Le pirate des mers du sud

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.

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.

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.

After Walt Disney's relatively well-produced version of "Treasure Island" (1950), timber-shivering Robert Newton (as "Long John Silver") returns. He is made to rescue kidnapped Kit Taylor (as Jim Hawkins) along with a damsel in distress, avoid the marriage-minded Connie Gilchrist (as Purity Pinker), and embark on a far less satisfying treasure hunt. This slight, long, and disappointing sequel rests its laurels almost entirely on Mr. Newton's top-heavy characterization. Late in the running time, young Hawkins and a vision-impaired Rodney "Rod" Taylor (as Israel Hands) give Newton a run for the money. Another "Return to Treasure Island" (also 1954), starring Tab Hunter, was even more peripheral to the original. Like Newton says, "Tis a long time since Treasure Island."

**** Long John Silver (12/16/54) Byron Haskin ~ Robert Newton, Kit Taylor, Connie Gilchrist, Rod Taylor

I really did like "Treasure island" (1950) and very much wanted to enjoy this sequel featuring, as it does, the star of that film - Robert Newton - as the one legged cook/pirate and overall, all round, reprobate. This time, his young pal "Jim" (Kit Taylor) needs rescuing from the legendary pirate captain "El Toro" (Lloyd Burrell) before they can both pick up some treasure and head home to England. Of course it isn't going to be that simple, and once on the island of Hispaniola, "Silver" needs to use all his wits and guile to stay one step ahead of his rather untrustworthy crew, frequently stirred up by "Israel Hands" (Rod Taylor). There is plenty of adventure here with Newton on typically rambunctious form but the rest of the cast rather let it down, though, and the story is a pretty weak hybrid of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel with some new characters added - including a would-be spouse for our hero (Connie Gilchrist). I did enjoy it, but that might have been nostalgia: I was still a bit disappointed.