Movie Review – Treasure Island (1950)
Back in 1950, Disney released its first full-length live action film with the adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
Treasure Island is a classic seafaring adventure tale involving ruthless pirates, an exotic island, buried treasure, and of course, plenty of action along the way. The film begins in England in the 1760s as we’re introduced to young Jim Hawkins, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and Long John Silver. Once a map leading to pirate treasure is discovered, the race is on to acquire a sailing ship, hire a crew, and chart a course to claim the lost stash of gold. But as we see, treachery is afoot and Long John Silver has plans of his own.
Treasure Island was directed by Byron Haskin and stars Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton in a memorable role as the mighty pirate Long John Silver. Supporting them are Basil Sydney as Captain Smollett, Walter Fitzgerald as Squire Trelawney, Denis O’Dea as Dr. Livesey, and Geoffrey Wilkinson as Ben Gunn.
Don’t let the age of this pirate film fool you. Treasure Island can hold its own against the popular pirate-themed movies from today’s generation of viewers.
Prepare yourself for adventure!
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Treasure Island begins in 1765 in western England. A mysterious man named Black Dog (Francis de Wolff) enters an inn named Admiral Benbow and orders a drink of rum. A young boy named Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) serves the man his drink. Black Dog asks Hawkins if he’s heard of a maned named Billy Bones, but Hawkins tells him no. Black Dog spies an old chest with the initials W.B. carved into it, and then he suddenly leaves the inn.
After Black Dog leaves the inn, Captain Billy Bones (Finlay Currie) descends the stairs and asks Hawkins who it was that visited the inn. He’s concerned about it being a man with one leg, but when Hawkins describes the visitor, Billy reveals that it was Black Dog. Billy’s health is nearly gone as he asks Jim Hawkins to give him a glass of rum, which he does so reluctantly. Hawkins tells Billy not to drink as the doctor told him that the rum could kill him, but Billy Bones is set on drinking away his worries.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Concerned about Billy’s ailing health, Jim Hawkins runs out of the inn in search of a doctor. He’s quickly captured outside by a blind pirate named Blind Pew (John Laurie). Blind Pew takes Hawkins back inside of the inn and delivers a deadly black spot to Billy Bones. The blind pirate quickly flees the inn while Billy Bones ponders his fate.
Captain Bones now knows that the pirates know where he lives. He’s not about to let them return and gain access to the treasure. He opens the old wooden chest and removes some paper from a secret compartment. Billy tries to walk away, but he’s too weak and falls to the floor. The old sea captain gives the paper to Jim Hawkins and tells the young boy to run away and go find help.
While Jim Hawkins is gone, a small band of pirates lands on the shore. They quickly make their way to the inn and ransack the place, tearing it apart in search of the treasure. Their action is halted when they spy horseback riders riding down the path.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Jim Hawkins returns to the inn with Squire Trelawney (Walter Fitzgerald) and Doctor Livesey (Denis O’Dea). They discover that Captain Billy Bones is dead, but his death was caused by shock and not violence. When they question why the pirates would ransack the place, Hawkins reveals the paper that Billy handed him a little while ago. Trelawney opens the paper and discovers it’s a treasure map, a map to Captain John Flint’s secret stash of buried treasure.
Squire Trelawney is stricken with gold fever once he realizes the amount of treasure hidden on the island. He convinces Dr. Livesey to join him as the ship’s surgeon and Jim Hawkins as the cabin boy. Once they have a crew they’ll sail away and find the treasure and all be rich beyond their wildest dreams.
Trelawney, Livesey and Hawkins travel to the town of Bristol, and there Trelawney shows them their ship, the Hispaniola. In Bristol we also meet the ship’s cook, a one-legged man named Long John Silver (Robert Newton). Silver treats his guests and future shipmates to a meal at his tavern, and they learn more about the cook. Hawkins is concerned about Long John Silver being a man with one leg and a warning about such a man from the late Captain Billy Bones, but Silver is kind to the boy and his fears are somewhat eased.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
During the meal, Captain Smollett (Basil Sydney) expresses his concern about finding an experienced crew for their secret voyage. Silver tells the captain that he has also served in the navy, and he would be glad to bring along a few of his former shipmates for the unknown voyage.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Later, Jim Hawkins is helping Long John Silver in the tavern when Black Dog enters and orders a drink. Hawkins recognizes the pirate and sounds the alarm. He and other men give chase, but Black Dog escapes. Back at the tavern, Long John Silver gives the boy a small pistol so he can protect himself from pirates.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
The Hispaniola leaves port and the voyage begins.
As the journey beings, Captain Smollett holds a private meeting with Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey. The captain expresses his displeasure about this secret voyage being nothing more than a treasure hunt. He’s not fond of the quest, nor does he care for the ship’s crew. Trewlawney has the opposite opinion and insists on drinking a toast to the objective. Dr. Livesey questions the captain about the crew possibly being mutinous, but the captain doesn’t believe it’s possible. Nonetheless, Captain Smollett insists on having a small garrison of troops on board the ship and keeping the weapons locked and kept away from the rest of the crew.
Not long into the voyage, a crewman named George Merry (Ralph Truman) is discovered to be concealing a pistol. The ship’s first mate, Mr. Arrow (David Davies), makes the discovery and brings the man to the ship’s captain. Captain Smollett confiscates the weapon and gives George Merry and the rest of a crew a stern warning about keeping weapons on the ship. The next man caught with a weapon will be given a lashing. Jim Hawkins asks Long John Silver about his pistol, but Silver tells the boy to hang on to the weapon and keep it a secret.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Long John Silver’s suspicious actions continue when he asks Jim Hawkins to smuggle him some rum into the kitchen. He uses it to bake a special rum cake, which he serves to Mr. Arrow the night of a bad storm at sea. Mr. Arrow eats the cake and proceeds to drink the bottle of rum before returning to the top deck of the ship. The man is now drunk and tipsy, and he falls overboard during the storm. There’s a small memorial service for Mr. Arrow the following day.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
More time passes and Jim Hawkins asks a crewman when they’ll sight land. The man replies and tells him that they’ll make landfall once all the apples have been eaten. Excitedly, Hawkins runs below and climbs into the container to eat the last few apples, thinking that it’ll speed up their voyage. While he’s hidden in the container, Hawkins overhears Long John Silver telling his shipmates about the plan to mutiny. Once all the treasure is loaded they’ll take over the ship. Silver is about to stab into the container and grab an apple when he hears the lookout cry “Land ho!” The men scramble topside and Hawkins escapes from the container.
Jim Hawkins relays this information to Captain Smollett. The captain asks for Hawkins to continue being friends with Long John Silver and continue spying on the ship’s cook. Hawkins reluctantly agrees to do so.
The next day, Long John Silver is telling the boy about the island when he notices that Jim Hawkins has become quiet and more distant from the man. Silver offers to guide the boats and pull the ship safely into the lagoon. He also asks the captain that young Hawkins join him in the rowboats, to which Captain Smollett agrees.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Once the rowboats are in the water and pulling the Hispaniola into the island’s harbor, George Merry quickly grows impatient with Silver’s plans and leads the mutiny himself. The mutinous pirates are quickly captured by the ship’s crew and sent to the ship’s brig. When Captain Smollett turns his guns against Long John Silver, Silver grabs Hawkins and holds the boy hostage. He wants to exchange the cabin boy for the map to the buried treasure. Captain Smollett can only watch as the two rowboats reach the shore of the island.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
The small boats reach shore, and Jim Hawkins makes a run for it. He runs through the tropical island and escapes from the pirates. The cabin boy is startled when he encounters a man named Ben Gunn (Geoffrey Wilkinson). It turns out that Ben Gunn was an original member of Captain Flint’s crew, and Gunn was marooned on the island five years ago. Hawkins befriends the man and the two of them find refuge and watch as Captain Smollett rows ashore with Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and others.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
On the Hispaniola, the mutinous pirates break free of their captivity and seize control of the ship. The pirates try to use the ship’s cannons to fire on the row boat, but they miss. They then raise a pirate flag, to which Long John Silver sees and is greatly pleased. Captain Smollett and his men make it to the fort on the island, and Gunn and Hawkins meet them there.
Back on the Hispaniola, the mutinous pirates have opened the rum and become intoxicated. Long John Silver returns to the ship and is upset in George Merry’s drinking and his inability to follow Silver’s orders. Silver wants to throw George into the brig but the other pirates come to his defense. They claim that George is one of the best men to help carry out the raid against the stockade. Long John Silver is proclaimed to be the captain, and he insists on all but two of them to take arms and prepare to assault the stockade on the island.
In the stockade, Captain Smollett has the men prepare the muskets to defend their location. Squire Trelawney is a bit overconfident in their ability to fight off the pirates. Long John Silver arrives while carrying a white truce flag. He wants to speak in person with Captain Smollett. Smollett is uncertain but allows Silver to approach the stockade.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Long John Silver wants the map to the buried treasure, plain and simple. If Captain Smollett hands over the map, then Silver promises that they will not be harmed and they’ll send a ship back to the island to rescue the marooned sailors. Captain Smollett refuses Silver’s proposition and orders him to leave the stockade. While leaving, Long John Silver warns the men that, “Them that die will be the lucky ones!”
The pirates attack from the jungle and a fierce battle takes place at the stockade. Hawkins helps reload the muskets until the fight is taken outside of the structure. There, many pirates fall and it seems like Captain Smollett’s men have the upper hand until Long John Silver shoots Smollett with a pistol, seriously injuring the captain. They retreat inside of the stockade and debate how the pirates will attack them again.
That night, Dr. Livesey gives Hawkins the treasure map for safe keeping. If he’s captured, he can use it to negotiate for his life. As they wonder why they haven’t been attacked again by the pirates, Captain Smollet tells them that the pirates will probably bring the ship closer to shore and then use the cannons to attack the stockade, leveling it from a distance.
Jim Hawkins slips out of the stockade and uses Ben Gunn’s small boat to quietly make his way onto the Hispaniola. The two pirates that were left behind to guard the ship are still there, but they’ve been drinking and are now fighting with each other. The fight turns serious and one of them, Israel Hands (Geoffrey Keen), ultimately kills his shipmate.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Hawkins reaches the ship and cuts the anchor line. He then climbs aboard the Hispaniola and steers it to shore as Israel Hands makes the fatal blow to his companion. Israel, in his drunken state, tries to fire the cannon and warn Long John Silver of trouble, but Jim Hawkins stops him. The two of the wrestle and Hawkins flees by climbing one of the ship’s masts. Israel climbs up the mast and reaches the boy in his hiding spot. Israel throws a knife into Hawkins shoulder and Jim Hawkins uses his pistol to shoot Israel in the face, killing the pirate.
Without an anchor stopping it, the Hispaniola aimlessly drifts through the water and crashes on land. Jim Hawkins replaces the pirates’ flag with that of the English Union Jack. He then climbs down the ship and crosses the tropical island, returning to the stockade. Meanwhile, the knife wound on his arm is slowly growing worse from infection and the tropical climate.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Jim Hawkins returns to the stockade the next morning, but it looks like he’s too late. The pirates had returned and now his shipmates are dead. He approaches what looks like Captain Smollett but is really Long John Silver playing dead. Hawkins faints when he sees that it’s really Silver.
Long John Silver is concerned for his friends, and when he’s checking the boy for other wounds he discovers the treasure man. Silver quickly takes and conceals it as the other pirates “awaken” after playing dead. George Merry would rather let the boy lie there and die, but Silver convinces them that they can still use Hawkins to bargain him for the treasure map. As long as the boy is alive then they have leverage.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
The mutinous crew steps outside to decide whether to follow Long John Silver’s orders or not, and Silver tends to the boy. He then limbs a ladder, waves a white flag, and hails for Dr. Livesey. While doing so he sees that the Hispaniola has been recaptured by Captain Smollett’s men. The crew is displeased with Silver’s actions and hands him a black spot made from a page of a Bible. He berates them for taking a page from that book, and some of the superstitious pirates question George Merry’s judgment in doing so.
Dr. Livesey arrives and tends to Jim Hawkins’s wounded arm. Long John Silver tells Dr. Livesey that he saved Hawkins’s life and that he knew the game was over when he saw that his men lost control of the Hispaniola. This is the first that Dr. Livesey learns about the ship being recaptured and Hawkins’s heroic actions. Silver then reveals that he already has the treasure map. He uses it to bargain for his own life this time, offering to guard Jim Hawkins from the pirates as they dig for the buried treasure.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Dr. Livesey wants for Hawkins to run for his life, but the boy refuses, claiming that he gave his word to Silver, and had it not been for Silver, then the other pirates would have killed him. The ship’s doctor agrees to go along with Silver’s plan, agreeing to testify in behalf of him in court back in England. Silver walks back to the pirates and pretends to have gained the map from Jim Hawkins. He gives it to the pirates and denounces his role as captain. The men refuse to have him give up the title, so George Merry is forced to take back the black spot.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
The pirates follow the map and clues on the ground to reach the spot with the buried treasure. One of the clues is the skeleton from one of Captain Flint’s crew, with the bones pointing in the direction of the buried treasure. The only problem with the buried treasure is that it’s gone. The buried chest is empty. Somebody had already arrived and taken the gold coins and other valuables.
Furious that the treasure is missing, George Merry accuses Long John Silver of making a deal with Dr. Livesey. George tries to shoot Silver, but Silver fires first and kills George. He then draws more pistols and begins shooting the other pirates. When Silver is out of pistols, Dr. Livesey and the other members of Captain Smollett’s crew arrive and shoot the remaining pirates.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Ben Gunn reveals that it was himself who discovered the buried treasure and relocated it to a new hiding spot. He takes the men into a cave and shows them the heaping mounds of treasure. Captain Smollett arrives, and despite Jim Hawkins’s pleading, he orders Silver to be placed in irons back on the Hispaniola.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
A small boat carrying Squire Trelawney, Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, two sailors, and a bunch of gold heads across the lagoon to the Hispaniola. Silver quickly snatches Hawkins’s pistol and orders Trelawney and the two sailors off the boat. He then has Hawkins steer the boat for open water while Silver himself mans the oars. Instead of heading towards open water, Hawkins turns the boat has has it run aground. He then hops out of the boat and refuses to help Silver escape. Silver raises a pistol and threatens to shoot the boy, but he instead lowers the weapon. Jim Hawkins has a change of heart and helps push the boat back into the water so that his friend, Long John Silver, can escape from Captain Smollett’s men.
Treasure Island (1950) – (c) RKO Radio Pictures
Treasure Island ends with Long John Silver raising a sail and sailing away from the island in his small boat. Dr. Livesey curses the man for escaping but then turns around and wishes him good luck. Off in the distance, Silver turns around and waves goodbye to Jim Hawkins and Dr. Livesey.
So is 1950′s version of Treasure Island a good movie?
Not only is Treasure Island a good pirate movie, but it’s a fantastic adventure film. From the beginning in England to the voyage itself on the Hispaniola to the climatic scenes on the tropical island, Treasure Island delivers plenty of action, adventure and suspense.
Let’s not forget about the pirates.
Long John Silver is without a doubt the best character in the film. His mysterious past and treacherous ways show off one side of him, and his compassion towards Jim Hawkins shows off another side. John Silver will also do whatever it takes to acquire the treasure and save his own skin, even if it means holding the cabin boy hostage or turning on his fellow pirates.
One of the best aspects of Treasure Island is despite the film being released in 1950 and being over sixty years old, it’s still a great film for today’s audience. Sure, some of the special effects are a little bit corny, but the story itself and terrific action scenes will help keep today’s audience, both old and young, interested in this film.
Treasure Island (1950) – movie trailer
If you love adventure movies involving exotic islands, treacherous pirates and plenty of suspense along the way, then be sure to check out 1950′s Treasure Island. You will not be disappointed.
Jim Hawkins – “Everything he told us was a lie. I’ve been a fool, sir.”
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Long John Silver – “Them that die will be the lucky ones!”