I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Calling all fans of the one and only-well, the most famous-Long John Silver! Robert Newton is back in the sequel to Treasure Island to portray the pirate he created in 1950. His "Aaarrrrg!" returns to the big screen, as does his famous red coat, parrot, perpetually squinting face, peg-legged limp, and penchant for rum. While Treasure Island was mostly a swashbuckling adventure, this film-sometimes referred to as Long John Silver and sometimes called Return to Treasure Island-is more of a shout out to its fans. There's quite a bit of humor in this one, with one of the side plots devoted to a romance between Robert Newton and the local pub owner, Connie Gilchrist. She wants to get married, but he's determined to escape her clutches. The main story picks up where the original left off. Long John Silver is safe on a Caribbean island, but he's asked to rescue the governor's daughter from another pirate ship, and he soon finds out his old friend Jim Hawkins-played by Kit Taylor in this version-is also being held captive on the ship. He heads to sea and takes the audience with him!Personally, I like Treasure Island better, since the production values are higher, but this one is still pretty cute because of the humor sprinkled in among the script.

Very likable and endearing, this is a kids' humorous swashbuckler, and, as a gangster movie set on sea in the 18th c., it also reminds a bit of the revisionist Westerns—Mendoza and his black-hearted ilk; so, its genre is adventures amidst lowlifes. ''Tis a long time since Treasure Island'—yet Jim doesn't seem to have aged much, if at all—though his demeanor has an erotic undertone that boosts the story, as he looks uncannily precocious, his expression betrays more knowledge than provided by his age. Long J. S. is portrayed as a humorous schemer, while the boy seems naughty, precocious and sexualized in a way that gives the plot a disturbing subtext; the couple is obviously _eroticized, and the girl gets left outside.Silver's mistress brings him young women, to tempt him, and turn him away from his wickedness—and Hawkins is lusted by her, and promised to be taught, as she attempts to seduce him too, as Silver foresaw; these sexual undertones give the scenes an eerie twist.A hymn to _homoerotism, as Silver leaves his fiancée, and Hawkins leaves behind the girl, as the two males realize, after a lovers' fight, that they belong together, and bond—the escaped pirates being their merry wedding members, in a glamorous, given the harshness of the places, wedding party —all these are stated with an astounding shamelessness and mirth. Given the gist of the story—depraved seamen, eager for bodily satisfaction—this homo-erotic undertone belongs naturally.The plot reminds me a bit of another Scottish masterpiece—'Kidnapped'; here, the story takes off slowly, and rambles—as the two, humorous Edenic couple, try to revisit their past, to relive it. Deprived of his famous literary ambiguity, Long J. S. is a lustful, discretely stylish, oldster, who gives his settling for a committed idyll with a boy. Searching for their past, and presumably softened, the two stumble into a incongruous present—Mendoza's den, the heroic past traded for a patchy present. Instead of settling, Long J. S. runs away with the boy, in search of adventure; and, once on the Island, which they live to see again, Silver's dialog with Israel is a bit of surrealism in a twisted comedy.Seduced by the severe Captain, by his bigotry and piety, Hawkins betrays Long J. S.. But the Captain at least keeps his word—and maroons, rather than kills, the crew. The blind—man on the Island is a Gollum figure, vengeful, poisoned by hate, i.e., by lust—for the boy, whom he chases blindly, hence the attempted rape, in a suspenseful scene, and the plot line never looses track of this gay undertone. So, it's a kids' comedy, and a sharp, wicked comment on same—sex relationships.Once again, the boy looks as if Visconti picked him.It's a very enjoyable movie, and quite one—sided, taking a real interest only in the characters, otherwise, though set in the tropical regions, it totally wastes the location opportunity of gorgeousness, of unrestricted lushness—instead, it focuses on characters and their interplay, and these are comic book characters, three standing up (Long J. S., MacDougal and his second, O'Reilly), and I thought the Governor's wife was nice; not much of sets, action or slapstick, but much symbolic characterization—cartoons, Stevenson written by Dickens or Scott ….

I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed this movie. I wasn't sure how authentic a movie from the 50's would look, but then I saw the scenes in the Tavern. I was instantly transported. From the foggy alley outside to the dank interior, this was a great set piece. The other highlight was the lead character, Long John. He was essentially Jack Sparrow 50 years ahead of time. He plays people against each other, has hidden motivations, and always comes out on top by planning 5 steps ahead. There are some politically incorrect elements, mostly involving Hispanic stereotypes, and I thought the story got less interesting once they got onto Treasure Island. However, a fun ending made up for that, so I would recommend this for someone looking for family oriented adventure.

After Walt Disney's relatively well-produced version of "Treasure Island" (1950), timber-shivering Robert Newton (as "Long John Silver") returns. He is made to rescue kidnapped Kit Taylor (as Jim Hawkins) along with a damsel in distress, avoid the marriage-minded Connie Gilchrist (as Purity Pinker), and embark on a far less satisfying treasure hunt. This slight, long, and disappointing sequel rests its laurels almost entirely on Mr. Newton's top-heavy characterization. Late in the running time, young Hawkins and a vision-impaired Rodney "Rod" Taylor (as Israel Hands) give Newton a run for the money. Another "Return to Treasure Island" (also 1954), starring Tab Hunter, was even more peripheral to the original. Like Newton says, "Tis a long time since Treasure Island." **** Long John Silver (12/16/54) Byron Haskin ~ Robert Newton, Kit Taylor, Connie Gilchrist, Rod Taylor