Long John Silver (film)

Not to be confused with Silver: Return to Treasure Island or Return to Treasure Island (film).
Long John Silver
Original film poster
Directed byByron Haskin
Written byMartin Rackin
Produced byJoseph Kaufman
StarringRobert Newton
Kit Taylor
Connie Gilchrist
Lloyd Berrell
Grant Taylor
CinematographyCarl Guthrie A.S.C.
Edited byManuel delCampo
Music byDavid Buttolph
Production
company
Distributed byDistributors Corporation of America
Release dates
  • 16 December 1954 (1954-12-16) (Australia)[1]
  • 17 December 1954 (1954-12-17) (UK)[2]
  • 21 December 1954 (1954-12-21) (U.S.)[3][4]
Running time
106 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Australia
BudgetUS$1,000,000[5][6]
Box office754,745 admissions (France)[7]

Long John Silver, also known as Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island, is a 1954 American-Australian adventure film about the eponymous pirate Long John Silver, with Robert Newton repeating his starring role from Walt Disney's 1950 feature Treasure Island. Newton's billing in the opening credits states, "Robert Newton as Robert Louis Stevenson's immortal", followed by the title Long John Silver, presenting Robert Louis Stevenson's immortal Long John Silver as another of the film's alternate titles.

Kit Taylor plays Jim Hawkins, Connie Gilchrist is Purity Pinker, Lloyd Berrell is Capt. Mendoza, Kit Taylor's father Grant Taylor plays Patch and 24-year-old Rod Taylor, credited under his early stage name, Rodney Taylor, has the showy role of the blind bearded pirate Israel Hands who murderously pursues Jim.[8]

The film was shot in CinemaScope and color at Sydney's Pagewood Studios and the same company went on to make The Adventures of Long John Silver, a 26-episode TV series with the same actors. The director, Byron Haskin, also directed the 1950 Disney film and at least one episode of the TV series.

Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island should not be confused with another 1954 American film, Return to Treasure Island, released six months earlier, in June, with stars Tab Hunter and Dawn Addams.

  1. ^ "Gala Film Premiere". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 17 December 1954. p. 13. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  2. ^ "'Long John Silver' World Premiere" Sydney Morning Herald 8 December 1954 p 6.
  3. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series: Volume 9: Parts 12–13, Number 1: Motion Pictures and Filmstrips, January–June 1955. Washington: Copyright Office, The Library of Congress, 1955: 17. Internet Archive. Web. 28 February 2012 <https://archive.org/download/catalogofcopyrig391213lib/catalogofcopyrig391213lib_bw.pdf>.
  4. ^ "Film Praised" Courier-Mail 24 December 1954 p 1.
  5. ^ "Sydney Boy's Film Contract" Townsville Daily Bulletin 9 April 1954 p 6
  6. ^ "PRODUCTION 101" ON LOCATION Pirate Film in Colour Will Have Sydney Backgrounds". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 2 June 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  7. ^ French box office in 1956 at Box Office Story
  8. ^ Vagg, Stephen (14 April 2020). "Audio commentary for Long John Silver" (Podcast). Anchor FM.