In 1976, Chapman began writing a pirate film, "Yellowbeard" (1983), which came out of conversations between Chapman and Moon while in Los Angeles. Moon had always wanted to play Long John Silver, so Chapman began to write a script for him. Moon died in 1978 and the work stalled, eventually being rewritten by McKenna, then by Peter Cook. The film, which starred Chapman as the eponymous pirate, also featured appearances from Cook, Marty Feldman, Cleese, Idle, Spike Milligan, and Cheech & Chong. It marked the last appearance of Feldman, who suffered a fatal heart attack in December 1982. The project was fraught with financial difficulties, and at times there was not enough money to pay the crew. It was released to mixed reviews. David Robinson, reviewing the film in "The Times", said that "the Monty Python style of comic anarchy requires more than scatology, rude words and funny faces".