Treasure Island (1934) (NR)
Spry 1934 pirate yarn with a treasured cast.
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- Studio: MGM Home Entertainment
- Directed By: Victor Fleming
- Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Otto Kruger, Nigel Bruce
- Running Time: 105 minutes
- Release Date: 08/14/1934
- Video/DVD Release Date: 10/10/2006
- Genre: Action/adventure
- MPAA Rating: NR
Parents need to know
Families can talk about Jim's relationship to Long John. Do you think Jim has done the right thing in the end? Long John is endlessly flattering and complimentary to the boy -- yet he uses the same flowery language with an adult sailor, and casually kills that same man when he won't join the pirate mutiny. Do you think Long John has changed by the end? Why do you think pirate yarns were popular in the 1930s and are still popular today? How does this version of the tale compare to the book or other versions?
Message
Social Behavior:
Young Jim Hawkins is a brave, scrappy, and valiant lad, even risking his life on principle. Most of the pirates are greedy, treacherous rascals, with the lying, cunning Long John Silver rendered sympathetic by his almost fatherly affection for Jim (we know nothing about the boy's own missing dad). Though it's doubtful Long John has reformed by the fadeout. Despite a setting predominantly in the West Indies, the ship's crew is all white.
Consumerism:
Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:
Drinking among the seamen, with Jim Hawkins and his mother running the tavern.
Violence
Shootings, swordfight-stabbings, and fisticuffs. One pretty gross scene of a pirate run over by a carriage. A few skeletons.
Sex
One creepy scene in which a grown man seems unhealthily interested in the boy Jim.
Language
Common Sense says
What's the story?
Reviewed by Charles Cassady, Jr.
Is it any good?
The question is always whether Long John is secretly as fond of Jim as he claims, or is the crafty pirate leader just using the kid as a pawn and human shield? The easygoing Long John explains his thieving, even murderous ways to the boy as just "tactics" and talks casually about killing off his pirate-shipmates to make greater shares of loot for everyone. Jim Hawkins tearfully refuses to accept that -- yet he still grows to love Long John.
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Parents and kids say



