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

Unlike some other reviewers, I knew what I was getting, as I can recall this serial from Saturday Morning Pictures in Kettering circa 1959/60 - somewhat ironic, as the serial is rather "squeaky-clean" (dare I say "public school"?) whereas the ration-book era kids in the Granada were distinctly working-class. Also strangely, the only things I could recall clearly from the series were the theme tune, the "chase" music and Dick and Anne climbing down a hole (no symbolic observations, please!) The four children are quite well-cast (including the ability of Julian to row a boat, and of the elder pair to swim underwater - a scene not actually from the book); and tackle the rocky island with a fair amount of athleticism - just as well, because their "adventures" generally consist of walking in a line around the island or being chased around it by two male adults, an activity which, alone, would see the villains arrested in these more enlightened days. The treatment of Anne is not especially politically correct - she gets her ankles kicked whenever emitting a verbal faux pas and tends to have to lift Timmy the dog (a bit of an add-on) into the boat. The Dorset coast serves well as a setting, even though Kirrin Island is never geographically established in Blyton's books. Whether intended or not, some of the long shots of the children are reminiscent of the art which accompanied the classic books of Blyton's time. It would be easy to be harsh, as some above have been, but - bereft of technology and special effects - the whole thing harks back to a quieter, gentler time (a ship is called 'The Gay Viking'); this is also true of the CFF logo, replete with church bell, whose setting seems almost foreign.

A little old fashioned but good enough to keep my niece entertained

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.

This is the beginning of the Famous Five, a must see for all the many Blyton fans who read the Famous Five books. It contains a beautiful booklet with many photos. The film was made in 1957 in Dorset at the Jurassic Coast and in Corfe Castle Village. I've been there in 2008 and it's still unchanged.In 1964 "Five have a Mystery to solve" has also been filmed by CFF and is now available on DVD (with a gorgeous booklet as well).One more tip for Blyton fans."Treasure at the Mill" is one of those suspenseful treasure hunt stories that we all loved to read in the fifties and sixties...they don't write such great children's books any longer.Malcolm Saville was asked by Mary Field (Childrens Film Foundation) to write a book about the Ardleigh Mill near Colchester in Essex and he included the family Pettit (who owned the mill at the time) in his book.Then CFF made the movie and that is one of the best CFF movies ever.I can highly recommend the book (it has a map of the area and another map of the mill plus several illustrations) and the DVD (it contains an interview with Merrilyn Pettit who returned to Ardleigh Mill for the bonus material).

The storyline is quite simple and predictable. It is an enjoyable yarn but is quite fragmentary having originally been made as a serial, there should be an option on the DVD to play through skipping the recaps at the start of each episode. The middle class feel of Blyton's writing is carried through into the film, posh accents, the children remain clean and prim despite climbing around in old dungeons, no dirt or scraped knees here!

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.

Certainly enjoyable! The film was very much of its time, but the acting was good and dividing the two-hour screening into eight 15-minute segments was a good idea. I am sure that my four-year old granddaughter will be excited by the action when she sees it. Loved the fisher boy’s public school accent!