"Scalawag" is an Italian production which was filmed in Yugoslavia (modern Serbia) because it was a cheap place to make movies. The biggest distinction this film has is that it's Kirk Douglas' directorial debut...and a lesser distinction is that it's the first film of Danny DeVito.
The film is quite weird and seems like an odd reworking of "Treasure Island". When it begins, it is a pirate film but after a while it looks like a western as these 'pirates' make their way into the desert. It really looks as if they weren't sure what they were making and looks like a Spaghetti western most of the time. As for the story, there's a lot of killing and stealing and ultimately one of these rogues teams up with a boy and his older sister AND a stupid talking parrot to go in search of treasure....all the while avoiding the rest of the pirates.
The story features an annoying talking parrot which has a larger vocabulary than most children and only says the right things at the exact right time. To me, this alone is a deal-killer....it was so odious and stupid. As for the rest of the film, it just seemed cheap and uninteresting. And, as a consequence, I found my attention waning after a while and I had to struggle to keep watching.
The film is quite weird and seems like an odd reworking of "Treasure Island". When it begins, it is a pirate film but after a while it looks like a western as these 'pirates' make their way into the desert. It really looks as if they weren't sure what they were making and looks like a Spaghetti western most of the time. As for the story, there's a lot of killing and stealing and ultimately one of these rogues teams up with a boy and his older sister AND a stupid talking parrot to go in search of treasure....all the while avoiding the rest of the pirates.
The story features an annoying talking parrot which has a larger vocabulary than most children and only says the right things at the exact right time. To me, this alone is a deal-killer....it was so odious and stupid. As for the rest of the film, it just seemed cheap and uninteresting. And, as a consequence, I found my attention waning after a while and I had to struggle to keep watching.