Return to Treasure Island

Pretty awful picture. A descendant of Jack Hawkins named Jamie Hawkins (played by lovely Dawn Addams) is tricked into revealing where some hidden loot is hidden on a desert island. There happens to be hunky shirtless Clive Stone (Tab Hunter). She and him try to find the treasure and battle the bad guys.

The color is nice, Addams is beautiful and Hunter is hot...but the picture is TERRIBLE! It's slow, boring and horrendously acted. Even Hunter himself hates it! In his autobiography he says it's abysmal and a stinker and his acting was terrible. Even his MOTHER said it was bad! There's also a mildly kinky scene where Addams is tied to a tree and briefly whipped--but her shirt is on and no marks are shown. This type of picture was popular in the 1950s--it played as the second feature of double bills everywhere. Some patient kids might enjoy this but aside from the lovely color, Addams beauty and Hunter shirtless there's little here to enjoy. A 1 all the way.

I just saw this zero-entertainment-value time-waster on this. You'd think MGM had better films to fill the wee small hours of the morning.

The script is amateurish, with clumsy dialog and zero suspense or dramatic interest. (I don't think there's a single line that isn't expository.) At least the director keeps things moving along (probably because he wanted to get it all over with).

There is a single (unintentionally) amusing moment, when one of the villains tries to shoot another villain. The latter runs back and forth trying to avoid the bullets, resembling a ball bearing in a pinball machine.

The project seems to have been cooked up not only to take advantage of the success of the Disney film, but to let Mr Hunter walk around with his shirt off.

Unless you find either of the leads appealing, this is strictly Sominex cinema.

The Tab Hunter/Dawn Addams "Return to Treasure Island" (1954) is mildly entertaining, but banish all notions that it has anything to do with 1930s Hollywood swashbucklers. This low-budget flick used to appear on TV, but it has not made it to DVD (or even VHS, as far as I know). It disappeared from TV long ago, perhaps partly because of a scene in which Dawn Addams is tied to a tree and whipped to make her reveal some information (probably the whereabouts of the treasure, but I don't remember—I haven't seen this picture for decades).

Note that another (much better known) 1954 film, with Robert Newton as Long John Silver, now goes by the same title. I believe it was originally simply "Long John Silver." This is the picture whose DVD cover erroneously appears on the IMDb.com page.

Note: I see that IMDb has corrected the graphic. (Wow, nine years have flown by.)

Return To Treasure Island was the farewell film for noted character actor Porter Hall. But aside from a chance for Hall to play one of his sniveling rat villain type characters once more and for Tab Hunter to go around bare chested for most of the film there's not much else to recommend this film.

Hunter also narrates the film from flashback, he's a graduate student and his contention is that there's more treasure to be found on Treasure Island. The famous Robert Louis Stevenson novel is treated as a factual account of a voyage. He interests a descendent of Jim Hawkins played by Dawn Addams in taking a look for some more. There is also a flashback showing Captain Flint coming back to bury some more so we know this to be true.

Unfortunately they also interest some greedy villains like Hall, like the blind James Seay who has his own gang of pirates 20th century style.

Hunter looks fabulous, Addams who is scantily clad herself look pretty good, something for everyone's prurient interest. Too bad they weren't provided with a decent story and the acting is amateurish.

Hunter did have sex appeal though. Otherwise this film would have sunk his career without a trace.

The best thing about this film is the young, lovely Dawn Addams. As you read earlier, she is a direct descendant of Jim Hawkins, and along with a young Tab Hunter, follows a map that will lead her to the treasure.

Bad guys are in the mix, too. Our young heroine is captured by the bullies and whipped to make her tell where the map is. She refuses and must now figure a way to escape their clutches.

A typical B movie shot in color,it was released to 1954 audiences at a time when this type of fare was quite popular. B movies were a staple of Hollywood up until about the late 1950s.

If you can find it, it will take you back to a good time in moviedom.