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.