Swiss Family Robinson

1940

Adventure / Drama / Family

3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 30% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.2/10 10 979 979

island based on novel or book shipwreck 18th century curious swiss family robinson

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Plot summary

A family setting out for a new life across the sea is shipwrecked on a deserted island. The family members collaborate to create a home for themselves in the jungle environment.

Director

Edward Ludwig Photo
Edward Ludwig

Top cast

Tim Holt Photo
Tim Holt as Fritz Robinson
Orson Welles Photo
Orson Welles as Opening Narrator
Thomas Mitchell Photo
Thomas Mitchell as William Robinson
Jack Stoney Photo
Jack Stoney as Seaman
480p.DVD
827.75 MB
640*480
English 2.0
U
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 6 / 10

Based on Johann Wyss' tale and relying heavily

Based on Johann Wyss' tale and relying heavily on a wonderful soundtrack, this is a much more faithful adaptation of the story of a well-to-do Swiss clockmaker and his family who decide to escape a Europe beset by the Napoleonic wars and start anew in New Guinea. En route they are shipwrecked by a storm and have to make do on a desert island. They cannibalise what's left of their ship and start to make a new home with astonishing - slightly incredible - adeptness. The cast gel well, though as per the book, not without their demons. Edna Best "Mrs. Robinson" struggles the most as her gay society life has been replaced by a much grittier survival-based existence; the rather over-indulged boys are growing older, but not necessarily wiser (or nicer) and this causes their father (Thomas Mitchell) to have headaches all around. There is some degree of triumph from considerable adversity for the family as they discover that they can rise to the challenges - despite foul weather and poisonous spiders. At times it plays almost like a silent film - with Schubert's "Quartet in A Minor" substituting for the dialogue in a suitably rousing fashion... It rarely gets an outing these days, but if you get an opportunity you should watch it.
Reviewed by r96sk 7 / 10

I thought I'd give this a watch before

I thought I'd give this a watch before watching the Disney remake, given they are both on the latter's streaming service. I like 1940's 'Swiss Family Robinson', though there are many ways it could be improved upon which is what I hope the 1960 production does. This one, made by RKO Pictures, is enjoyable. The action sequences look decent enough, the acting is solid while the premise is very intriguing. I rate the film almost from start-to-finish, the moments which make up that last part disappoints unfortunately - the ending doesn't really make sense. Thomas Mitchell (William) and Freddie Bartholomew (Jack) are my standout characters, both of those two give good performances. Edna Best & Co. are all fine, though. It's with Best's character that makes the finale poor in my eyes. I won't spoil what happens, but it doesn't work in my opinion - especially in connection with what else occurs. Those criticisms of mine stop me from placing this higher. However, it is still an entertaining flick from 1940.
Reviewed by planktonrules 7 / 10

The 1940 version of "Swiss Family Robinson" is very much like the original British version of "Gaslight". A major studio (in this case, Disney) bought up all the known prints of a film in order to prevent folks from comparing the newer version to the original. So, although the 1940 is NOT a Disney production, it is included (along with the 1960 Disney version) on the new Disney+ service.When the story begins, you learn that William Robinson (Thomas Mitchell) is planning on uprooting his family from England and taking them to Australia. You soon see why....this Swiss family has a few budding young jerks in it. One of the Robinson sons is a 'sophisticated', useless twit who has ambitions to be a richer useless twit and another who loves war and longs to be a soldier. Lacking decent values, William is intent on making his children decent and industrious and wants to get them out of Europe during the Napoleonic era. Not surprisingly, the family hates this but it is 1813....and what dad says goes. Now it is VERY easy to hate two of the Robinson sons and sympathize with William...they truly were worthless individuals and in his place, I would have considered euthanasia...not just uprooting the family to Australia! But unfortunately for William, neither occurs...they get shipwrecked along the way and must fend for themselves on a deserted island. Will it bring the family closer or forever tear them apart?A weak point of this film is that Mrs. Robinson whined and complained much more in the 1940 version...to the point where it was very tough to like or sympathize with her character. Additionally, much of the story is missing from the movie and it really seems abbreviated. And, the story itself looks like it took place over a few months at most--but the book had them there for over a decade. Compared to the 1960 Disney version, there is less action and excitement...and no pirates. On balance, the film is good and worth seeing...and quite different from the later film. My recommendation is to see them both, as they really are much like separate stories. By the way, at one point in the film, young Ernest Robinson is bitten by a tarantula and soon passes out...and nearly dies. Well, this is silly as tarantula bits are hardly venomous at all and are much like a bee sting in severity. There has never, in fact, been a recorded death attributed to this arachnid's bite. Additionally, cutting ANY bite to 'suck out the poison' is ridiculous and pointless. So, this clearly is a case where you can say "Kids....don't try this at home".
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