Treasure Island (1934)

My Review

“Treasure Island” is the story of a boy and friends in England going on a quest for buried treasure on an island in the Caribbean Sea. Director Victor Fleming (“Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz” 1939) did a good job of adapting the film from Robert Lewis Stevenson’s 1883 novel of the same name. Although production values could have been better, as least the screenplay is lucid, written by John Lee Mahin, John Howard Lawson, and Leonard Praskins. It was primarily filmed on Santa Catalina Island in Los Angeles County, California.

Jackie Cooper is the star of the show as young Jim Hawkins. A talented performer with a wide acting range, his motion picture career lasted decades from 1929 to 1987. Co-stars include Wallace Beery as Long John Silver, Lionel Barrymore as Billy Bones, Oliver Kruger as Dr. Livesay, Lewis Stone as Captain Smollett, Nigel Bruce as Squire Trelawney, and Charles Sale as Ben Gunn. The watchable “Treasure Island” was excellent escapist entertainment at the height of the Great Depression and popular in theatrical release for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.