Secrets of the Pirate's Inn is a 1969 American television film produced by Walt Disney Productions, based on the 1968 children's novel The Secrets of the Pirate Inn by Wylly Folk St. John.
Directed by Gary Nelson, it originally aired in two parts on NBC's The Wonderful World of Disney on November 23 and November 30, 1969.
The story is set in Louisiana and follows Dennis McCarthy, who befriends three children and recruits them to help search for treasure associated with the pirate Jean Lafitte. Their search is complicated by an unscrupulous newspaper reporter who is also pursuing the treasure and takes it from them after they find it.
Production materials for the film are preserved in the University of Wyoming's American Heritage Center as part of the Ed Begley papers. The collection includes two drafts each of Parts I and II, written by Herman Groves and dated 1968–1969; one draft of each part contains handwritten annotations.
St. John was a Georgia journalist and children's author whose mystery novels were generally set in the American South. Newspaper profiles discussed her writing career and children's books, including The Secrets of the Pirate Inn. A contemporary newspaper article also covered Disney's adaptation of the book. St. John's younger brother Johnny Folk worked as a cartoonist for Walt Disney, according to a family history maintained by St. John's great-niece.
Disney followed the film with the 1971 television film The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove, based on a story by Bertrand R. Brinley. Bill Zuckert returned as Sheriff Wiley, and Annie McEveety, Jimmy Bracken and Patrick Creamer also reprised their roles from Secrets of the Pirate's Inn.
Cast The cast includes:
Ed Begley as Dennis McCarthy Paul Fix as Vern Padgett Charles Aidman as Carl Buchanan Bill Zuckert as Sheriff Wiley Fredd Wayne as Jim Durden Anne Whitfield as Margaret Durden Grady Michael Smith as Catcher Annie McEveety as Tippy Jimmy Bracken as Scott Patrick Creamer as Catfish
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