Starring Jeff East, Paul Winfield, Harvey Korman, and David Wayne
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Music and Lyrics by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman
The Reader's Digest musical version of Tom Sawyer was so well-received in 1973, they started production on this one before the first movie was even finished. Unfortunately, they ran into trouble even Huck and Jim couldn't predict. Winfield didn't want any singing slaves and was treated poorly by the Missouri police. Roberta Flack's insisted on having guitars in the song "Freedom" and threatened to sue if she couldn't, which led to the soundtrack album going unreleased. One of the producers passed away before filming. Thompson had trouble with the musical direction, and Robert B. Sherman had a knee operation in the middle of filming. There's also the story of Huck and his adventures with runaway slave Jim on the Mississippi River being controversial to begin with. How does it fare in this version? We open with a montage of life in Missouri in the 1850's and find out...
The Story: Huckleberry Finn (East) is tired of being coddled by the two kindly widows who took him in. He's tired of their fussing and wishes he could escape for some adventure. He gets a lot more adventure than he bargained for when first his mean drunk of a Pap (Garry Merrill) kidnaps him to steal his money, and then the old ladies' slave Jim (Winfield) runs away after hearing they may sell him to get the ransom. Huck fakes his own murder, but Jim is accused of the crime. The two finally set off down the Mississippi together on a home-made raft, meeting many different people from all walks of life, foiling the plots of swindlers The Duke (Korman) and The King (Wayne), dodging slave traders, and learning a lesson about the true meaning of freedom.
The Song and Dance: Winfield and East work well together as the escaping pair in this down-home epic. You really feel their chemistry, especially towards the end, when the duo tangle with the slave traders. I also like Korman as the flamboyant flim-flam man who is determined to become rich by any illegal means necessary and Merrill as Huck's nasty drunk of a father. Once again, we have splendid cinematography in small towns on the real Mississippi River, with some gorgeous shots of the river itself. The music is a delight, too, making it even more of a shame that Flack made all the fuss that halted the release of the soundtrack album.
Favorite Number: Even without the guitars, "Freedom," the ballad that accompanies the montage of daily life on the Mississippi in the opening credits, is absolutely gorgeous. The Sherman Brothers were masters at writing slow numbers for family movies without traditional girl-meets-boy plots, and they demonstrate it well with this lush, lovely salute to independence.
Winfield isn't the best singer, but he does tell his wife (Odessa Cleveland) how "Someday, Honey Darlin'," they'll be free, and covers his part of his rousing duet "Cairo, Illinois" with East well enough. Merrill growls and complains about his "Rotten Luck" that he never gets old ladies who give him big inheritances. East isn't a great singer, either, but he does well enough by his solo near the end when he asks "What's Right, What's Wrong?" The daughters of the rich plantation owner who briefly takes Huck in flutter fans and simper about "A Rose In a Bible" at a family get-together.
Korman and Wayne get three big numbers highlighting their ability to take a crowd for everything it's got. Korman roars "The Royal Nonesuch" to introduce their non-existent European play and "In Their Hands" to the grieving young women whose money they want. They introduce themselves to Huck and Jim as being "Royalty!"
Trivia: An unrelated stage Huckleberry Finn adaptation, Big River, went over far better with critics and audiences in 1985.
What I Don't Like: They actually stick to the book pretty well...until the finale. In the original book, Huck learned that his father and the sisters had died, and the sisters set Jim free in their will. Huck went west to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) before the family that adopted Tom Sawyer could take him in, too. Not only is the action finale with the slave traders badly done, it's awkwardly staged. It's assumed that Jim does take his freedom, but the movie ends before we find out what happened to Huck. It also eliminates Tom Sawyer and his family. Perhaps they couldn't get Whittaker back?
This is also a good time to discuss the language and themes in this movie. Like Minstrel Man, this is set in a time and place where the N word was bandied about quite a bit. It depicts slavery in the pre-Civil War south, including the slave catchers who treat the men like property. Winfield requested that the language be toned down, but some of it does remain. There's also a fair amount of violence, from Pap's abuse of Huck to most of the men at the antebellum house dying under the guns of their rivals.
The Big Finale: Critics and audiences have been divided on how well this represents the book for years, and whether it should have been a musical at all. I think the terrific music and some decent performances are the best things about it. Not a bad choice for families with older kids and young teens who have read the book and understand the violence and language that comes with it.
Home Media: Easy to find on all major formats. The Twilight Time Blu-Ray bundles it with Tom Sawyer and is a tad expensive. It's currently running for free with commercials on Tubi.
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