Long John Silver and Treasure Island Films
The Movies Which Inspired Pirates of the Caribbean
Oct 19, 2009 Jonathan Squirrell
Although the Pirates of the Caribbean films: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, and At the World’s End were not based on the Stevenson novel, they carry plenty of the hallmarks of being inspired by it. The Machiavellian pirate captain, obsessed with treasure but essentially with a good heart, Long John Silver can be seen as a prototype for the Johnny Depp character Jack Sparrow, whilst honest, innocent and brave Jim Hawkins could be a younger version of Will Turner, played in the Pirates trilogy by Orlando Bloom. Take into account such pirate folklore as the black spot and the dead man’s chest itself, and the parallels are clear. Depp, Bloom and company did not create anything groundbreaking then - although they at least initially made a swashbuckling job of re-imagining the genre - pirates had always been popular in Hollywood, and Treasure Island perhaps the most popular story of all.
Early Film Adaptations of Treasure Island
An adaptation of the classic novel first appeared in theatres in 1912, a short film starring Benjamin Wilson as Silver and Addison Rothermel as Hawkins. This was followed in 1918 by another version, which featured Francis Carpenter in the role of the plucky cabin boy, a part that was played in 1920 by a girl, child actress Shirley Mason, who starred alongside Charles Ogle in the first of a succession of high quality Treasure Island films. In 1934 Jim was played by a young Jackie Cooper, who was to find fame in later life appearing as the tough-talking editor of the Daily Planet in the original Superman franchise. Wallace Beery featured as the one-legged pirate in this version. Something all these early movies had in common was the title with none bothering to vary even slightly on the simple but effective Treasure Island.
This pattern continued with the 1950 film, which was directed by Byron Haskin, and starred Robert Newton as Silver and Bobby Driscoll as Hawkins. Like its predecessors, this was a largely accurate and largely successful adaptation. In fact the 1950 Treasure Island was such a hit that it spawned to sequels, both released in 1954. Long John Silver again saw Haskin at the helm, and Newton as the main character, in a story which remained faithful to the spirit of Stevenson’s world of skullduggery and adventure. Kit Taylor replaced Driscoll as Hawkins. Return to Treasure Island once again starred Newton as Silver, and continued his adventures among the Caribbean islands. This time however the script found no place for Hawkins’ character.
Animated and Odd Film Versions of Treasure Island
As often happens after a popular production, there followed a hiatus of adaptations of the original novel, which only began to lift more than fifteen years later. 1971 saw a short Australian animated version of the story, before Orson Welles took on the role of Silver in 1972 for another live action remake, which co-starred Kim Burfield as Jim. Although this version failed to scale the heights of the 1934 and 1950 features. Another animation appeared in 1973, perhaps most notable for the fact that the part of Jim was voiced by the piratically named Davy Jones.
Again, all these movies were named Treasure Island, but another movie to take that name, a French film released in 1985, had little to do with the original work, although the protagonist, played by Melvil Poupaud, retained the name Jim Hawkins. This unconventional comedy, which has gained something of a cult following, updated the story to the Twentieth century, but was more a dreamlike fantasy than a pirate saga.
The final years of the century saw a tenth and final film named Treasure Island, written and directed by Peter Rowe, and starring Jack Palance as Silver and Kevin Zegers as Jim, this was by no means a classic version. This1999 film was preceded by Muppets Treasure Island in 1996, with the puppets making a typically anarchic but largely faithful version of the tale. Amidst the likes of Kermit the Frog as Captain Smollet, and Miss Piggy as a female variation on the marooned Benjamin Gunn, Tim Curry made a fine Long John Silver, and Kevin Bishop a fine Hawkins. The film also featured British comedy talent in Billy Connolly and Jennifer Saunders, as well as a memorable soundtrack.
Treasure Island Re-Imagined
2002 saw Disney reinvigorate the story in Treasure Planet, which kept accurately to the central plot with the twist of setting the action in space, and populating the cast with robots and aliens. Joseph Gordon-Levitt provided the voice of Hawkins in this animated feature, with Brian Murray as the cyborg John Silver. Big name stars were on hand in the form of David Hyde Pierce, and Emma Thompson as the star galleon captain. While certainly not one of Disney’s greatest hits, and perhaps dipping slightly beneath the corporations usual sky-high standards, the film contains plenty of excitement and action.
The final Treasure Island to date is the 2006 movie Pirates of Treasure Island, a loose interpretation including some prequel material and featuring famous female pirate Anne Bonny and, inexplicably, a monstrous wasp. The film starred Lance Henriksen and Tom Nagel, and may be the worst adaptation of the book ever, boasting the staggeringly low IMDB rating of 1.7 out of ten. The story is certainly not over for Treasure Island, however, as work is in development on another prequel, this time based on the John Drake novel Flint and Silver. This movie could finally illuminate some of the greatest mysteries of the original story, and answer the pressing question of just how Long John Silver lost his leg. It may also, with a fair wind, launch another fleet of pirate movies.
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