Robert Louis Stevenson

(On Cable TV, February 2021) The original Robert Louis Stevenson novel is one of those classic tales of adventure that feels timeless, and such is the case with 1934’s version of Treasure Island, which manages to overcome the technical limitations of mid-1930s filmmaking to deliver a still-admirable period take on the piece. The story is familiar to the point of being irrelevant compared to the execution: here’s our orphan hero, here’s Long John Silver, here’s the nautical trip, here’s the island, here’s the treasure. It’s in execution that the film distinguishes itself and stays distinctive. Having Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper in the two lead roles is historically significant considering the popularity of the pair at the time. While there have been more imaginative or more technically polished takes on the story, this 1934 Treasure Island shows you what big-budget studio filmmaking could do with that premise at the time, and that’s interesting enough.