Thomas Mitchell announces to wife Edna Best and his four sons (Tim Holt, Freddy Bartholomew, Terry Kilburn and toddler Bobbie Quillan) that London has spoiled all of them and they are moving to one of the colonies. On the way there is a shipwreck and only the five of them survive to dwell on an island with an assorted fauna.
The book was one of my favorites growing up, and despite some changes to the text -- they're named Robinson, even though the title might have been better as "Swiss Family a la Robinson; there are frequent references to the evils of Napoleon, standing in for Hitler -- it's a very well made version of the book, with moments of real terror, like when they are making their way from the ship to the island, and some fine acting. Mitchell was one of the great character actors of the era, and so rarely got to be a lead when he didn't have to act up a storm. Here, he's just doing what he does best, making a character real. In fact, all of the performers are excellent, the set design of the tree house they live in is fascinating, and the perils are weather and the web-weaving tarantulas that infest a cave, rather than pirates. Orson Welles, in his first credit in Hollywood speaks the narration at the beginning. It's topnotch family fare, which is why Disney bought the rights and suppressed the prints for forty years.
The book was one of my favorites growing up, and despite some changes to the text -- they're named Robinson, even though the title might have been better as "Swiss Family a la Robinson; there are frequent references to the evils of Napoleon, standing in for Hitler -- it's a very well made version of the book, with moments of real terror, like when they are making their way from the ship to the island, and some fine acting. Mitchell was one of the great character actors of the era, and so rarely got to be a lead when he didn't have to act up a storm. Here, he's just doing what he does best, making a character real. In fact, all of the performers are excellent, the set design of the tree house they live in is fascinating, and the perils are weather and the web-weaving tarantulas that infest a cave, rather than pirates. Orson Welles, in his first credit in Hollywood speaks the narration at the beginning. It's topnotch family fare, which is why Disney bought the rights and suppressed the prints for forty years.