Treasure Island

1920 NR 1h 16m 7.1

Young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver in search of the buried treasure of the buccaneer Captain Flint, in this adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Old Benbow Inn on the coast of Eng land, a mecca for seafaring men, is kept by Mrs. Hawkins and her young son, Jim. Business is bad and they are poor off financially. Bill Bones, a sea captain, comes to stop at the Inn and warns Jim to look out for a "seafaring man with one leg" and warn him when he arrives. Folks believe that Bones is an ex-pirate. One morning when Jim is serving him with his breakfast, a ferocious sailor man called Black Dog enters and demands of Captain Bones his share of Captain Flint's treasure which Bones is supposed to have hidden in his ancient sea chest upstairs. Bones drives Black Dog away with curses and cutlass. Bones tells Jim that if he is suddenly killed, his board and lodging are to be taken out of the contents of the chest. Some time later Jim is seized in the claw like grip of a hideous looking blind man, Pew, and forced to lead him to Bill Bones. The latter is instantly paralyzed with fear, and it is not long after when he is found murdered. While searching in the sea chest, Mrs. Hawkins and Jim are surprised by a band of cutthroat buccaneers. They escape from the Inn and hide, carrying a small sum of money and an oilskin packet found in the chest. Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney, neighbors, encounter the pirates searching for the fugitives. Pew is ridden down and killed. The others escape. Jim shows the doctor the packet. It contains the chart of the island where the treasure of Captain Flint is hurried. The Squire thereupon decides to buy a boat and finance an expedition in search of the treasure. Jim wants to go, but they decide he must stay with his mother. The "Hispaniola" is secured and Captain Smollett placed in command, Long John Silver a sailor man with one leg, is taken along as cook and Israel Hands, George Merry, and Morgan are among the rough and readies in the crew. Jim stows away in a barrel of apples in the hold of the ship. One day after the vessel is underway he overhears Long John and some of the others planning a mutiny. Jim sneaks out of the barrel and is forgiven when he tells the Squire, the Doctor, and the Captain what he has heard. When land is sighted, the mutineers are overpowered and sent ashore. Black Dog seizes Jim and takes him along. The lad es capes into the jungle and there encounters Benn Gunn, an ancient half-witted pirate who has been marooned by Flint. He tries to help Jim. The Doctor and his party trail Jim, determined to rescue him. In a battle with Long John in a stockade, they succeed in killing the majority of the mutineers and capturing the remainder. Jim and Ben Gunn are found. When a few of the straggling pirates, who were not in the fight, go in search of the treasure, they find it has been removed. However, Ben Gunn clears the mystery by saying that he himself dug it up. He gives it to the men who have befriended him and the return voyage is made safely. And Long John becomes again an obsequious cook and finds a ready champion in little Jim.

Treasure Island background

Info about Treasure Island

Studio(s): Maurice Tourneur Productions

Originally Released: Jan 02, 1920

Production Country: United States

Genres: Adventure