A melancholy rule of The Movies says that when it comes to literary adaptations, most faithful isn’t necessarily best. (See Warner Bros.’ freely adapted 1945 MILDRED PIERCE vs. HBO’s MILDRED PIERCE of 2011.) But in 1990, this Robert Lewis Stevenson classic (young Jim Hawkins swags a treasure map and follows it to its logical conclusion) managed to have its cake & eat it too; most faithful and likely best.* (Hard to be sure with so many TREASURE choices out there.) An unlikely success for other reasons, too. Lead Charlton Heston something of a spent force by 1990, and hardly a natural for growly Long John Silver. He tones down the humor and plays the likable one-legged villain straight, which suits him.* Hired by writer, producer, director, son, Fraser Heston, it sounds like a vanity project, set up at Turner Classics as a prestige tv item (released theatrically abroad). Yet it turned out splendidly, with a grand cast: Oliver Reed, Christopher Lee, Pete Postlethwaite and Christian Bale, a slightly older than usual Jim Hawkins. (Sixteen at the time, he sells the physical derring-do more believably.) With fine production values; even Joe Canutt, son of the legendary Yakima, handling Second Unit. Did he also do the quite frighteningly good, violently bloody battles?) Generally a serious film, not just for the kiddies, and not the romp you recall.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Though less well-remembered than Disney’s OTT version with Robert Newton, M-G-M’s 1934 film with Wallace Beery is as remarkable as you’d expect from master Golden Age Hollywood director Victor Fleming. It’s the only version to give this one a run for its money. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/06/treasure-island-1934.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/06/treasure-island-1950.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Heston’s relative lack of humor doesn’t unbalance the film, but does rebalance it.
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