The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Blistering performances.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Filmed in England, this was the very first live action movie made by Walt Disney after a long string of animated features. Up till now I've never seen any of the films based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, so I'll have to go with the majority on this board stating that this is probably the finest effort. Robert Newton of course makes for a quintessential pirate, though I could see Charles Laughton in the role quite favorably. His take on Captain Kidd in the 1945 movie of the same name was classic.I don't think I've ever read the Stevenson book, or if I had, it's been so long in the past I can't even remember. Other viewers feel that this film version follows pretty closely, so that will probably save me the effort. With Newton's character, I was waiting for him to show his true colors, and it was quite a while into the film before he managed to take out Mr. Arrow (David Davies) with the plum duff and the old heave-ho overboard. If you didn't know Long John Silver was a pirate, that sequence would probably come off as a complete surprise.What I didn't get though was the ending of the story, in as much as Long John basically got away with the gold treasure, and the two principals, young Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) and Dr. Livesy (Denis O'Dea) didn't seem to mind that much. I realize Silver had a soft spot for the adventurous lad, but it was really touch and go there for Hawkins the entire time with no assurance of safety. Maybe I'll have to read the book after all.

Disney's first completely live action film, I can't say that I was impressed at all. Bobby Driscoll sticks out like a sore thumb as the only American in the cast but that wouldn't be a problem if he gave a good performance, which he most certainly doesn't. Frankly, I don't think that he could act to save his life. He is one of two things that really drag the film down, the other being the deathly slow pacing. It sticks to the general storyline of the novel by my fellow University of Edinburgh alumnus Robert Louis Stevenson but leaves out many of the details. Yet, bizarrely, it still feels considerably longer than its 95 minute runtime. It's plodding and dull. Neither the script nor the direction are very good. There is little of the great atmosphere of adventure that defines the novel.On the bright side, Robert Newton gives a great over the top performance as Long John Silver, which is the best part of the film. It also features a strong supporting cast of British character actors such as Basil Sydney, Walter Fitzgerald, Denis O'Dea, Ralph Truman, John Laurie, Francis de Wolff, Finlay Currie, Geoffrey Keen, Sam Kydd and Patrick Troughton. The film also looks good. Overall, however, I much preferred Disney's 1960 version of Stevenson's later and, for my money, better novel "Kidnapped" as well as "Muppet Treasure Island", which is considerably more fun.

Treasure Island directed by Haskin is indeed commendable even after a lapse of fifty years. It is the first live action film by Disney Productions. The violence is a bit more for Walt Disney level.Robert Newton steals the show in the role of Long John Silver. He has injected the exact amount of guile, treachery, crooked chivalry and maneuvering in the robust character of versatile pirate named Long John Silver. The originality exuding from the acting of Newton far outweighs that of film giants like Orsen Welles in the film version of 1972 or by Charlton Heston in TV adaptation of 1990.The special effects and computer graphics generated in the fiction movies of this ultra advanced age have failed to come up to the austere and vivid standards of this Disney Production half a century ago. Honestly speaking, in its genre, this flick has more entertaining charm and reality than in the Pirates of the Caribbean (2006). Robert Newton as the lame, rugged and craggy natured pirate (Silver) outperforms Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow (modern day pirate) of The Dead Man's Chest.I would go, even that far to say that Jim Hawkins played by Bobby Discroll consummates better as the young protagonist in comparison with Daniel Radcliffe playing Harry Potter, although Discroll seems younger in 1950 than Radcliffe in J.K. Rowlings children thriller.

Anybody who knows me will probably know that I am very fond of Disney. Not only their animations such as Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio and The Hunchback of Notre Dame but also their live action films especially Mary Poppins and Old Yeller. While it was still enjoyable enough, Treasure Island doesn't captivate me as much as the aforementioned did. It does have its strengths but it has its weaknesses too.Treasure Island's main merit is the performance of Robert Newton. I know there are people who dismiss Newton as being hammy, I thought so myself initially, but when I revisited it I realised I liked Newton's performance this time around because he was on the hammy side. His swagger, his eyes, his charismatic presence, while it is not my favourite performance of his(Bill Sikes in David Lean's Oliver Twist is my favourite) I thoroughly enjoyed his turn as Long John here. Another strength is the locations, sets and costumes. They are very colourful and lavish, while the cinematography is also well done and the ship itself is of majestic scale. The direction is good too, and I liked the dialogue, Long John for me gets the best lines and the story, while just lacking the magic of the book it was interesting and amusing enough.However, Treasure Island also has its problems as well as I have said already. For me the length was just right, for me the pacing was the issue particularly in the middle half I found it a little too lethargic so some scenes dragged. Also, I felt Long John and Jim's relationship could have been developed more, while the chemistry is there it never quite comes across as humorous or poignant, and any scene that strived to be any of those things didn't have that emotional impact due to the relationship not being strong enough. That is of course my opinion. My main problem though is some of the supporting cast. If I were to coin the phrase hit and miss I would give it here. Starting with the good, Finlay Currie is good as Billy Bones, though with an actor as good as he was I would have loved him to have played a bigger role in the film. Less successful is Bobby Driscoll. Now I have nothing against Driscoll, I loved him in So Dear to My Heart, liked him in Song of the South(wasn't quite so sure initially) and his voice work as Peter Pan is gradually growing on me, but he didn't convince me as Jim, and I found his accent distracting. I also didn't like Geoffrey Wilkinson very much as Ben Gunn either, for me any part on his behalf that was intended to be amusing fell rather flat, sorry.Overall, not bad in fact it is pretty enjoyable, but I just don't revere it as a classic. I think people may think it blasphemy, but I preferred the Muppet version. 6/10 Bethany Cox