sister. Trying to avoid her the boys take refuge in what they think is an abandoned house. But instead the three find Ed Begley living there.

Begley inherited the house from his late brother and also inherited the legend of late brother who firmly believed that Jean Lafitte hid some loot there and he was going to find it. He and the kids start looking but someone else is looking as well, therein lies the tale.

Secrets Of Pirates Inn is not your best or worst Disney kid feature. It's fairly run of the mill of its type. The kids are appealing, Ed Begley is scene stealing from them and Paul Fix as a grumpy tenant gets in an inning or two.

Kids should like it.

With an elder retired sea captain at the helm of the Inn, these youngsters begin an adventure of finding a world full of life, treasure, and danger outside the confines of their parents' home. As a child, I was glued to the TV for this one. As an adult, I see now what I was finding in this story. A timeless pirate story with a lot of heart, along with children who actually talk and behave as ordinary children might while in the middle of an extra-ordinary treasure hunt. This film is a classic that predates all recent pirate films, it is the "Shane" of the childhood pirate drama. Suggestion to Disney: Re-release this in DVD form for the current generation.

Just looking at the credits list for "Secrets of the Pirates' Inn" brings back the delicious memory of what an outstanding short series this was! I think maybe it was only two one-hour episodes, but I do remember that I felt a sense of loss when it had ended. Possibly the most thoroughly enjoyed of everything I ever saw on Disney, dating from clear back to the first episode of Disneyland, little did I know that I would never see "Secrets of the Pirates' Inn" again! I'd like to wring the necks of the clueless individuals who hold the keys to the Disney vaults! Too young, or too much into the modern genres to understand what golden treasures they deprive us of, and "Secrets" was the best! A real Disney masterpiece to rival even "Pollyanna."

"Secrets of the Pirate's Inn" follows three young kids who help an old Irish sea captain find a hidden treasure with a mysterious foe on their tails. This movie is surprisingly very entertaining to watch and from what I know, many people can recall seeing it as children back in '69 and the memories they have of watching it. Remember when movies could just be fun and exciting and not have to do with race and sex? ME EITHER! I wish we could just go back to the good ol' days of film. The movie is available on YouTube, so you should definitely give it a watch. It's a shame this film isn't available on DVD because I'd totally buy it!

"Secrets of the Pirate's Inn" was made 16 years before "The Goonies." Steven Spielberg obviously made "The Goonies" as a loving tribute to the Disney TV movies that he and the rest of the kids of the 50's and 60's grew up on, and if you've ever seen "Pirate's Inn" you can't miss the resemblance. "Pirate's Inn" was done in the old Disney mold; i.e., inventive and with an eye to quality, and was one of the last good TV movies to come out of that studio after Walt's death.

Ed Begley plays a man who inherits an old, long-closed inn; the town abounds with rumors that pirates had at one time buried their treasure there, but no one knows where. Three local kids become friends with Begley's character, and together they try and solve the mystery. That wonderful, overlooked character actor Charles Aidman shows up to inject a sinister note in the proceedings. The atmosphere of the film is what makes it a success; we see lots of dark stairwells and passages leading downwards and hidden areas with secrets behind them. This is a film that keeps you interested and involved from the start. The three kids were later teamed up in "The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove," a TV film not nearly as good as "Pirate's Inn," but also worth a look.

"Pirate's Inn" is not available on video, which is a crime. The Disney channel's "Vault Disney" used to run these old TV shows at midnight/1am most nights, but the Disney Channel appears to have stopped running "Vault Disney," just another example that they've turned their attention to young kids today and no longer think there is an audience for these older shows. "Secrets of the Pirate's Inn" is a great, fun-filled movie, and I still enjoy watching it.