Runtime: 117 minutes
Directed by: Vincent McEveety
Starring: Johnny Doran, Billy “Pop” Atmore, Robert Foxworth,
Joan Hackett, Vic Morrow, Peter Ustinov
From: Disney
As recently discovered, there are many live-action Disney movies forgotten to the sands of time. Looking at a list on Wikipedia made me realize there was a lot from the 60’s through the 80’s featuring many familiar talents that even most film buffs like us haven’t heard of before—e.g., Treasure of Matecumbe. This has actors I know (Vic Morrow, Robert Foxworth, Robert DoQui, Brion James, Jane Wyatt, Dub Taylor, Dick Van Patten, and even Peter Ustinov) but this was unknown to me beforehand… that said it is on Disney+ so for the first time in months I subscribed.
Once I pressed “play” and saw a content warning which explained that the movie featured outdated stereotypes… I knew this would be quite the G-rated movie. And it was. A young boy and his Black friend go on a trek from Kentucky to Florida in 1869 to find his father’s buried treasure, while Vic Morrow is an enemy of his late father. He is alerted to this by Morrow & gang crashing into his aunt’s plantation trying to find the map, so they had to run off. I can’t even presume it’s an estate because they are alerted to the map by DoQui, who clearly worked on that plantation before the Civil War and is returning to the property for the first time in years.
If that wasn’t enough, there’s a white person about to be lynched… by the KKK! This was done for the purpose of “sticking his nose in our business,” but holy crap, the way he escapes involve gunfire and throwing Molotov cocktails at the Klan, setting some of them on fire! I am not fibbing in the least. The movie also features death and either before release or sometime between then and now, a racial slur MAY have been edited out, so even I was taken aback by Matecumbe being rated G, especially from this studio. Note that the film also features a straight-up murder than like an hour later has a random dancing scene completely out of nowhere which was mostly inconsequential to the plot.
The movie as a whole possesses a languid pace so who knows what kids of today would think of this almost two hour long motion picture. Adult Blair in 2024 was entertained by this oddity. Joan Hackett was a lady I wasn’t too familiar w/ but she was a delight as Lauriette, a sassy bold lady smart enough to outsmart a card cheat who was one of the companions on this voyage. So was Ustinov as a snake oil salesman who was amusing as you’d expect from his character name Dr. Ewing T. Snodgrass. There are other moments that haven’t aged gracefully-such as some stereotyping-but while many might find this dull, personally this was a chance worth taking.
As for watching any other obscurities from the Disney vault… that will occur once in awhile although should be more frequent while I am subscribed to Disney+.
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