The Adventures of Long John Silver

The Adventures of Long John Silver is a TV series about the Long John Silver character from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island. It was made in 1954 in colour in Australia for the American and British markets before the development of Australian television.[1]

For other uses, see Long John Silver (disambiguation).

The Adventures of Long John Silver
Film poster
Genre	Adventure
Created by	Martin Rackin Byron Haskin Joseph Kaufman Robert Louis Stevenson
Written by	Martin Rackin Kay Keavney
Directed by	Byron Haskin Lee Sholem
Starring	Robert Newton Connie Gilchrist Kit Taylor
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Producer(s)	Joseph Kaufman
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Isola del'Oro Treasure Island Productions
Distributor	ITV (1957) (UK)
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	1958 – 1958

Cast and characters

• Robert Newton as Long John Silver
• Connie Gilchrist as Purity Pinker
• Kit Taylor as Jim Hawkins
• Grant Taylor as Patch
• Eric Reiman as Trip Fenner
• John Brunskill as Old Stingley
• Harry Hambleton as Big Eric

Newton and several of the other actors had the same roles as in the 1954 film Long John Silver, also shot in Australia.[2]

Broadcast history

The series was shown in the United States from September 22, 1955,[3] and in the UK on ITV in 1957. It was shown in Australia on the ABC in 1958, in the afternoon Children's TV Club. It was also shown on commercial regional TV in the mid to late 70s in Australia. In 1985 the series was repeated in the United Kingdom in a Saturday afternoon slot on ITV.

For much of its international audience, the series aired after the death of its star, Robert Newton, who had died of a heart attack in Hollywood in March 1956.

Select List of Episodes

• Ep 1 - "The Necklace" - Silver is arrested for murder[4]
• Ep 2 - "Pieces of Eight" - Silver and his crew search for Spanish gold with a sailor (Albert Garcia)[5]
• Ep 3 - "The Orphans' Christmas" - Hawkins and Silver help out at an orphanage run by a woman (Neva Carr-Glynn) who hates Christmas[6]
• Ep 4 - "Execution Dock" - Silver falls ill and has nightmares about being put on trial for old crimes[7]
• "Ep 5 - The Eviction"[8]
• Ep 6 - "The Pink Pearl"[9]
• Ep 7 - "Tale of a Tooth"[10]
• Ep 8 - "Ship o' the Dead" - Jim sees a ship full of dead people but no one believes him[11]
• Ep 9 - "Sword of Vengeance"[12]
• Ep 10 - "Turnabout" - Silver is captured by a French captain (David Nettheim)[13]
• Ep 11 - "Miss Purity's Birthday"[14]
• Ep 12 - "Dead Reckoning"[15]
• Ep 13 - "Devil's Stew"[16]
• Ep 14 - "Where Men Are Men"
• Ep 15 - "The Master's Touch"
• Ep 16 - "The Siege"
• Ep 17 - "The Flag Flies Back"
• Ep 18 - "The Fish Wife"
• Ep 19 - "Dragon Slayer"[17]
• Ep 20 - "Temple of Evil"
• Ep 21 - "To Purity, a Daughter"
• Ep 22 - "Ties of Blood"
• Ep 23 - "Strange Cargo"
• Ep 24 - "Infernal Cargo"
• Ep 25 - "The Crisis"

See also

• List of live television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1950s)
• List of television plays broadcast on ATN-7

References

1. Vagg, Stephen (14 April 2020). "Audio commentary for Long John Silver" (Podcast). Anchor FM.
2. Stephen Vagg, Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood (Bear Manor Media, 2010) p40
3. Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 20–22. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
4. The Necklace at Internet Archive
5. Pieces of Eight at Internet Archive
6. The Orphans' Christmas at YouTube
7. Execution Dock at Internet Archive
8. The Eviction at Internet Archive
9. The Pink Pearl at Internet Archive
10. Tale of a Tooth at Internet Archive
11. Ship of the Dead at Internet Archive
12. Sword of Vengeance at Internet Archive
13. Turnabout at Internet Archive
14. Miss Purity's Birthday at Internet Archive
15. Dead Reckoning at Internet Archive
16. The Devil's Stew at Internet Archive
17. Dragon Slayer at Internet Archive

External links

• The Adventures of Long John Silver on IMDb
• The Adventures of Long John Silver at Classic Australian Television
• Adventures of Long John Silver at AustLit