Curiously, this slickly produced Disney adventure is geared toward adults, who are better equipped to appreciate the young hero’s gradual passage into manhood. Kids might be baffled by the complexity of Robert Louis Stevenson’s plot, but any well-adjusted child not suckling at the teat of Nintendo will respond to its spirit of adventure. In all matters visual, this 1960 film (adapted and directed by Robert Stevenson—no relation to the original author) is a treat. Paul Beeson, one of the cinematographers chiefly responsible for cultivating the Disney “look” (a bright, clean, well-pressed image), makes excellent use of the Scottish highlands, and Peter O’Toole has his first ever film role as Rob Roy’s offspring, who beats Peter Finch in a bagpipe competition. The patient plotting and rich idiom hark back to a time when Disney wasn’t watering down their family entertainment.
3 comments:
*gasp* I saw this film eons ago! The book is marvelous, and I remember the film being up to par. That was Peter O'Toole! Now I need to find this film and watch it again. =)
It still tickles me that this adaptation was directed by RLS's namesake.
Yeah, remember when Simon Wells tried to adapt his great-grandfather's The Time Machine, became exhausted, and Gore Verbinski had to finish up production?
ems, I really ought to read the book. I remember Treasure Island being oodles of fun.
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