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Long John Silver (1954)
Rod Taylor plays Israel Hands, a villainous, blind, bearded pirate. He
appears in the latter third of the movie, unrecognizable beneath a wild
thatch of hair.
Although his screen time is short, this movie played a large role in
launching Taylor toward Hollywood.
He landed the part thanks to scriptwriter Martin Rackin hearing him on
the radio and seeing him in the Mercury Theatre's
"Misalliance" in Sydney. "He asked
me if I would play the part ... of Israel Hands, a mad, blind old man. So
they fitted me out with white contact lenses, and I did it," Taylor
recalled in a 1967 interview.
Taylor had recently won the Rola Award as best radio actor and was planning
to take the prize money and go to England. "But then I delayed long
enough to do ... 'Long John Silver,' and everyone said, 'Go to America,'"
Taylor said in a 1961 interview.
Rackin was one of those who pushed the hardest. "Marty Rackin seemed
to like me and was very enthusiastic about me," Taylor said. "He
had apparently sent cables to a number of leading agents and studio heads
about me."
When Taylor finally set off for England, he did stop in Los Angeles,
at the request of a powerful Hollywood agency, MCA. A pair of MCA staffers
met him at the airport, apparently didn't like what they saw, and Rod decided
to stay!
Robert Newton with a
cleaned-up Rod Taylor.
ON THE SCREEN
The Australian/U.S. production, also known as "Long John Silver's
Return to Treasure Island," takes up where "Treasure Island"
left off, with Robert Newton remaining in the role of Long John Silver.
After a series of adventures, Long John and his crew do finally return
to Treasure Island. Besides treasure, however, they discover Israel Hands
marooned there -- and find that he's a pretty good shot for a blind man.
Hands supposedly was killed in "Treasure Island," but it turns
out he was only blinded. Embittered, he seeks revenge against young cabin
boy Jim Hawkins and pursues him through caves and over rocky cliffs in a
further impressive display for the sightless pirate.
ON TOUR
Rod Taylor did a promotional tour for "Long John Silver" with scheduled
stops in 26 U.S. cities, according to a Los Angeles Times report on Jan.
11, 1955.
In newspaper reports on stops in Connecticut,
Pennsylvania and New York, Rod touts the advantages of filming movies in
Australia, laments the lack of work for Aussie film/TV technicians, and
downplays his own chances of landing work in Hollywood.
Rod visited Bridgeport and Hartford, Conn., in early February 1955. An
item in the
Bridgeport, Conn., Telegram notes, "He doesn't quite know just how
he came to be selected to make the American tour, but he is extremely
happy about it." The column also says that Rod would like the experience
of making a Hollywood movie, but sees little chance to have that dream
fulfilled at this time.
He was in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 2, 1955, and the Pennsylvania city's
two newspapers had extensive coverage.
A column by Win Fanning in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on
Rod's role in "Long John Silver": "The 25-year-old actor proves his
versatility by enacting the role of a cackling blind horror bent upon
murdering young Jim Hawkins, boy hero of the adventure yarn. His success
in this novel feat has drawn interest by several major Hollywood
producers who may persuade the Australian to dally in this country
longer than he originally planned."
Fanning's column further notes that Rod has taped dozens of shows to
keep his radio serial characterizations going back home. "If I do stay
longer than I expected, there are going to be an awful lot of drastic
'accidents' on Australian soap operas as the various characters I play
are written out of the script," Rod said.
In the
Pittsburgh Press, columnist Kaspar Monahan wrote, "Warner Bros. is
showing interest in Rod, who hopes they'll sign him for a couple of
pictures. ... He has the thews and sinews of a professional strong man.
In high school when only a youngster, he won the shot put with a heave
of 41 feet, a record for [New] South Wales."
While in Pittsburgh, Rod also presented a prize to the winner of a
hospital charity drive. The young woman who earned the prize had
this mixed review about Rod: "I found Mr. Taylor to have a fine
personality. He is not exceptionally handsome, but the type of actor
capable of playing many different roles."
On March 10,
1955, a syndicated column, "My New York" by Mel Heimer, had a more
glowing description, calling him "a ruggedly good-looking soul of 25"
and praising him for avoiding the champagne-and-caviar set.
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