I am sure many of us film fans receive such gifts at Christmas – and will welcome them as I did. This is a very detailed book with few pictures but plenty of detail.
I haven’t read that much of it yet but I did hone in on one particular chapter which was very interesting and told, with dates when some of the Major Studios sold the Television Rights So that we could eventually view them on our small screens
Looking around for film books specialising in the old films often you find that they are no more than re-hashes of things most of us fans have already known and seen.
Something like this is incredibly detailed and will I am sure throw up snippets we did not know – and so we will unearth another ‘jewel’ – at least I hope so
As reported on July 14th, Russell Lloyd was busy down in Devon and Cornwall but the main studio scenes under the direction of the vastly experienced Byron Haskin were proceeding at a pace.
Thanks to excellent pre-production planning by Perce Pearce, the producer, and to the skill and dedication of the Denham technicians, it was possible to take advantage of the bight sunshine during the majority of the week, and then in cloudy periods to go inside the studio for interior action. Among these inside scenes were those in the cabin of Captain Smollett who is portrayed by Basil Sydney.
ABOVE – Filming in the Studios at Denham some of the early scenes. Here we have – behind the huge Technicolor Camera – Camera Operator Skeats Kelly, Walt Disney, Perce Pearce and Byron Haskin – and below ace camerman Freddie Young.
Later update on July 20th. Work on the film entered it’s third week
Already completed are the scenes in the street in Bristol – on a Denham Film set– and much of the action of the defence of the stockade by Captain Smollett and his band of loyal men from the maurauding pirates led by Long John Silver.
In the completed film the action in and around the stockade was thrilling
There had been minor cuts and bruises sustained by some of the actors in those heated exchanges , however most of the Technicolor blood was supplied by Tony Sforzini in the make-up department.
Meanwhile down in Devon, the ‘Hispaniola’ was now sailing round the coast to Falmouth for more scenes
Above: The street set for BRISTOL at Denham . Walt Disney with his family on the set of Treasure Island during their visit here in 1949. Bobby Driscoll one of the stars of the film with them too. This shot is actually on one of the sets at Denham Film Studios.
Apparently is was a glorious summer in 1949 as filming of Walt Disney’s ‘Treasure Island’ began in late June. Such a film for Walt Disney had not been attempted before – this was a non-cartoon Live Action film to be made in England at Denham Film Studios with some location work in Cornwall.
The above picture shows the ‘Hispaniola’ – ready for filming probably in Cornwall
ABOVE – very large model ‘Hispaniola’ – again most probably in Cornwall in readiness
Walt Disney and his family had arrived in England aboard the Queen Mary in June – and he is seen BELOW with his daughter Sharonbuying flowers from a market stall somewhere in the West End of London – this picture appeared in the Cinema Studio magazine of 29 June 1949
Treasure Island
Favoured by sunny skies and a carefully planned 65 day shooting schedule, the RKO-Walt Disney film got under way on Monday 4 July 1949 as planned, at Denham Film Studios under the direction of Byron Haskin.
Additional casting at this stage included John Gregson, Ralph Truman, David Davies, William Devlin and Geoffrey Keen as Israel Hands.
Also another interesting minor character was ‘Vane’ and this role went to Reg Peters who was cast on 28 June 1949, again as reported in the Cinema Studio Magazine of 6 July – however in the films credits ‘Vane’ is played by Reginald Drummond I wonder if the wrong name has been printed. He was reported as being ‘mine host’ at the White Horse Hotel in Moretonhampstead on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon- and he travelled to Denham no doubt staying there, and relinquishing his day job temporarily.
As well as the arrival of Walt Disney, his trusted colleague Perce Pearce the producer of the film had arrived in England to oversee the filming along with his family. It has he who enlisted second unit director to head down to Appledore in Devon for location filming. It is also rported that Walt Disney was heading down to Hartland in Devon for approximately 7 days iof filming.
Hartland Beach was to be used. Local horses were hired to pull a coach and the Quay Hotel was to double as the ‘Admiral Benbow’. My own opinion was that this footage was not used and the ‘Admiral Benbow’ was built in the Denham Film Studio.
At Hartland Quay on Monday a pirate crew wearing pigtails and carrying an assortment of weapons landed by rowing boat but their activities were cut short by rain – the first that had fallen in North Devon for weeks.
This was the start of the filming in this district of exterior scenes for Walt Disney’s production of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic ‘Treasure Island’.
There was plenty of activity at the Hartland Quay Hotel, an old building adjoining, which is being transformed into the ‘Admiral Benbow Inn’. The landing of the pirate crew, who were all ‘extras’ recruited locally, were watched with keen interest by many holidaymakers and residents.
At this stage some exterior scenes were to be shot in Falmouth‘
Filming occurred in July 1949, with Falmouth and the surrounding Cornish coast serving as a primary location for exterior ship scenes. The specific areas used included:
The River Fal
Carrick Roads
Helford River
Falmouth Docks (for wharf scenes)
The schooner used for all exterior ship scenes was a real 19th-century vessel named the Ryelands, which was reconfigured and renamed the Hispaniola for the film. The ship was a frequent visitor to Falmouth during the filming period in 1949
On 13 July thunderstorms wreaked havoc on filming with light so poor that no shooting could be done – the huge Technicolor cameras need a lot of light.Neither Robert Newton or Bobby Driscoll went down to Cornwall on location.
I do remember my Aunt who had visited Cornwall with her husband at the time saying that Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel had been earmarked for ‘Treasure Island’ and this in fact was very true but for whatever reason no scenes were ever shot there – it may appear in a long shot as Treasure Island and that is as far as it went
