A Treasure Map is discovered in the belongings of a former pirate, leading to a hunt after great riches.
This film has examples of:
- Adaptational Dumbass: Both Silver and Hawkins. In both the movie and the novel, Silver is in danger of being exposed as a pirate by being caught with Black Dog in his tavern. In the novel, Silver cleverly behaves exactly as an innocent man would, unhesitatingly laying all of the facts that Hawkins has seen openly before Squire Trelawney, and thus convinces both Trelawney and the highly suspicious Hawkins that he's clean. In this movie, Silver instead behaves exactly as a guilty man would, urging Hawkins to help him hide the truth from the Squire, but Hawkins is so gullible here that he goes along with it.
- Advertised Extra: The opening credits present the film as "Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (with Lionel Barrymore) but as Billy Bones, Lionel Barrymore is only in the beginning.
- The Aloner: Ben Gunn, a former pirate who used to be part of Captain Flint's crew, who was marooned on the island three years ago after a failed attempt to find Flint's treasure.
- Bad Guy Bar: Silver runs an inn of his own, filled with fellow cut-throats.
- Battering Ram: Pirates led by Blind Pew break their way through into the Admiral Benbow Inn with a log acting as a makeshift battering ram.
- Broken Pedestal: Young Jim sees Silver as the best friend he ever had, and is seriously hurt when he learns of Silver's true intentions regarding the treasure hunt.
- Canon Foreigner: A short lute-playing pirate named Dandy Dawson is this film's addition to Silver's band of mutineers.
- Cutlass Between the Teeth: After failing to kill Jim by throwing his knife, Israel Hands picks it up again, bites down on it, and climbs after Jim as he makes up the Hispaniola's main mast.
- Hidden Weapons: As Silver introduces the various patrons (that are totally not pirates) of his inn to Jim, one of them, named Dandy Dawson, greets the young man by raising his hat, showing the audience that he has a knife hidden inside it.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: The opening credits present the film as "Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (with Lionel Barrymore)".
- Large Ham: The sets must have shook from the volume of Lionel Barrymore's bellowing as Billy Bones.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Jackie Cooper, as Jim, speaks in his normal American accent.
- Pirate Parrot: Silver has one, though it doesn't talk like in the other adaptations. Just before Silver makes his escape, he gives the parrot to Jim.
- Tap on the Head: As he makes his escape from the Hispaniola, Silver knocks out Ben Gunn, who is on guard, with a stick.
- Threatening Shark: A shark, dubbed Old Nicodemus, follows Hispaniola as it makes its way towards the island. After Mr. Arrow disappears one night, so does Old Nicodemus....
- Travel Montage: Bits from the voyage are intercut with a shot of a map as the ship heads to the island where the treasure is buried.
