The Adventures of Long John Silver: Pieces of Eight

Jim Hawkins and Long John eat leather.

Plot synopsis: A war tax of 500 gold pieces is levied against all ships and Long John doesn't have the cash to save his ship. After a Spanish deserter shows up and promises to help Long John find Spanish treasure, Long John attempts to find the money he needs to keep his ship, the Faithful.

Thoughts:

Robert Newton's shifty-eyed looks while he's pondering his plan are priceless. You can sense the wheels turning in his head in this over-the-top facial work. The balance struck between the character's buccaneer deviousness and moral core is surprisingly reflected in this sort of theatrical acting.

Unlike "The Necklace", which was done onshore and in buildings (on sets), there are many exterior shots. There is a strange loss of color at certain points during these scenes, but the sense that these are desperate pirates works a lot better when they're stomping through the jungle than when they're sitting in a bar listening to Purity berate Long John.

Long John's affection for Jim is shown very clearly in this episode as he carries him through the jungle when he can no longer walk and nurses him to health after their ordeal. It's not the least bit creepy when Long John has certain tender moments with Jim such as allowing him to rest his head on Long John's chest to sleep. In this day and age, I think it's difficult for a male character to pull that off without overtones of pedophilia. You can see that the scenes are played out without the actors having any notions that it might carry questionable overtones. Often, it's what the actors aren't thinking about in older T.V. and movies that casts their performances in a different color than modern performances.

Favorite moments:

A pirate lackey of Long John's keels over and dies theatrically and instantly because of a snake bite. Long John, ever the sentimental sort, tells another pirate to grab his gun and move on.

Long John serves up leather from his clothing for himself and Jim Hawkins when there is nothing else to eat, and they both apparently consume it.


Long John is shown on the bridge of his ship with the wind blowing in his face, smelling the sea air and relishing it with gusto.

Favorite quotes:

Spanish betrayer to Long John: "My revenge is sweeter than betraying you."

Long John: "A whisper out there on the water tonight will sound like a cannonade."

Long John: "When you're real hungry, a lizard smells and tastes like the best roast Purity ever made."

Stray notions:

The Spanish are portrayed as an extremely jovial lot. They walk around in a large group laughing their heads off.

One of the pirate lackeys is supposed to speak Spanish, but he speaks so incredibly poorly that it's hard to believe that any Spanish speaker might understand him.

Mold to Gold Rating:

The action feels a bit slow, but there is something gratifying in watching the pirate "red shirts" start to drop off one-by-one due to carelessness or stupidity, as you suspect might happen in a real trek through a jungle. Also, there is mystery regarding the intentions of the Spanish betrayer for quite a lot of the episode. This is a solid and enjoyable episode, with a good pirate storyline and more action than some other episodes. It harks back to the Treasure Island movies.

The Adventures of Long John Silver: The Necklace

Purity Pinker holds the titular necklace and questions Long John about its origin.

Plot synopsis: A necklace is stolen from a rich woman. Long John acquires the necklace and is accused of having stolen it and having murdered its owner.

Thoughts:

The dying words of the husband of the murdered woman worked well as part of the story because the setting was pirates and pirate culture. Since pirates are often portrayed as having one leg, one arm, one eye, or one ear due to their scurvy mishaps, such utterances while expiring could only cast suspicion on a wide variety of men in a pirate story.

The audience learns several minutes into the episode that the thief and murderer is a man with one ear. In modern television, a fake sense that Long John might be in jeopardy would be sustained for far longer because modern writers seem to think the viewer is foolish enough to buy the premise that the hero might be guilty. Of course, in some television series, the hero can actually be guilty, but continue to survive unfettered by the consequences of his actions (e.g., Dexter).

Long John and Purity are supposed to have some sort of affectionate relationship with one another, but sentimentality does not get in the way of commerce as Long John asks his lady love to pay for the necklace just before being arrested for the crimes related to the necklace.

Favorite moments:

The bad guy comes on to Purity Pinker and asks her to call him "sweetheart" even though she's a pudgy, middle-aged lady and not some anorexic nymph. He also toasts her beauty when they have a drink together and paws at her.

Long John calls Purity "my pretty bird" and has not a trace of malice toward her despite her holding back on turning in the real killer in an effort to extort him into marrying her.

Favorite quotes:

Mr. Wainwright: "It was a man with one, with one, aaaughhh..."

Purity Pinker: "Swear you're telling the truth, by Jim Hawkins's life."

Stray notions:

The man who gave Long John the necklace was named Sligo. I grew up in a town named Sligo.

Mold to Gold Rating:

Miss Purity is a good character as a foil for Long John and someone who tries to pull him closer to the straight and narrow against his pirate instincts. That being said, she's a bit much in large doses and her manipulation of the circumstances in order to blackmail Long John into marrying her are a bit too cliched even for someone who is as patient with old tropes as me. That being said, the hammily acted ending scene with both Purity and Long John is almost worth it.

About Spoilers

The nature of this blog means that there must be spoilers. If you haven't seen the featured shows or movies, and don't want your experienced ruined, don't read beyond the plot synopsis!

Most of these shows are so old that many people have already seen them. Also, few of them are mysteries and the stories are less important than watching the characters do their thing. That being said, I don't want to ruin the delight others might take in watching these without any foreknowledge of the story lines. So, "fair thee warned, say I, spoilers be ahead."

Series Introduction: The Adventures of Long John Silver

"The Adventures of Long John Silver" was a television series based on the character in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, "Treasure Island". The same characters and actors appear in the series as appeared in the successful Disney movie. The original movie was made in 1950 and a follow-up movie, "Return to Treasure Island", was made in 1954. The sequel is often available on the same DVDs of pirate movies that include the episodes of the television series.

The television series was aired from 1955-1959 and 26 episodes in total were made. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get a DVD with all of the available episodes at this time. I got 14 episodes of the series on Mill Creek's "The Ultimate Pirate Collection". The quality is not the greatest, but I do not expect nice, clean prints from these old T.V. series. I'm happy if they are merely watchable and can be heard clearly. There are scratches on the film, but it doesn't detract from enjoying the series as a golden moldy. As an added bonus, getting the series through this collection also gets you the movie "Return to Treasure Island" as well.

Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John has become the default standard for "pirate" behavior. His intonation, gait, and facial expressions are campy, but fun. It was his interpretation of a pirate that was made fun of in one of Monty Python's sketches where a newscaster slowly turns into a pirate. Mr. Newton passed away from complications related to alcoholism in 1956 and I wonder if there would have been more of this classic T.V. show had he survived. It would certainly have been welcome.

This was the first of the classic television series that I discovered and the catalyst for my searches for similar adventure series. Before discovering it on my "The Ultimate Pirate Collection" discs, I did not realize that such series had been made.

Greetings, Moldy Movie and T.V. Lovers!

I'm a great fan of old movies and television, particularly old adventure series from the 50's such as "The Adventures of Long John Silver", "Robin Hood (with Richard Green)" and "The Buccaneers". I've bought a fair number of these series and I tend to watch a few episodes carefully and then start to tune them out and leave them on in the background as I continue to watch them. I've often felt that it's a shame that I lose focus and don't savor the experience more.

This blog is my attempt to watch each episode or movie purposefully and to think more carefully about what I'm watching. By forcing myself to write a post about each episode, and to take screen caps, I'll be certain to really digest and fully enjoy the experience.

I named this blog "Golden Moldies" because they are old, but I still treasure them. Some are more "gold" and others are more "mold", so I'm going to be rating the episodes from my highly subjective viewpoint. If you're also a fan of this type of old T.V., I hope you'll take the time to share your thoughts.