MovieChat Forums > Treasure Island (1934) Discussion > edited scene?

edited scene?

posted 17 years ago by jaystats2
2 replies | jump to latest

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that one scene of violence in this film was edited for the 2006 DVD release. The scene in question shows Jim Hawkins being chased up the ship's mast by a toothless pirate with a knife between his teeth (Israel Hands). If I remember correctly, the unedited 1934 version showed Jim blast the pirate squarely between the eyes with his pistol. In the edited version, you only see the pirate fall back from the pistol blast. If they did tone down the violence in this unforgettable scene, this greatly compromises the integrity of the original shot. Jim gave a warning and shot the pirate only after being barely missed by the thrown knife. In my opinion, the graphic detail of the shooting was necessary to illustrate the on-screen comeuppance of a brutal, cutthroat pirate.

[–] cmashieldscapting 12 years ago

It's been filmed many times. Are you sure you are remembering this version?

[–] Redsfan001 (6005) 9 months ago

Just watched it, recorded from TCM broadcast August 2023. Jim climbs up mast, with the pirate behind with knife in mouth. Jim reaches the top and warns the pirate to halt "One more step and I'll blow your brains out, dead men don't fight you know" The pirate feigns giving up and starts to climb down then quickly throws the knife, just missing Jim and it hits the mast. The movie shows Jim reflexively shooting the pirate, the viewer sees a side shot of the pirate,where he falls to his death.

While violent, the movie isn't visually graphic in its depection of it throughout the film. What you are remembering would be out of place in the film.

The sequence reminds me a bit of the "edited" cantina scene in Star Wars (77)