Treasure Island (1934)

Simply A Masterpiece

Good movie but grossly overrated

The acting in this movie is really good.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Every generation sees a new adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson's eternal classic Treasure Island. It's a timeless adventure story that will always appeal to the young and young at heart. And it has one of the great acting roles of all time, one you can really eat a whole living room set with and still be in bounds.For a scene stealing actor like Wallace Beery playing Long John Silver is no stretch at all. He dominates this version over the entire cast and as he's in most of the scenes after Lionel Barrymore as Captain Billy Bones dies and leaves his map to that intrepid band of treasure hunters. Barrymore gets his innings in as well as the bloodthirsty pirate captain who double-crossed his crew and had the presence of mind to die in Dorothy Peterson and Jackie Cooper's inn.It's a real toss up between who is loudest, biggest eyerolling, larger than life Silver, be it Wallace Beery or Robert Newton in the later version done by Walt Disney. Both these men were remarkably similar in acting styles. But Beery was a cheap soul who had few friends in Hollywood and Newton was the life of that alcoholic party that was his life. I wouldn't want to choose which was better.Beery and Cooper had their act down pat from The Champ. It's always a source of amazement to me how Cooper couldn't stand Beery and Beery among his dislikes was children in general. Yet you'd never know it seeing them together as Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver.Otto Kruger as Dr. Livesey, Nigel Bruce as Squire Trelawney, and Lewis Stone as Captain Smollett are perfectly cast in their roles. But they really have trouble keeping up with Beery. MGM gave the film the usual high gloss production values and Treasure Island is one of those films that always seems to be so right for screen that few variations are ever made on the book. A great tribute to the visual quality of Stevenson's writing.And you can enjoy this and the Disney version for generations to come.

*Spoiler/plot- 1934, A boy and his mother have a country inn on the ocean cliffs. An old sailor moves into the inn and is dying. He befriends the son of the inn keeper with is stories of living on ships. One night a strange blind man arrives and marks the old sailor for death from a pirate brotherhood with the 'Black Spot'. During a cutlass fight, the boy finds a treasure map in the sea chest of the dying sailor. He takes the map to the local authorities who know about it and set up a ship and crew to find the treasure. Once the ship, 'Hispaniola' leaves the port with mostly a secret pirate crew aboard; they arrive at the Treasure Island. The crew takes over the ship and attacks the obedient crew members trying to get the treasure for them. A marooned sailor helps the obedient crew members to find and stow the hidden treasure aboard the ship to go back to England for justice. 'Long' John Silver shows that he is an able conman, pirate, liar, double-crosser, and schemer through this whole treasure hunting experience.*Special Stars- Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper*Theme- Men will look for treasure even if they suffer for it.*Based on- Robert Louise Stevenson's famous pirate novel*Trivia/location/goofs- There is a obvious film goof when Jim (Cooper) Hawkins goes to the Hispaniola's galley to speak to Long (Beery) John and stands at the galley door. You will clearly see a long microphone boom with sound cable shadow that hovers over the actor and top of the galley. In later years during Jackie Cooper interviews, he tells about Wallace Beery's antagonism and drinking during their scenes in this film. It seems Mr. Beery was not a lover of child actors much like W. C. Fields. Copper was pretty green in this film when it comes to his role and acting style.*Emotion- Another fine remake of this classic pirate film. MGM was clearly reaping the bonus ticket prices by pairing these two leading men (older and boy) by casting them in this story. It was a perfect fit and very popular. The ending of this film is when 'Long John' is sailing away free in a long boat from being held responsible for the deaths, maroonment, piracy, and theft of treasure.

After having sat spell-bound through Victor Fleming's later adaptation of Kipling's Captains Courageous, I decided to give this a try. It's not as good, but still a pleasant movie.The tie between the two, of course, is the relationship between a young boy who has not had a real father (in CC Harvey does technically have a father, but for all the attention Coyne pays him he might as well not have one) and a man who "adopts" him as a sort of son and whom the boy grows to idolize. The big difference, of course, is that while Manuel in CC is in fact one of the finest human beings one could hope to meet, someone with every quality that a boy should grow up idolizing, Long John Silver has virtually no good qualities. Jim Hawkins admires him for no good reason, since the officers on the ship all treat him well as well.There are other differences as well. CC is not an adventure movie; TI most certainly is. In that respect, TI is not a great success. We watch the men on both sides get picked off one by one in a series of skirmishes, but there's not a lot of excitement involved.Nor does Jim Hawkins really mature much, unlike Harvey Coyne. He is still blind to Long John's faults at the end, something of a dupe. Harvey Coyne goes from a spoiled child to a man in the course of the months he spends at sea on the We're Here, learning step by step, from example.This is an enjoyable movie, but not an enthralling one. Victor Fleming did much better three years later with CC, which is really a remarkable, and very moving movie.

Yes, the pacing of this Metro picture may be a bit awkward but it's my favorite TREASURE ISLAND simply for the wonderful cast. Beery is just great as Silver, especially when compared to the truly horrible Robert Newton. Otto Kruger, Nigel Bruce and Lewis Stone add some genuine swashbuckling enthusiasm to their roles (Bruce did play a wonderful ass). And the collection of pirates - from Douglass Dumbrille to Ed Pawley to James Burke (for once, not an Irish cop!) to J. M. Kerrigan - really adds depth to the cadre of criminal seamen. My only complaint is that Harry Cording got short shrift. By the way, some trivia - the foppish singing pirate was played by Harry Bailey, who sang "Hooray For Charlie Kane" in CITIZEN KANE. Herbert Stothart's score makes great use of "Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest", an early-century song based on the lines in Stevenson's novel. A winner.