Treasure of Matecumbe (1976)

Just perfect...

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

I saw this film at the cinema as a boy in 1976 and then recently online. While older me wasn't quite as impressed with it as 10 year old me, I still found it to be an entertaining Disney style romp with charming characters like Dr. Snodgrass and over the top villains like Spangler (Not very villainy sounding I know.)It has that kind of 1960's/70's live action Disney charm and a bit of corniness thrown in. Buried treasure, Gators, Indian burial grounds, and other elements, make for an exciting adventure kids and adults will both enjoy. By the way. Yes there is a brief scene with people dressed as KKK. But they are treated as buffoons and morons.

The south just after the Civil War. Brave young David Burnie (likable Johnny Doran) and his equally gutsy best buddy Thad (an appealing performance by Billy Attmore) gain possession of a map for a treasure located somewhere in the Florida Keys. The lads are assisted by charming rascal Jim Burnie (a fine Robert Foxworth), spunky Southern belle Lauriette Paxton (delightfully played with radiant aplomb by Joan Hackett), and flamboyant charlatan physician Dr. Ewing T. Snodgrass (a marvelously robust portrayal by Peter Ustinov). Moreover, a rival group of scurvy pirates led by the ruthless Spangler (a perfectly nasty Vic Morrow) are also determined to get their grubby hands on the treasure. Director Vincent McEveety, working from a colorful and eventful script by Don Tait, relates the thrilling story at a constant snappy pace, maintains a lighthearted tone throughout, and offers a rich and flavorsome evocation of the 19th century deep south. Of course, there are plenty of perils faced along the way which include a run-in with the Klu Klux Klan, a lethal horde of deadly mosquitoes, and a fierce hurricane. Popping up in nice supporting parts are Mills Watson as Spangler's mean right-hand man Catrell, Jane Wyatt as the feisty Aunt Effie, Robert DoQui as friendly ex-slave Ben, Dub Taylor as the peppery Sheriff Forbes, Dick Van Patten as a flashy con artist gambler, and Brion James as a mangy thief. Both Buddy Baker's rousing score and Frank V. Phillips' crisp cinematography are up to snuff. A fun film.

I had always wanted to see this movie as it was based on one of my favorite books, the historical novel "A Journey to Matecumbe" by Robert Lewis Taylor, who also wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "The Travels of Jamie McPheeters." The book is a wonderful exciting and funny tale of a post-Civil War journey by a young boy and his uncle from Kentucky to the Florida Keys being pursued by the Ku Klux Klan and a vengeful southern aristocrat, with lots of great adventures in between.I spent $10 for this movie and now wish I hadn't. The names of a few characters from the book are retained, but almost everything else is changed. It is neither particularly exciting or funny and it wastes the talents of a number of excellent character actors like Peter Ustinov, Dub Taylor, George Lindsay and Joan Hackett. It was also made on the cheap with lots of stock footage of the exotic locales that the characters are supposed to visit and lots of process shots filmed in front of blue screens. I suppose very young children MIGHT like it, but there are some violent scenes that make it problematic even for them. It's a probably eternal mystery why Hollywood buys the rights to film wonderful books and then doesn't put on the screen anything of what made the books wonderful in the first place.

Although Treasure of Matecumbe is listed as a theatrical film, it seems that it plays more like a couple of episodes from The Wonderful World of Disney.The only reason to watch it is for Peter Ustinov who is having a great old time playing the traveling patent medicine man. This is his second film for Disney the first being Blackbeard's Ghost which was infinitely better.Young Johnny Doran is told about a fabulous treasure hidden on Matecumbe island in the Florida Keys. He makes a Huckleberry Finn like journey on the river from Kentucky with a young black kid Billy Atmore who Doran's family would have recently owned. Along the way the two plucky lads pick up Robert Foxworth who is Doran's rascally Uncle Jim. Joan Hackett a young bride running from a hideous marriage and Ustinov.Vic Morrow is the chief villain here leading a band of cutthroats seeking the Treasure of Matecumbe for themselves. Our intrepid band of five has more escapes from them and other villains than used to be in one of those old time movie serials. In fact Treasure of Matecumbe feels like one of them. Foxworth and Ustinov have two unbelievable escapes from certain death.Morrow and his gang have an interesting fate in store for them which I won't reveal, but if you see the movie and think about its logical implications with the terminology used, it definitely isn't Disney type material.For the juvenile trade and for fans of Peter Ustinov only.