When the English writer Arthur Ransome published his first children’s book in 1930, neither he nor anyone else realized he had crafted the foundation of a literary dynasty. Based on his own childhood summers at a farm in Coniston in Britain’s breathtakingly rugged Lake District, “Swallows and Amazons” was followed by 11 other titles about the Walker family and its four dynamic children: John, Susan, Titty and Roger, who, unlike in many other children’s series, aged and grew wiser as the series evolved.
“Swallows” remains the benchmark. It was and is a celebration of childhood, of small sailboats and islands, of camping and cooking, of imagination and adventure in a world now largely vanished.
Now this wonderful book–largely forgotten here today–has been translated for the small screen. “Swallows and Amazons” (Republic Entertainment, 1997, live action, color, closed captioned, 89 minutes, $9.98) is a superb adaptation of Ransome’s most beloved work and comes highly recommended for viewers 8 and older.
The story begins in the summer of 1929 as the Walker children and their mother, played by veteran Virginia McKenna (“Born Free,” 1966), are heading by train for the Lake District farm, Holly Howe. Walker pere is in the British Maritime service, currently at Malta on his way to Hong Kong.
The children have been given permission to spend most of the holiday camping out on one of the small, wooded, rocky isles out on the huge lake; they have dubbed it Wildcat Island. With the house comes a small, open sailing punt named “Swallow.” The boat serves as transportation, vehicle to adventure and carry-all.
Filmed on location in England, and faithful to Ransome’s text, “Swallows and Amazons” is a child’s feast for the eyes and the imagination.
