Treasure Island

So far as I've seen, this is the most commendable of all interpretations of Robert Lewis Stevenson's stirring book; yet, still a great disappointment.

Most of the cast did well enough in their rolls, with the exception of, believe it or not, Orson Welles. Mr. Welles so severely under played the part of Long John Silver he made the character completely uninteresting; that and his unintelligible mumbling fatally scuttles what should have been a great and memorable film.

The music of Natale Massara, another problem, while expertly orchestrated, is derivative of other works and does nothing to convey the feeling of a thrilling tale of the sea. It would have been better suited to an episode of "Little House On The Prairie" with it's ocean of grass.

I certainly won't say that it is a waste of time to watch this version, but if it were not for Wolf Mankowitz writing the screenplay, this might well have been a complete failure.

For a real treat, go see "Muppet Treasure Island". You won't be sorry! More information at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117110/ .

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)!

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

At first glance, Orson Welles did indeed seem to be woefully mis-cast in this bastardized [French, Italian, Spanish, British, West German and who knows what else] version of the Stevenson classic. Fortunately, by the second or third viewing you start to focus less on Welles articulation and more on the film itself. It is a menacing version. From the moment ships' cook Silver opens the galley window with his crutch and demands 'Three cheers for Cap'n Smollett!' this version is dripping with evil. And Welles is just the actor [and his mumbling delivery is deliberately utilized] to bring that evil into sharp focus. Kim Burfield is superb as Jim Hawkins [a kid alternately scared-to-death and naively cocky] , and even when Silver asserts that 'I thinks gold-dust of this here boy!' you know the kid's in trouble. That international crew of pirates brings an air of realism to the production [even if their lips aren't always moving in synchronization with the spoken dialogue] which an all-English crew wouldn't have imparted, and Jean Lefebvre's somewhat dazed Ben Gunn is in fine contrast to Geoffrey Wilkinson's loopy Disney version. Natale Massara's score is wonderful, though apparently there never was a soundtrack ['and more's the pity'], and the cinematography is magnificent. My only two criticisms are that Lionel Stander is badly mis-cast as Billy Bones [the guy still sounded like exactly what he was: a tough-guy from the Bronx], and the pirates' treasure-hunting seems much-too-much like they're out for a leisurely Sunday after-dinner stroll. It definitely lacks urgency. This said, I would rank this version almost on a par with the Disney/Newton version, and well worth owning and watching again and again.

I love this film! It is so great! I was sitting on my couch eating Ruffles potato chips when this film called TREASURE ISLAND came on! I was caught up in it all the way! I especially love the way Maria Rohm plays Mrs. Hawkins! She is so sinister in her role that it makes me glad! I hope that this film will come on again! I love the smell of it!