SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: Week 260 - Treasure Island (1972)

[europe1]

NOTE to NON-MEMBERS: Interested in joining the SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB? Shoot me a PM for more info!

Here's a quick list of all movies watched by the SMC. Or if you prefer, here's a more detailed examination.

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Our Director
John Hough

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Talented and versatile director John Hough has had a long and eclectic career that encompasses everything from a sexy "Hammer" horror feature to more wholesome "Disney" family fare. Hough was born on November 21st, 1941 in London, England. Hough began his career in his early twenties, working odd jobs on the sets of various London TV productions. Hough eventually secured himself a steady gig as an assistant director on the immensely popular cult TV series, The Avengers (1961), and directed his first episode in 1968. Hough made his feature debut as director with the obscure "Robin Hood" item, Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood (1973).
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Our Stars
Orson Wells

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Film Overview



Premise: Young Jim Hawkins has an unforgettable encounter with pirate Captain Long John Silver and his murderous mates.

Budget: $???

Box Office: $???

Trivia
(courtesy of IMDB)


* Orson Welles was originally supposed to play Silver in a film version of "Treasure Island" in 1964 after he had finished filming Falstaff (1965), but filming was abandoned after only a few days due to lack of money. However, he remained contractually bound to the role and was, therefore, cast in this 1972 version.

* Orson Welles did not like the rewrites to his script, so he asked to be billed as "O W Jeeves" in the opening credits.

* The poor audio quality of Orson Welles' dialogue was apparently due to his recording all his lines in one night in Rome whilst drinking white wine. In 1979, Welles claimed his voice in the film was re-dubbed by another actor. This was true for some versions of the film.

* According to a contemporary report by the Chicago Tribune, Orson Welles would eat five lobsters and drink two bottles of wine for breakfast each day he worked on this movie.

* John Hough stated that Orson Welles was very difficult to work with. Welles had originally intended to direct this movie himself, but as he had a reputation for leaving projects unfinished he could not find a producer willing to let him do it. As a result, he was allegedly resentful of Hough and would deliberately ignore his direction and try to do things his own way. Second unit director Andrea Bianchi also found Welles difficult for the same reasons; when interviewed by the Chicago Tribune during the making of the movie, Bianchi stated: "I knew all about the 'black legend' of Orson Welles. When he is in front of the camera, no matter who is in the director's chair, it is Welles who directs." After a tense initial two day period, Welles and Bianchi established a working relationship.
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Members: @europe1 @MusterX @Scott Parker 27 @JayPettryMMA @Yotsuya @HARRISON_3 @Bubzeh @the ambush @HenryFlower @Zer @Dirt Road Soldier @DoctorDeelon

 

[europe1]

Ah! Crap! Forgot to post the links!

Link (to weird polish site)
1972 version: https://videa.hu/videok/film-animacio/kincses-sziget-1972-hun-sub-island-treasure-PRkchViZyarZ8lVZ

Link (to weird Russian youtube)
https://ok.ru/video/1469783738965

 

[Dirt Road Soldier]

I've seen this movie before, several times in fact. Treasure island is one of my favorite sea faring stories, so of course I've watched most versions of the story put to film. This version, while not the best of the lot, is still a great movie.

Stander does an amazing job as Bones for the small portion of the movie he is in, even if it does feel a bit hammy at points. Burfield does a well enough job as Hawkins, but you can tell there were slim pickings for people to fill the role. But of course, the star of the movie is Welles. And sadly, you can tell his heart either wasn't 100% in it at times or he threw in the towel due to how hard he had to work on getting the movie made so by the time it happened he was just tired But at the same time, some scenes he absolutely killed it as Silver so I have a love hate relationship with him in this movie.

The sets and costumes were well done, sometimes surprisingly well. For as low budget as the movie seems at times, they managed to stretch it quite well and make the most of what they had.

Overall the movie stays very true to the book, so the story (for me at least) is great. The ending felt somewhat rushed, as if they were running out of pocket change to keep filming in the end but it's still good.

In the end, while the movie has it's flaws (you can tell where they had Welles dub in his lines and he was not sober) and definitely shows its age it's still a faithful retelling of the original story. They did the best with what they had and the end result was good enough, in my opinion at least, to be worthy of the name.

 

[europe1]

Yeah I found this movie pretty... shopworn and patchy. It's not all that good and I don't have a lot of things to say about it.

Burfield does a well enough job as Hawkins

I did lol when the rich guy who funds the expedition told Hawkins: "We'll make a legendary cabin-boy out of you!" I mean... legendary and cabin-boy seem like two words that should be oxymorons.

The sets and costumes were well done, sometimes surprisingly well. For as low budget as the movie seems at times, they managed to stretch it quite well and make the most of what they had.

It has that... "European" quality to it, meaning that even while the production isn't particularly well-heeled, the costumes and faces are so weather-bitten and worn-out that there is a sort of believability to it. People are ugly and weird-looking in a way that you don't see in Hollywood productions.

But of course, the star of the movie is Welles. And sadly, you can tell his heart either wasn't 100% in it at times or he threw in the towel due to how hard he had to work on getting the movie made so by the time it happened he was just tired But at the same time, some scenes he absolutely killed it as Silver so I have a love hate relationship with him in this movie.

That drawling way he deliver's his lines sure stands out. But... you kind of get the impression that it started as a performance, and then towards the end of the film Wells was just falling asleep in the recording studio.

Treasure island is one of my favorite sea faring stories

Favorite sea-faring stories... eh?

(Sadly never filmatized)

 

[HARRISON_3]

Is this better or worse than Cutthroat Island?

 

[europe1]

Is this better or worse than Cutthroat Island?

Cutthroat Island wins via Monkey

I dunno I've always thought that Cutthroat Island is kind of... alright.

 

[HARRISON_3]

Cutthroat Island wins via Monkey

I dunno I've always thought that Cutthroat Island is kind of... alright.

I saw that one at the theater

 

[Zer]

I thought this was pretty solid. It felt a little bipolar to me where you have this adventure story but it's executed more like a pretty generic historical epic, always feeling a little bogged down by the story just because it's delivered so blandly, despite the efforts of some very likeable performances. I also thought the music felt out of place. Way too dramatic like it belonged in less whimsical, playful story I guess. It was more something you'd hear in an historical drama perhaps. It doesn't have a sense of fun and the film isn't the kind of scale that demands that kind of music.

I did like the sets, especially the locations early on that had a very moody, medieval fantasy feel to them (Along with the characters like the blind dude. That Black Spot letter made it feel so much like Skyrim with one of its little Taverns

Plus the ship looked really good (even if that's the worst part of the film for me, with the seafaring politics thing feeling dull). Unnervingly still in some shots and it feels underutilized and largely unexplored, but it's a cool looking ship for what there is

Aesthetically it takes a turn for the worst on Treasure Island itself, it's just not as interesting a location as the early settings. Also the costumes are decent I guess, but it feels too clean and polished. Like guys have been in this long voyage with the same clothes and they always kind of look the same, there's no wear and tear unless the character was born sweating in shitty pirate clothes. It feels like they ran out of budget at Treasure Island (They had to buy all those gold pieces I guess)

I dug Orson Welles in this and he's the best thing about it, even if he is half assing and drunk it's the kind of performance this film needed. I'm not sure he's convincing at all as a legendary pirate (Although I liked the accent (Even if there were times I had no idea what he was saying)) but it's still fun performance and when he does need turn on the menace he does a pretty good job.

I like Kim Burfield as Jim Hawkins. He has a passive sort of curious energy that means he can get the job done without being obnoxious or loud and without many lines, which is all I really ask from a child actor. Lionel Stander as Bill Bones was really great and he does a lot to create early intrigue in the story. I liked Walter Slezak as Trelawney too in a pretty bland role but I really liked his scenes with Hawkins

For me it's a pretty solid 6/10, I enjoyed it even with its flaws and it's a memorable Welles performance

 

[europe1]

I did like the sets, especially the locations early on that had a very moody, medieval fantasy feel to them

Yeah it kind of seems like all of us liked the beginning the best. Points for setting a mood, I guess.

A real big problem though that the actual Tresure Island itself leaves so little impact.

Along with the characters like the blind dude

The 1990 version did that character way cooler.

Not to mention having Christian Bale duel-weilding flintlocks.

I dug Orson Welles in this and he's the best thing about it, even if he is half assing and drunk it's the kind of performance this film needed.

Sad to say though that this isn't even my favorite drunk performance of his

I like Kim Burfield as Jim Hawkins. He has a passive sort of curious energy that means he can get the job done without being obnoxious or loud and without many lines, which is all I really ask from a child actor.

A good point!

Every time I see one of those overgrown Charles Dickens hairdos I expect a really whiny performance from kids...

 

[Zer]

Not to mention having Christian Bale duel-weilding flintlocks.

That's funny, I thought one of the crew here looked exactly like Bale from the side and I was going to highlight it. But then from the front he looked completely different so that was a dead end

Just dual-wielding flintlocks tells me the 1980's version is where it's at. Them leaving one old dude with a flintlock pistol to guard a ship full of swashbuckling pirates that take him out by basically throwing a stick at him was one of the low points of this for me (Although maybe that's how shit goes down in the book I haven't read) and kind of sums up how unimaginative this film was in many aspects. Like if you're going to do something that weak at least try and wring a little comedy out of it

Underpinning all of this I guess is that it's a pretty ambitious story to cram into a 90 min movie so you've gotta cut it a little slack there. At the same time you'd expect this story boiled down to 90 minutes to be a little more eventful and impressive but it didn't seem like a big budget film (Most of it probably went to Welles I'm guessing)