In the West Coast of England in 1765, young Jim Hawkins lives with his mother in a tiny country inn that they run. Captain William Bones, a sickly lodger, gives Jim a treasure map after being visited by two pirates, the second of whom gives the captain a note marked with the black spot, and sends him for help with a mysterious promise to share. Jim returns with Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey, only to find Bones dead at the inn, and Jim shows Trelawney the map. Trelawney recognizes the map as belonging to the pirate Captain Flint and bankrolls a voyage to discover the Flint's lost treasure. Trelawney hires Captain Smollett and his ship, the Hispaniola, bringing Dr. Livesey as the ship's doctor and Jim as the cabin boy.
Before departure, Long John Silver, a one-legged innkeeper, agrees to gather a crew and joins the expedition as the ship's cook. Smollett is concerned about the crew, especially because the nature of their journey is common knowledge. At sea, Silver convinces Jim to acquire some rum, which he uses to inebriate first mate Mr. Arrow so that he is washed overboard in a storm. Later, Jim overhears Silver and the crew's plan to mutiny, discovering that the seamen hired by Silver are Captain Flint's old crew. Jim reveals the treachery to Smollett, who asks Jim to maintain his friendship with Silver to learn more. Upon reaching Treasure Island, Silver offers to tow the ship to a safer anchorage, using two of the ship's rowboats. While the ship is being towed, one of Silver's men, Merry, leads a mutiny on the ship. Smollett, having been warned of the plot by Jim, can repel them with the few men loyal to him and imprisons the mutineers below decks. Silver cuts the rowboats from the Hispaniola and heads toward the shore with the rest of his men, taking Jim as a hostage. Smollett, Trelawney and Livesey go ashore after them, leaving two guards on the ship.
On Treasure Island, Jim escapes and meets Ben Gunn, marooned by Flint five years ago. Gunn shows Jim the boat that he has built and leads him to Flint's stockade, where he meets Smollett and the others. Merry escapes, takes the ship and raises the Jolly Roger. Silver returns to the Hispaniola, arms his men and plans to take the stockade. Short of men, Silver attempts to parlay with Smollett, but when he is rebuffed, Silver calls his men to attack. The assault on the stockade fails, but Silver wounds Smollett. Although seemingly protected by the stockade, Smollett surmises that, with the morning tide, Silver could move the Hispaniola into cannon range and level the fort.
Jim takes Gunn's boat and cuts the Hispaniola's anchor rope. The pirate Israel Hands discovers Jim and chases him into the ship's rigging. Hands injures Jim's arm with a knife but is killed by the boy's pistol. The Hispaniola runs aground, and Jim strikes the Jolly Roger and hoists the Union Jack. Slowed by his wound, which becomes infected by swamp water, it takes him all night to return to the unguarded stockade. Inside the stockade, Jim searches for the doctor to mend his wound, but the man asleep under Livesey's coat is Long John Silver, causing Jim to faint on the spot. Silver finds the map on Jim as his men awaken. Merry wants Jim dead, but Silver wants to trade him for the map, which his men believe is with Smollett. The men go outside to vote. From the stockade's lookout, while calling for Livesey, Silver sees that the ship is aground and flying the Union Jack, and believes that Smollett's partners have recaptured the ship. The other pirates give Silver the black spot, but he refuses to acknowledge it. They let him bargain with Livesey, who has come to treat Jim, for the map.
Silver secretly barters with Livesey for leniency in court, inadvertently revealing that the ship is no longer under his control. Livesey agrees only when Jim refuses to try to escape with him, as Silver had saved his life by calling for Livesey. Livesey leaves and Silver returns with Jim, flaunting the map to convince his men that his bargain was successful. The pirates are overjoyed and retake the black spot, then proceed on a grueling treasure hunt. When they finally reach the spot where the £700,000 treasure is supposed to be buried, they discover instead an empty pit, save for one guinea. The pirates attack Silver, who kills three of them before Smollett's men appear to defeat the rest. Greeting Silver, Gunn reveals that he has unearthed Flint's treasure and stashed it in a cave.
Despite keeping his end of the bargain, Captain Smollett still wants Silver returned to England to stand trial for his mutiny. Hawkins, Trelawney and two others take Silver to the Hispaniola aboard a rowboat loaded with a few chests of treasure. Silver snatches Jim's pistol and forces Trelawney and the others from the boat but commands Jim to remain in order to steer him out of the cove. Jim instead beaches him on a sandbar, and Silver orders him to push him at gunpoint, but Jim refuses. Silver is unable to execute his threat to shoot and drops the pistol in the water, attempting to push the boat off on his own. Seeing Silver struggle, Jim helps him, waving a hesitant farewell as Silver rows away with the treasure and bids him farewell in return.
Treasure Island was produced by RKO-Walt Disney British Productions, Ltd., a joint venture owned by Walt Disney Productions and RKO Radio Pictures.[7]Walt Disney had been planning an adaptation of Treasure Island, originally intended to be animated, since the 1930s. Disney acquired the film rights to the novel from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which had been planning on producing its own adaptation, in 1949. Disney decided to film the production in the United Kingdom with financial assistance from RKO so that both studios could use frozen funds from ticket sales of their films released in Britain, which were required to be spent on film productions in the country.[1]
The casting of Bobby Driscoll, the film's only American actor, violated British labour laws as he did not possess a Ministry of Labour permit to work in the United Kingdom and was two years younger than the minimum age to obtain one. A court in Beaconsfield fined Driscoll, his father, and Walt Disney Productions £100 each and prohibited Driscoll from further work on the film. Disney completed Driscoll's scenes and returned him to the United States while his case was under appeal. The appeals court ruled that Disney had "brazenly flouted British law".[1]
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Thomas M. Pryor called the film "a grand and glorious entertainment" and wrote: "It is a tingling, suspenseful diversion which expresses in eloquent pictorial terms all of the suppressed craving for adventure that sometimes prompts little boys to wander off into the wooded pathways of life and sets the rest of us to daydreaming about excitements which are denied fulfillment by the inhibitions of advancing age. 'Treasure Island' is simply fascinating."[9]
Variety praised the film for its "sumptuous" set pieces and "a virtual tour de force" performance by Newton.[10] Sonia Stein of The Washington Post wrote that the film was "like a treasure chest of precious stones", with "some of the most beautiful color photography ever shot".[11]Harrison's Reports called it a "first-rate adventure melodrama that should thrill young and old alike",[12] while Philip Hamburger of The New Yorker called it "absolutely first-class ... mounted in Technicolor with such meticulous and imaginative care that I had the feeling throughout that I was watching a handsome illustrated edition of the book come to life."[13]The Monthly Film Bulletin called the production values "serviceable rather than imaginative" and found Driscoll to be "unmistakably 20th century-American in this context" and "insufficiently an actor to have much of a shot at Jim".[14]
Box office
The film earned $4,100,000, of which $2,100,000 was generated in the U.S. and Canada.[6] It was the sixth-most popular film at the British box office in 1950.[15]
Rerelease
Walt Disney Productions rereleased the film in the U.S. in 1975. The MPAA assigned a PG rating, but Disney had a G-only policy that would not be relaxed for another four years to allow PG-rated films. To achieve a G rating, the studio excised nine minutes of the film, shortening its length to 87 minutes.[16]
Sequel
In 1954, Robert Newton reprised his role of Long John Silver in the sequel film Long John Silver, also directed by Byron Haskin but not a Disney production. Newton also played the role in the Australian television series The Adventures of Long John Silver.
Home video
The film was released in VHS format in the U.S. in 1981, 1985, 1991, 1996 and 1997 and on laserdisc in 1983 and 1992.[17][18] While the original videotape and laserdisc releases contained the 87-minute G-rated version, by the early 1990s the studio restored the original theatrical cut that had received a PG rating. Every release since 1991, including the 2003 DVD release, has been the uncut 96-minute version. The film was released on Blu-ray through the Disney Movie Club in 2015.
The film was available to stream on Disney+ when the service launched on November 12, 2019.[19]
↑ Nollen, Scott Allen. "Walt Disney and Robert Louis Stevenson: Haskin's Treasure Island or Stevenson's Kidnapped? It's the Disney Version!: Popular Cinema and Literary Classics. Eds. Douglas Brode and Shea T. Brode. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. p. 62.
1 2 "Richard B. Jewell's RKO film grosses, 1929–51: The C. J. Trevlin Ledger: A comment". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 14, Issue 1, 1994.
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