Treasure Island is a 1950 adventure film produced by RKO-Walt Disney British Productions, adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel of the same name.
Directed by Byron Haskin, it stars Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver.
In the West Coast of England in 1765, a young boy called Jim Hawkins lives with his mother in a tiny country inn which they run.
Trelawney recognizes the map as belonging to the buccaneer Captain Flint and bankrolls a voyage to discover the pirate's lost treasure.
At sea, Silver convinces Jim to acquire some rum, which he uses to get the first mate, Mr. Arrow, drunk so that he is washed overboard in a storm.
Silver cuts the rowboats from the Hispaniola and heads for shore with the rest of his men, taking Jim as a hostage.
On Treasure Island, Jim escapes and meets Ben Gunn, marooned by Flint five years ago.
Although seemingly protected by the stockade, Smollett surmises that, with the morning tide, Silver could move the Hispaniola into cannon range and level the fort.
Inside the stockade, Jim searches for the doctor to tend his wound, but the man asleep under Livesey's coat is Long John Silver.
Silver secretly barters with Livesey for leniency in court, inadvertently revealing to him that the ship is no longer under his control.
Livesey leaves, and Silver returns with Jim, flaunting the map to convince his men that his bargain was successful.
Silver is unable to carry out his threat to shoot and drops the pistol in the water, attempting to push the boat off on his own.
Thomas M. Pryor of The New York Times called the film "a grand and glorious entertainment" that "captures the true spirit of the novel.
"[9] Variety praised the film for its "sumptuous" set pieces and "a virtual tour de force" performance by Newton.
[10] Sonia Stein of The Washington Post wrote that the film was "like a treasure chest of precious stones", with "some of the most beautiful color photography ever shot".
"[13] The Monthly Film Bulletin was less positive, however, calling the production values "serviceable rather than imaginative" and finding Driscoll to be "unmistakably 20th century-American in this context", and "insufficiently an actor to have much of a shot at Jim".
[15] According to Kinematograph Weekly the 'biggest winners' at the box office in 1950 Britain were The Blue Lamp, The Happiest Days of Your Life, Annie Get Your Gun, The Wooden Horse, Treasure Island and Odette, with "runners up" being Stage Fright, White Heat, They Were Not Divided, Trio, Morning Departure, Destination Moon, Sands of Iwo Jima, Little Women, The Forsythe Saga, Father of the Bride, Neptune's Daughter, The Dancing Years, The Red Light, Rogues of Sherwood Forest, Fancy Pants, Copper Canyon, State Secret, The Cure for Love, My Foolish Heart, Stromboli, Cheaper by the Dozen, Pinky, Three Came Home, Broken Arrow and Black Rose.