HUMBUZZ - A tribute to Jackie Cooper’s Treasure Island

(Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper-MGM's 1934 `Treasure Island') “Young Jim Hawkins is torn between his loyalty to his benefactors and his affection for lovable rogue Long John Silver in their struggle to recover a buried pirate treasure.” – (IMDB).  

In 1934 MGM produced the first version of the Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1883 novel `Treasure Island’ as a silent film starring Jim Hawkins, Jackie Cooper, and Lionel Barrymore as honest seafarers who sail to remote island after discovering a treasure map only to be challenged by Wallace Beery as pirate Long John Silver. CLIP HERE: http://youtu.be/6DDWcqQqJNg.

Yesterday, Jackie Cooper a former child star – one of the biggest of the 1930’s - who also once played Daily Planet editor Perry White in the four Superman films, died at 88 in Santa Monica, California  of complications related to old age.  Cooper was a TV star and then worked as a director and producer before eventually returning to on-camera roles.  He became the youngest male in 1931 at the age of 9 to be nominated for a best actor Oscar for the film Skippy, an adaptation of a popular comic strip.   Cooper's 1981 autobiography, “Please Don't Shoot My Dog”, detailed his long life in entertainment.

John O’Melveny Woods is a writer whose novel, `Return to Treasure Island’, has won numerous awards and praise including a Silver Medal for Book of the Years from the IBPA.  Below is his tribute to the late great, Jackie Cooper. 

I remember being about eight year’s old and watching Treasure Island on television with Jackie Cooper playing Jim Hawkins and Lionel Barrymore as the consummate one-legged pirate, Long John Silver. The acting in it was superb. I was also mesmerized by the whole look and feel of the movie… although it was in black and white on my TV; it was one of the earlier Technicolor releases from MGM. Even though it was filmed in Alameda California and Hawaii, it seemed real to me and I was on the Hispaniola and Treasure Island with all of the players – Dr. Livesey, Captain Smollett and the crew. In a word, I was hooked.

I must admit, at such a young age, it was simply a pirate and treasure story to me. My mind didn’t appreciate the complexities of the characters nor how the relationship between Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver evolved. However, I must have picked up on it on an emotional level, because every line of the screenplay and story rang true. I related to all of the characters. It is still one of Robert Louis Stevenson’s greatest character driven stories.

When I was about twelve years old, my parents bought a copy of the original book and I devoured it for days. It was very difficult reading, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss a word of the story. I also started to understand how complex the interconnections of the archetypal characters were woven into the story by Stevenson. Masterfully accomplished.

Disney’s version of Treasure Island came out in 1950 and starred Bobby Driscoll as Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver. The production was perfect, especially Newton’s portrayal of Silver, who went on to reprise his role in a movie sequel and a short lived television series. However, it was Jackie Cooper who I could relate to as the young Jim Hawkins. The sinister nature of Barrymore’s Silver created a personal alliance with Jackie, making the movie more real, and scarier, for that eight year old watching it unfold.

And it was Jackie Coopers’ Jim Hawkins that I kept visualizing as I re-read Treasure Island about six years ago. I remember putting the book down and feeling a loss; I missed the characters that Stevenson had created and wondered why he never wrote a sequel. I found the answer at the end of the book, wherein he stated he would never return to that accursed Island again.

I decided that he would, and set out to create a sequel. As I reprised the role of Jim Hawkins, it was Jackie Cooper who filled my mind as a role model and helped me create the older character that was to be the star of Return to Treasure Island.

Jackie Cooper went on to have a most successful career, spanning Broadway, movies and television – including stints as a director which lead to his receiving multiple Emmy’s.

But for that eight year old kid sitting in front of the television, it was Jackie Coopers’ Jim Hawkins that spurred his imagination and helped him write, almost fifty years later, a tribute to the original book.

       John O’Melveny Woods is a writer living in Leucadia, California. His novel, Return to Treasure Island, has won numerous awards and praise including a Silver Medal for Book of the Years from the IBPA. It is forwarded by LeVar Burton. The web site for the book is www.TreasureIslandBook.com.

      He is currently working on his new book series, The Seekers, which is due out in the fall. www.TheSeekers.com.