L'isola del tesoro

An interesting low-key adventure film adapted from Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. Filmed in '72 in Italy, England and Spain - the Port of Bristol scenes were filmed at Garrucha, Almeria while the fort-coastal footage was filmed at Mojacar also in Spain. The Georgian settings, period detail and costumes are sumptuous albeit photographed with a slightly subdued pastel and grainy patina by the ace Italian cameraman, Cecilio Paniagua. The tropical island has a mellow pastel lemony colour. The naturalistic and humanist aspects of 17th/18th- Century life - the period of Cook, Bach etc is very much to the fore. Young curlyhaired English actor, Kim Burfield shows purpose and is charming. Orson Welles was allegedly drunk in the dubbing room in Rome. The scene where the adventurers hit the jackpot relating to the bursting forth of the bounty from the cave wall is evocative. The early-'70s were pioneering years.

Treasure Island with O Wells is simply the best adaptation of the Stevenson story ever done. Why ? Beside the great play of Wells, and others good actors, i would say that the movie keep alive the spirit of the book which is the one of people who like the old seaman story, who like the wind, the sea, the waves, this touch of tough adventure and sea. BUT MORE important than anything else, the movie keeps and makes everyone feel strongly this specific young spirit with the which one Stevenson himself started his book : spirit which is necessary to enjoy this sort of story. Really better than the one of Walt Disney ( too sugary ), this Treasure Island will enjoy people who like to be told a story like when one read the book for hours and hours, unable to leave it. Or like children, exactly the expectation of Stevenson, who told too about the young of his time : "may be too wise young..." "Too wise", meaning unable to taste the spirit of adventure and ability to dream, sail full of wind and salt ! The music is great too. N.

In my childhood, this was a perennial on Italian TV over Christmas - but, somehow, I never got to watch it! It's surely the least of the three most renowned film versions of the R.L. Stevenson classic but, in itself, is decent enough...if still mainly interesting for the contribution (both as actor and writer) of Orson Welles.

Welles' presence alone elevates any film he appears in - though he's quite restrained here (certainly in comparison to Robert Newton) and, unwisely, adopts perhaps the silliest accent since THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948)! As for his script - co-written, under the pseudonym O.W. Jeeves, with Wolf Mankowitz - it's reasonably faithful to both the spirit and letter of Stevenson's original. However, the low-budget hurts the overall effort (Welles must have identified with such a predicament, as his own films were too often plagued by compromise!) and the 'modern' score composed by Natale Massara is quite inappropriate.

Still, despite a good cast - including Kim Burfield (unexceptional but not bad as Jim Hawkins), Walter Slezak (as Squire Trelawney), Lionel Stander (as Billy Bones), Paul Muller (as Blind Pew) and Maria Rohm (as Mrs. Hawkins) - it's essentially a 'kiddie' film and is, therefore, in sharp contrast with most of producer Harry Alan Towers' output (particularly his collaborations with Jess Franco)!

Fabulous and appealing adventures starred by two unforgettable characters , Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver . Again we live the roaring adventure of men against the sea . We share the struggles , the heartaches , the laughter of courageous souls who leave their houses they love to dare the wrath of the angry pirates . Upright men and greedy pirates in conflict with their destiny enacting the Robert Stevenson's most thrilling story . Jim Hawkins (Kim Burfield) encounters the map that leads to a distant island where is a buried treasure . Jim , captain Smollett (Rik Battaglia) , Squire (Walter Slezak's final film) , Doctor Livesey (Angel Del Pozo) and , of course , a boisterous Long John Silver (a brilliant triumph by Orson Welles who was paid $150,000) carry out a journey to isle of hidden bounty . The young cabin boy Hawkins has a treasure map and a boatload of kill-crazed pirates eager for the riches hidden on Treasure Island . Unfortunately, a large number of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship . But even greater risks lie ahead when Hawkins finds out that his trusted colleague Long John is actually a nasty pirate with mutiny on his mind . As young Jim Hawkins is torn between his loyalty to his benefactors and his affection for lovable rogue Long John Silver in their struggle to recover a buried pirate treasure .The greatest adventure of all time !. Now Orson Welles as "Long John Silver". The greatest pirate adventure ever!.Sail away into the all-new excitement of the greatest pirate adventure ever!

Fun story with plenty of adventure , intrigue , fights and action . The whole piece of adventure teems with emotion , thrills , humor , exotic atmosphere and being pretty amusing . Orson Welles who is also screenwriter hands perfectly the role as rogue pirate and gives a memorable acting , as always , though Yul Brynner was also chased by the producers for the Long John Silver part . Delightful performance by Jean Lefebre as Ben Gunn , as well . At the film appears usual secondary actors in several 60s and 70s Spanish-Italian co-productions, such as Angel Del Pozo , Paul Muller , Rick Battaglia , Barta Barry , Victor Israel , Jose Jaspe and Aldo Sambrell . Colorful cinematography by Cecilio Paniagua , the opening scenes were filmed in Italy : Mount Gelato Falls , Lacio , and remaining ones were shot in Mojacar , Almeria , Andalucia , Spain . The motion picture was middling but professionally directed by John Hough and uncredited by Andrew White and Antonio Margheritti. This production is powered by the great Orson Welles. Rating : Acceptable and passable .

Other renditions based on this classic novel are the following ones : vintage version (1934) by Victor Fleming with Wallace Beery , Jackie Cooper and Lewis Stone ; Disney take on (1950) by Byron Haskin with Robert Newton and Bobby Driscoll ; (1999) retelling by Marc Charlesbois with Jack Palance , Patrick Bergin and Kevin Zegers ; TV recounting by Fraser C Heston with Charlton Heston , Christian Bale and Richard Johnson ; ¨Treasure Island in Outer Space", TV miniseries (1987) set in space directed by Antonio Margheritti with Anthony Quinn as Long John Silver , David Warbeck as Doctor Livesy and Philippe Leroy as Squire ; ¨Muppet's Treasure island¨ (1996) and recent rendition (2012) by Steve Barron , starred by Eddie Izzard , Rupert Penry-Jones , Daniel Mays , Donald Sutherland and Elijah Wood . In addition , a cartoon-Sci-Fi version as ¨Treasure planet¨ (2002) directed by John Musker and Ron Clemens .

This version may be one of the weaker versions of the classic story, it's nowhere near as good as the 1990 Charlton Heston or the 1934 Wallace Beery versions(Muppet Treasure Island is great too) but it is a long way from bad. And I really do have to respectfully disagree with the commentator who said that this was the worst Treasure Island, the uncomfortably bizarre 1998 Jack Palance version is by far the worst. The film may be lower in budget than most of the versions of Treasure Island, with some of the camera work(which can be too reliant on close ups though most of it is inventive and appropriate) and the handsomely rendered if very undersized Hispagnola it does show but it was decent compared to most lower-in-budget films personally seen, the shadowy lighting was quite effective and the locations are splendid. The script is amusingly tongue in cheek with some darkly tense moments too.

The story is suspenseful and lots of fun on the most part with the storytelling at least coherent and structurally relatively faithful. The start of the film suitably intense and sets up the story well and the action is staged surprisingly well with a Spaghetti Western vibe in places. Some of the treasure hunting scenes are a little leisurely however and are slightly lacking in urgency. The acting is mostly good with Orson Welles giving the most memorable one, he can be charmingly sympathetic but he drips with evil as well, some of the performance is very fruity but I appreciated the restraint he gave the character here. Kim Burfield is an appealing Jim, Walter Slezak brings out the conflicts of Squire Trelawny's character very well- sometimes blustering, other times refined- and Jean Lefevbre an amusing Ben Gunn. Lionel Stander however is too gangster boss-like as Billy Bones and Angel del Pozo is a dull Dr Livesey.

Where the film is least successful is in the music score and especially the dubbing. The score is nowhere near "rousing adventure"-like enough, sounding more like at points like "sentimental television" scoring. The dubbing is unfortunately shoddy, very stiff and some of it sounds like they're mumbling their way through their lines. Robert Rietty is the least bad, he does sound like how Welles would speak but some of his line delivery sounds like he was drunk at the time. On the whole, a long way from great or being the best version, but it's still pretty good and is miles ahead of the Palance adaptation. 6/10 Bethany Cox