Hi Jack, Thankfully many of Robert Newton’s early films have been digitally remastered and are available on DVD. Worth having a look. I recommend his first leading part in Dead Men Are Dangerous. Also Night Boat To Dublin, Waterfront and Obsession. He was a brilliant and versatile actor, who as you say, played everything from romantic leads to gangsters in the 30s and 40s but became typecast in the 50s after the huge success of Treasure Island.

Audio-volume too low to hear easily. Nevertheless, it's fascinating to see Mr. Newton looking-so-young, in still-shots from films I've never seen. Before he became rather-seriously-typecast as a pirate, the actor seems to have been in a variety of dramatic-roles, of an apparently realistic, down-to-earth nature. Admittedly, I've probably always enjoyed him most in roles where he exhibits a kind-of theatrical-flare, i.e., a world-weary, careworn air of shabby-gentility while at the same time projecting an exuberant nobility-of-soul. I now can picture him as being quite-good in such roles as Sidney Carton, the self-loathing clerk who sacrifices his life to save the fiancee of the woman he, Carton, loves but can never possess. Alas, he never portrayed this literary-character out of Dickens, at least not in any existing-film. Clearly, Mr. Newton was multi-talented, capable of playing a spectrum-of-parts, whether modern or period-drama. A natural at playing characters from imprecise-eras of British-history, his flamboyant-style was both entertaining, rivetting, and convincing. Can't think of any other actor like him today, signifying how unique Robert Newton remains in the history-of-cinema & television.