Petermax wrote:My first problem when viewing the C.F.F Treasure Island for the first time was the synopsis at the beginning of each episode. Either Julian or one of the baddies would address the camera and give a complete rundown of the previous events. "Hello everyone, Julian here, do you remember me?" Quite how the child audiences back in 1957 reacted to being talked down to by a well groomed, well spoken product of the Italia Conti Stage Academy does not bear thinking about. My guess is that cinema screens all over the country would have been pelted with gob stoppers, peanuts plus a few ribald comments for good measure! Those intros were so awful that I feel it quite necessary to share one such example here.
Have to say those synopses aren't a problem for me at all. I find them entertaining for all the wrong reasons but they add to the vintage feel of the serial and are all part of the experience. My daughter and I could hardly stop laughing at them the first time we viewed Treasure Island, even rewinding the tape to see some of them a second time!I agree about George not being sulky enough and the serial certainly has its faults and departs from the book fairly often, but I still find it rather special, especially the scenes filmed at Corfe Castle. Maybe it's just that it was filmed in the 1950s or perhaps it's something more than that - I can't quite put my finger on it.
Petermax wrote:One of the most hilarious moments in the film was where Timmy was thrown down a cliff by the villains. Despite extensive freeze framing I am unable to work out as to whether a dummy or real dog was involved.
A memorable moment indeed!
It's a pity that more Famous Five books weren't serialised around the same time, using the same children. Unfortunately, Five Have a Mystery to Solve wasn't made until several years later.
Anita
However, I found them so irritating that I ran the entire film through my video editing PC and cut out the Julian intros. The action now flows so much more smoothly as a result. 
