George's Island (film)


George's Island is a Canadian family adventure film. It was shot in and around Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Plot

Ten-year-old George lives in a dilapidated home near the Halifax Harbour with his grandfather Captain Waters. Captain Waters is a wheelchair-bound former sailor. He is fond of telling George ghost stories. He volunteers an old story about the time he saw Captain Kidd's ghost out in Halifax Harbour. When George learns in school about Kidd's supposed buried treasure out on nearby George's Island, he volunteers the story, and is punished by nosy school teacher Miss Birdwood. Miss Birdwood believes that the root of George's outburst is "trouble at home." She launches her own sneaky investigation to find out the truth. When she discovers that Captain Waters has a fondness for grog, she reports the family to Mr. Droonfield at Child Services. While Mr. Droonfield determines a course of action, George is temporarily placed with a foster family, the Beanes who keep him locked up in a basement cell. On Halloween night, George and the Beanes' other adoptee, Bonnie, escape with Captain Waters and head for safety on George's Island. Miss Birdwood and Mr. Droonfield give chase, but they accidentally awaken the ghosts of Captain Kidd and his men, who think that the intruders are after their chest of gold.

Cast

George's Island is an actual island in the Halifax Harbour. Local maritime folklore holds tales of pirates seeking revenge over buried treasure stolen from the island. These tales inspired the script for the film.

Reception

Upon its release, the film went relatively unnoticed. It was overshadowed by films with larger production and advertising budgets. It was only shown in Canadian theatres for three weeks.
George's Island was judged the best live-action film at the 1990 Chicago International Festival of Children's Films.
Currently, there are no critical reviews of the film on Rotten Tomatoes.