Treasure of Matecumbe (film) Shortly after the Civil War, two 13-year-old boys—one white, the other black—set out from Kentucky to seek a treasure buried in a Florida swamp. During the course of their exciting and often hilarious experiences, they acquire three colorful traveling companions—a dashing adventurer, a tart-tongued Southern belle, and a jaunty old medicine man. It takes the talents and ingenuity of all five to overcome the sinister forces working against them. Released on July 9, 1976. Directed by Vincent McEveety. 116 min. Stars Robert Foxworth (Jim), Joan Hackett (Lauriette), Peter Ustinov (Dr. Snodgrass), Vic Morrow (Spangler), Johnny Doran (David), Billy Attmore (Thad), Jane Wyatt (Aunt Effie), Don Knight (Skaggs), Val De Vargas (Charlie), Dub Taylor (Sheriff Forbes), Dick Van Patten (Gambler). The movie was based on the book A Journey to Matecumbe by Robert Lewis Taylor. The song “Matecumbe” was written by Richard McKinley and Shane Tatum. Danville, Kentucky was chosen for the opening scenes, and an old 217-acre plantation estate, built around 1830, became “Grassy.” The Sacramento River above Colusa, California, became the Mississippi, but the actual Everglades of Florida were used as such in the film, with the cast setting up production headquarters in Kissimmee. The man-made hurricane was shot in part of a rain forest inhabited by ancient Seminole Indians and made by using giant wind machines and tons of water pumped in and blasted at the cast by airplane engines. The last night of the disaster sequence Ustinov was struck by a wave, fell, and was hospitalized with pulled ligaments in his left ankle. The company then moved to a beach at Walt Disney World, where final scenes in the picture were filmed. Released on video in 1986.
