Enid Blyton's The Famous Five - Five On Treasure Island [DVD]

Few authors have captured the spirit of youth and adventure quite like Enid Blyton, so it's perhaps a little surprising that filmed adaptations of her stories are quite irregular. By far the most numerous adaptations of her stories are The Famous Five. The Children's Film Foundation acquired the rights to three of the stories; Five on a Treasure Island from 1957, Five have a Mystery to Solve from 1964 and Five have Plenty of Fun, which was never made. There were two TV series of The Famous Five, one in the late 1970's and one in the mid 1990's. The 1970's series had modern settings whilst the 1990's series used a 1950's period setting. This latter series had lavish production values, but both series suffered from trying to cram a whole "Five" story into around twenty five minutes of run time; though the 1990's series did have some double episodes that fared a little better. I think that The CFF adaptation of Five on a Treasure island still stands as the best adaptation of a Famous Five story. Enid Blyton was responsible for casting the child leads, something that would have benefited the later CFF adaptation of Five have a Mystery to Solve, as the inferior child casting lets the film down to some degree, though it's an enjoyable adaptation with the overall production values being similar.Five on a Treasure Island is a good adaptation of the book though it's not exactly the same, but the differences are in detail really and the overall storyline follows the book well. There are several extra characters in the adult casting, and uncle Quentin is here working on secret projects for the Admiralty, and Georges mother and her cousins aunt has been renamed Margaret. Anyone who collects these CFF films will recognise Richard Palmer as Julian, who appeared in the classic, Treasure at the Mill (also 1957). For all it's low budget, this is a very nicely crafted piece of cinema ( and remember that's what it was made for). Beautifully filmed using mainly outdoor locations. The ruins of Corfe castle in Dorset were used extensively, and the coastal scenes were filmed around Lulworth cove. No CGI here and the children got to handle boats in, what at times, are pretty choppy waters. There are a couple of underwater swimming scenes that are very effective. Most buyers will know what they are getting here, but for those that don't: Filmed in black and white, there are eight episodes of around fifteen minutes, with a resume of the story at the start of episodes 2-7. Whilst this may seem a little strange to modern viewers, it was essential for anyone who missed an episode in the original cinema run. And episodes 1-7 end with a cliffhanger to keep you hooked for next week. Pure nostalgia in some ways, yet it's well crafted and beautifully filmed, and genuinely absorbing piece of entertainment escapism. It captures that rare quality that Enid Blyton created in so many of her stories of a world that we would like to think once existed, yet really never did. A nice DVD transfer by the British film Institute (BFI).

This film was made in 1957 for the Saturday cinema club circuit and consists of eight episodes of 15 minutes, each of the first seven with "cliff-hanger" endings to entice the children to return for next week's showing. There are substantial differences between the film and the book, but the film remains true to the spirit of the original. Enid Blyton personally chose the actors to play the children and they give most enjoyable performances. The new HD transfer produces one of the best quality black and white films I have seen.Enid Blyton actually wrote the book in 1942 (blissfully ignoring all mention of WWII) but the film is set in the period when it was made. It shows an idealised village where even the fisher-boy has a posh accent and a time when children were well behaved and were respectful of adults. Today's kids will note that even though it was the school holidays Dick happily wore a tie beneath his jersey.This is a most enjoyable DVD and must be the film which most accurately portrays the Famous Five as Enid Blyton saw them.

I watched this with my 7 and 8 year-old last night and we all really enjoyed it. They loved the characters coming alive from the book and the suspense, whilst I enjoyed a nostalgic trip back to 1957 when everyone spoke with a terribly English BBC voice and the children were deeply respectful of their parents!!! I loved the Famous Five books as a child and, luckily, this has transferred to my children. The child actors were very good, probably better than the adults, and it was just a really, enjoyable evening watching episodes 1 to 8 back-to-back. No special effects, nothing clever, just simple, honest mystery and suspense. I would happily recommend this DVD. Our particular copy kept changing from black and white to a pinky/purple tinge but I'm not sure whether this is the dvd or our dvd player. Either way it didn't particularly bother us or detract from the story.

Kept my grandchildren happy for a while, although they are used to more exciting technology!

The first ever Enid Blyton story filmed and with the author herself involved in casting. It's broken into 15 minute chapters becuase it was shown in instalments each week at Saturday morning pictures. So you get a "previously on.." synopsis at the start of every chapter which can get a bit tiring.As per the period and Enid Blyton generally, all the children are terribly nice upper middle class kids who can outwit anyone with their superior social status. The baddies wear a suit and tie even when they're rowing boats at sea.The pace may be a little slow for modern audiences but the black & white filming is lovely and both my children (aged 6 & 9) are desperate to visit Corfe Castle where it was filmed. Despite all its faults due to its age, my children really enjoyed it and watched it right through without a murmur which, at the end of the day, is all that counts in a children's film.