Die Schatzinsel Online
As a young boy finds an old map of a treasure island in the mid 1700s, he joins a sailing crew on an adventure to find the treasure island. He does not realize however that bloodthirsty pirates are amongst the crew, desperately wanting to claim the treasure for themselves and are secretly planning a mutiny... Beautifully created adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel 'Treasure Island', created for German/French television in 1966.
| Series cast summary: | |||
 | Michael Ande | - | Jim Hawkins 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
 | Ivor Dean | - | John 'Barbecue' Silver / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Georges Riquier | - | Dr. David Livesey / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
 | Jacques Dacqmine | - | John Trelawney / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Jacques Monod | - | Kapitän Smollet 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Dante Maggio | - | Bill Bones 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Ilsemarie Schnering | - | Jims Mutter Mrs. Hawkins / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
 | Jacques Godin | - | Israel Hands 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Jean Mauvais | - | Brandon / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
 | Jean Saudray | - | Ben Gunn / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Sylvain Levignac | - | 'Schwarzer Hund' / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| François Darbon | - | Marc Hawkins 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Leroy Haynes | - | Abraham Gray / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Lucien Hubert | - | Redruth 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Dominique Maurin | - | Tom Purcell 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Poldo Bendandi | - | Pirat / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Roger Lumont | - | Tom Morgan 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
| Guy Saint-Jean | - | Diener / - 4 episodes, 1966-1967 |
Considered the best TV (or movie) adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' of all time.
As the 'Hispanola' wasn't fully capable at sea, the sails could never be fully filled, as the ship would have capsized. For the scenes which show the ship in full sail, the ship would be pulled backwards to fill the sails with air, and the sequence was played in reverse.
Michael Ande (Jim Hawkins) and Ivor Dean (Jon Silver) remained close friends until Dean's death in 1974.
The treasure map shown in the movie is an exact copy of the map drawn by Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of 'Treasure Island', which was included in the book.
For the first time, Jim Hawkins (played by 22 year old Michael Ande) is portrayed as a young man of 18, rather than a boy of 10 or 12 as in many other movie versions of the 'Treasure Island'. Although the book describes him to be at least 17 years old.
In the first scenes of part 2, Silver shows Hawkins a severly damaged ship in the harbour of Bristol, the 'Southern Cross'. The wreck is actually the ship used as the 'Hispanola', after it had been damaged in a heavy storm after shooting had ended. The wreck was filmed afterwards and used for an additional scene in the movie.
Jean Mauvais appears in a double role as Pew, the blind beggar, in part one, and Brandon, a member of Jon Silver's crew, in parts 2, 3 and 4.
The island scenes were shot on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. Various exotic plants and flowers were planted to make the island seem more tropical
The film was shot in 35mm color film. When it premiered on television in 1966 though, it was shown in black and white, as color TV was only introduced in West Germany in 1967.
Michael Ande, who plays Jim Hawkins, was severly injured during production. When the ship runs aground and Jim and Izrael Hands stumble, you can clearly see the knife fall out of Jim's belt. Ande fell directly into the open blade. In shock, he pulled the knife out with his back to the camera and continued to act the scene to the end. At 'cut', he finally collapsed. After urging him to get up and try another take, the crew finally realized what happened. The blade had gone through his belly right up to the pelvic bone, injuring a vital vein. A 5-hour emergency operation barely prevented him from losing his left leg, although his life remained in jeopardy for the next 7 days. As this accident occured during the end of the film's production and all major scenes had been shot, a double replaced Ande for the remaining scenes.
Michael Ande playing Jim Hawkins suffered a severe injury during his fight with with Izrael Hands on the ship. When the ship runs aground, they both stumble and fall. The knife Ande was carrying in his belt fell to the ground and landed with the blade pointing up, whereas Ande fell right into the knife, causing it to pierce his lower body down to the pelvis bone and injure a vital artery. His life was barely saved by emergency surgery. The remaining scenes were shot with a double, with the luck of the accident occuring towards the end of filming, and all major shots had been completed.
In the scene where Jim overhears the pirates, he is lying in a long boat instead of, as originally written in the book, sitting inside a barrel of apples. The actor Michael Ande was simply too tall to sit inside a barrel, so the script was changed to Jim sleeping in the boat on deck at night because he couldn't stand the stench of the other pirates. Before Silver tells his fellow pirate to reach for a bottle of rum hidden in said boat, Silver first asks for an apple out of the barrel, with which they gave a little wink to the original book scenario.
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