Secrets of the Pirate's Inn

1st real full length movie I ever watched as a kid. Fun adventure kid movie searching for pirate treasure with a crusty old man they meet. Excellent plot, everyone bands together scavenger hunting for the next clue. This was the movie before there was a Goonies movie. Couldn't wait unit part 2 & 3 aired the next week on the Disney Sunday evening show. Drove my parents crazy rushing them home so I wouldn't miss any of it. Secret of Strawberry cove was next with the same kids, kid scary fun to watch. Had all my friends over with popcorn to watch. The best movie I watched as a kid. Of all the remake flops they are doing now days, this would be refreshingly new for kids today. Also enjoyed the Tom, Huck & Becky Thatcher adventure series too. Watching these movies on the internet is small, poor quality, and a waste not being on the big screen.

I am a child of Disney -- watched Uncle Walt every Sunday. All of these TV movies (i.e. The Mystery of Dracula's Castle) lit the fuse for me to become a playwright.

This one is my favorite. Took years to find a copy of it. Now it's on YouTube. Having read mysteries like the Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie and Encyclopedia Brown not to mention the author Wylly Folk St. John whose book of the same name is the inspiration for this Disney TV movie.

Only Ms. John's original Pirates story pales in comparison to what Herman Groves saw in it.

Secret passage ways, riddles to solve, a bad guy, a mysterious treasure map and a rousing conclusion.

Got kids? Sit 'em down to watch a well-written, kid friendly mystery from a by-gone era.

No kids? You watch it, you'll like it!!! Chocolate Chips cookies and milk not provided.

"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.

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.

"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!