'Pieces of Eight'

I know that Robert Newton is considered by many to be the definitive cinematic Long John Silver and his performance in the role in the Disney Treasure Island (1950), not to mention its unofficial 1954 sequel Long John Silver, (which I actually saw first) and the subsequent TV series.  He wasn't however, the first cinematic Long John Silver that I saw - my first exposure to both character and story came from seeing, as a kid, a Sunday afternoon broadcast of the 1934 MGM version starring Wallace Beery.  The latter's larger-than-life, eye-rolling performance made quite an impression upon me.  Even though I subsequently saw Newton's version of the character in the aforementioned Long John Silver, before I saw him in his original 1950 performance, I was exposed to yet another Sunday afternoon Long John Silver when the BBC adapted it as one of its classic serials in 1977.  This time around Alfred Burke, (who had just finished his long run as Frank Marker in Public Eye), essayed the role, giving, as I recall, Newton a run for his money, (also, infamously, a raffle ticket can suposedly be seen amongst the 'Pieces of Eight' when the treasure is discovered).  The reason I've been put in mind of these various portrayals of the fictional one-legged pirate is that I've just watched the 1972 version with Orson Welles in the role.  Now, you'd think that this was a role ideal for Welles' talents, but, as with so many projects he was involved in, the film comes over as unsatisfying and more than a little disjointed.  part of the problem lies in the fact that it was an international co-production, (produced by Harry Alan Towers), with actors of various nationalities playing the roles, all dubbed post-production into various languages for the various international versions released.

This, of course, is where the problems start, as the dubbing is of varying quality, with some voices not quite matching the characters.  To complicate matters, the English language version comes in several versions, with Welles' voice dubbed by Robert Rietty in some of them.  The version I saw, though, seemed to feature his own voice, (it certainly wasn't Rietty), but it quickly became clear why some distributors had him dubbed, as Welles mumbles through a lot of the dialogue with an indistinct accent, (to be fair, Welles supposedly recorded his post-production vocal performance in one night).  Not only does Welles mumble, but his performance seems surprisingly subdued, despite the role offering him ample opportunity to pull out all the stops, acting wise.  Perhaps it was his intent to present a lower-key version of the character, to distinguish his performance from the more flamboyant interpretations of Beery and Newton.  The result, though, is to rather pull down the whole film, robbing it of most of its tension, as Welles' Silver never really seems as if he is capable of besting Captain Smollett, Trelawney and Dr Livesey.  (Despite being dubbed, Rik Battaglia, Walter Slezak and Angel del Pozo,respectively  in these roles, give reasonably effective performances).   Confusion over the film's production abounds, while John Hough is credited as director (and confirmed as such by producer Towers), some sources credit Andrea Bianchi instead.  (The latter might have directed some of Welles' scenes as the star apparently didn't get on with Hough).  Whoever actually directed the film, it does look good, with lots of attractive location filming, mainly around the Spanish coast.

The film actually has an interesting history, as its script was based on one written by Welles for a previous attempt to film the novel.  Indeed, some scenes were allegedly shot in Spain in 1964, with none other than Jesus Franco in the director's chair.  Franco was also assisting Welles on the shooting of Chimes at Midnight in Spain at the time, (it was planned, for financial reasons, to shoot the two films simultaneously, using many of the same sets), but the two eventually fell out and the Treasure Island project never progressed.  Which is a pity, as the thought of a Jess Franco directed version of the story starring Welles is quite appealing.  Welles tried to resurrect the project a couple of years later, but nothing materialised.   Eventually, when Harry Alan Towers decided to make a version, he brought in Welles and his script, (which was rewritten and credited to Wolf Mankowitz and 'O W Jeeves' (Orson Welles)).