In Search Of The Castaways (DVD)

In 1962, when I was 11 years old, I went to see a film that was to change the way in which I viewed cinema. As a naïve child with a hunger for something new, this film certainly delivered and I shall tell you why.

The Film was made by Disney Productions with the Director being Robert Stevenson, and actors of the principle parts being played by a young Hayley Mills, Keith Hamshire and Maurice Chevalier. Very loosely based on a Jules ...
...of two children in their voyage of belief that their father is alive, whilst reported dead at sea. It's an old classic film, and brings together all the aspects of good cinematography that I believe to be a must for children growing up, seeking adventure and excitement in their entertainment. At the same viewing, which was an afternoon special that included another film from Hayley Mills entitled Pollyana, this was the film that stuck out in my mind, ... more

In 1962, when I was 11 years old, I went to see a film that was to change the way in which I viewed cinema. As a naïve child with a hunger for something new, this film certainly delivered and I shall tell you why.

The Film was made by Disney Productions with the Director being Robert Stevenson, and actors of the principle parts being played by a young Hayley Mills, Keith Hamshire and Maurice Chevalier. Very loosely based on a Jules Verne novel entitled Captain Grant's Children, it tells the story of two children in their voyage of belief that their father is alive, whilst reported dead at sea. It's an old classic film, and brings together all the aspects of good cinematography that I believe to be a must for children growing up, seeking adventure and excitement in their entertainment. At the same viewing, which was an afternoon special that included another film from Hayley Mills entitled Pollyana, this was the film that stuck out in my mind, because of its excitement and ground breaking look into a world of possibility.

What I remember the most from the film and which is still evident from a recent viewing of this film, forty odd years later, is the quality of the special effects for its time. Of course the film has been cleaned up and digitally restored to original aspect ratio, but what it brings to the home is a touch of suspense. I feel that the young actress, Hayley Mills, will always stand out for me like characters from classic books such as Enid Blighton, which somehow do not date. Walt Disney, in my childhood at least, became a cornerstone of well produced childrens stories, and a name that could be trusted in innovation and quality.

People have criticised the special effects of this film unfairly. When you consider the time at which it was made, the special effects are actually amazing. After forty years, and with no prompting at all, I can remember scenes from the film that filled me, as an eleven year old child, with fear and expectation, when the flash floods happened. This was extremely clever filming, and had me, as a child, sat on the edge of my seat, wondering how the story would continue. There were also very primative special effects of lava flowing from a volcano, although at that time, these were seen as amazing since we had none of the computer generated films with which to compare it, other than classics like Fantasia which had in fact been done in cartoon form and were therefore less real.

Prompted by a message in a bottle, purported to be from their father, the children show amazingly just how a child's imagination is fired, how they respond to situations that are to say the very least extreme, and take the viewer on a trip across the world, a world that is new and exciting to a child of that age, and exposes the viewer to different scenarios that leave him expectant of things to come.

I liked the presence of Wilfrid Hyde White, who plays the part of Lord Glenarven who was asked to help the children in their search, and Maurice Chevalier, who does in fact help them in their adventure into the unknown. These characters gave authenticity to the film and made the scenarios as they unfolded very real.

Rated as PG the film is suitable for family viewing, and to me is a classic film to be enjoyed by the whole family. Okay, the special effects by todays standards are dated, but still memorable, and still very exciting to a child, as I tried this one out on a neighbour's child of 10 who was equally enthralled by the story today, as I was at the age of 11.

A DVD of this film has been released in May 2005, and I am rather glad that it was because it means that children of today's families can have that same entertainment that thrilled me in my early years. The colour is not amazing, but that does not detract from the viewing pleasure, having a runtime of 98 minutes.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THE FILM ?

Yes I would. I believe that children need entertainment of a quality that does not diminish with time. Imagine the violence of cartoons in this day and age, imagine the amount of violence and mayhem displayed on television sets, and then take a look at the kind of stories that survive the onslaught of television, such as Enid Blyton and surely this in itself shows that what children actually find exciting is adventure, and here it is displayed with a kind of innocence that I feel is more suited to a child than many of the films that have been brought out since. Of course it does not come near the imagery of the Harry Potter style films, although I honestly believe that sometimes, children need to be entertained in a realistic and challenging way that is believeable rather than spectacular.

This film delivers.

 

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