Secrets of the Pirates' Inn (1969 TV Movie) User Reviews

A real treat

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 10 February 2017]

I may or may not have seen Secrets of Pirates' Inn when it originally aired back in 1969 - I can't remember. My family watched the Disney show on Sunday nights (at least I remember it being Sunday night), so the chances that I saw it in 1969 are fairly high. However, even if I didn't, that doesn't affect the sense of nostalgia that filled me as I watched Secrets of Pirates' Inn a couple of days ago. It really took me back to my childhood - a time when kids played outside until dark, we looked for adventure in the wooded areas around the house, and dreamed of a mystery like the one the kids in this movie experienced. My friends and I would have jumped at the chance to go on a real treasure hunt, searching for pirate gold!

Getting back to the movie, Secrets of Pirates' Inn plays something like a toned-down version of The Goonies. Three average kids meet a sea captain who has inherited an old pirate haunt that may hide treasure. The kids agree to help the old man search for the gold. But someone else in town is also looking for the treasure. Can the kids help solve the clues, navigate the secret passages, and uncover the treasure first?

It's all great fun in that innocent sort of 60s Disney way. There's danger, but you know it's nothing that will cause any real harm to anyone. There's some drama and tension, but you know that in the end it will all be resolved in our heroes favor. The bad guys aren't all that bad and are easily apprehended. And the treasure is easy enough to find that you wonder why it wasn't found years ago. But, like I said, it's all fun.

I want to give a special mention to Ed Begley as Irish sea captain Dennis McCarthy. What a great and genuine performance!

It's a shame this movie isn't available on DVD

[twolfaith · 7/10 · 25 July 2023]

"Secrets of the Pirate's Inn" follows three young kids who help an old Irish sea captain find a hidden treasure with a mysterious foe on their tails. This movie is surprisingly very entertaining to watch and from what I know, many people can recall seeing it as children back in '69 and the memories they have of watching it. Remember when movies could just be fun and exciting and not have to do with race and sex? ME EITHER! I wish we could just go back to the good ol' days of film. The movie is available on YouTube, so you should definitely give it a watch. It's a shame this film isn't available on DVD because I'd totally buy it!

Well done Disney mystery

[Marta · 9/10 · 10 December 2000]

"Secrets of the Pirate's Inn" was made 16 years before "The Goonies." Steven Spielberg obviously made "The Goonies" as a loving tribute to the Disney TV movies that he and the rest of the kids of the 50's and 60's grew up on, and if you've ever seen "Pirate's Inn" you can't miss the resemblance. "Pirate's Inn" was done in the old Disney mold; i.e., inventive and with an eye to quality, and was one of the last good TV movies to come out of that studio after Walt's death.

Ed Begley plays a man who inherits an old, long-closed inn; the town abounds with rumors that pirates had at one time buried their treasure there, but no one knows where. Three local kids become friends with Begley's character, and together they try and solve the mystery. That wonderful, overlooked character actor Charles Aidman shows up to inject a sinister note in the proceedings. The atmosphere of the film is what makes it a success; we see lots of dark stairwells and passages leading downwards and hidden areas with secrets behind them. This is a film that keeps you interested and involved from the start. The three kids were later teamed up in "The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove," a TV film not nearly as good as "Pirate's Inn," but also worth a look.

"Pirate's Inn" is not available on video, which is a crime. The Disney channel's "Vault Disney" used to run these old TV shows at midnight/1am most nights, but the Disney Channel appears to have stopped running "Vault Disney," just another example that they've turned their attention to young kids today and no longer think there is an audience for these older shows. "Secrets of the Pirate's Inn" is a great, fun-filled movie, and I still enjoy watching it.

What a great movie for all.

[ynorris46 · 10/10 · 30 April 2008]

THE SECRETS OF THE PIRATES INN" was one of the best, if not the best movie I seen as a child in the 1960's! I just today found the actual name of the movie and although delighted by this fact, I am at a sorrow full loss that I have come to find that the move is not released from the Disney Vaults. I would love to see this movie again in my life time and also share it with my grandchildren as well as my son. What an exciting adventure this was for me, to see "The SECRETS OF THE PIRATES INN" on TV back when. It kept you interested and focused. The mystery, the suspense, the action, all the secret passages, WOW what a movie! I've seen this movie one time 40 years ago, and 40 years later I'm still holding onto the magic experience of seeing this movie. "THE SECRETS OF THE PIRATES INN" is one one of the great sparkles of my youth. I hope to one day have the treat of viewing it again and the honor to actually own it. Oh yes, the truly wondrous World of Walt Disney.

Children joining the outer world

[akalalu · 10/10 · 21 January 2009]

With an elder retired sea captain at the helm of the Inn, these youngsters begin an adventure of finding a world full of life, treasure, and danger outside the confines of their parents' home. As a child, I was glued to the TV for this one. As an adult, I see now what I was finding in this story. A timeless pirate story with a lot of heart, along with children who actually talk and behave as ordinary children might while in the middle of an extra-ordinary treasure hunt. This film is a classic that predates all recent pirate films, it is the "Shane" of the childhood pirate drama. Suggestion to Disney: Re-release this in DVD form for the current generation.

Lafitte's missing treasure

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 25 January 2017]

This Walt Disney Wonderful World Of Color presentation is your usual Disney fare about adventurous kids, in this case seeking buried treasure in the Louisiana bayou. Looking at I had a feeling that this might have been originally meant as a feature film, then split in two for the TV program and then reunited again for a feature film for release in Europe which is what happened. The halves don't don't neatly segment as they usually do in Disney features.

Jimmy Bracken and Patrick Creamer are the boys and Annie McEveety is Bracken's tag along and tomboy sister. Trying to avoid her the boys take refuge in what they think is an abandoned house. But instead the three find Ed Begley living there.

Begley inherited the house from his late brother and also inherited the legend of late brother who firmly believed that Jean Lafitte hid some loot there and he was going to find it. He and the kids start looking but someone else is looking as well, therein lies the tale.

Secrets Of Pirates Inn is not your best or worst Disney kid feature. It's fairly run of the mill of its type. The kids are appealing, Ed Begley is scene stealing from them and Paul Fix as a grumpy tenant gets in an inning or two.

Kids should like it.

A Sense of Loss When it Ended

[mechanoman · 10/10 · 12 April 2006]

Just looking at the credits list for "Secrets of the Pirates' Inn" brings back the delicious memory of what an outstanding short series this was! I think maybe it was only two one-hour episodes, but I do remember that I felt a sense of loss when it had ended. Possibly the most thoroughly enjoyed of everything I ever saw on Disney, dating from clear back to the first episode of Disneyland, little did I know that I would never see "Secrets of the Pirates' Inn" again! I'd like to wring the necks of the clueless individuals who hold the keys to the Disney vaults! Too young, or too much into the modern genres to understand what golden treasures they deprive us of, and "Secrets" was the best! A real Disney masterpiece to rival even "Pollyanna."

A great mystery in the early style of Disney and a real classic!

[stewartnmicah · 9/10 · 23 June 2007]

I really enjoyed the "Secret of the Pirates Inn" in the 80's for the first time. Then I was able to see the Disney Channel via the old, giant satellite dish. Disney had new programming then, but much of what they showed was the old classics. This movie is one of those. The story line would probably attract a younger audience (maybe 6-15 yrs. old), but the quality of the concept has stuck with me to my mid-thirties. I contacted the Disney Movie Club about this show with no response. My thought was this movie would make a great twin-pack with the release of one of their new "Pirates" movies. Oh well, looking forward to seeing it's release sometime in the future. It would no doubt be a great seller and enjoyed by the whole family!

Kid pirate treasure hunt adventure movie

[tarnold1234 · 10/10 · 13 September 2016]

1st real full length movie I ever watched as a kid. Fun adventure kid movie searching for pirate treasure with a crusty old man they meet. Excellent plot, everyone bands together scavenger hunting for the next clue. This was the movie before there was a Goonies movie. Couldn't wait unit part 2 & 3 aired the next week on the Disney Sunday evening show. Drove my parents crazy rushing them home so I wouldn't miss any of it. Secret of Strawberry cove was next with the same kids, kid scary fun to watch. Had all my friends over with popcorn to watch. The best movie I watched as a kid. Of all the remake flops they are doing now days, this would be refreshingly new for kids today. Also enjoyed the Tom, Huck & Becky Thatcher adventure series too. Watching these movies on the internet is small, poor quality, and a waste not being on the big screen.

We went to Disneyland in 1969

[ApolloBoy109 · 10/10 · 15 September 2021]

I am a child of Disney -- watched Uncle Walt every Sunday. All of these TV movies (i.e. The Mystery of Dracula's Castle) lit the fuse for me to become a playwright.

This one is my favorite. Took years to find a copy of it. Now it's on YouTube. Having read mysteries like the Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie and Encyclopedia Brown not to mention the author Wylly Folk St. John whose book of the same name is the inspiration for this Disney TV movie.

Only Ms. John's original Pirates story pales in comparison to what Herman Groves saw in it.

Secret passage ways, riddles to solve, a bad guy, a mysterious treasure map and a rousing conclusion.

Got kids? Sit 'em down to watch a well-written, kid friendly mystery from a by-gone era.

No kids? You watch it, you'll like it!!! Chocolate Chips cookies and milk not provided.