The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

It's the Mark Twain classic. Huckleberry Finn fakes his own death to escape his abusive father. He travels down the Mississippi River with fellow runaway, a slave named Jim. They form a strong bond and encounter various people including two con men. I've never read the book. Somehow, I escaped it in school. I do know the broad strokes. The movie has a bit of cursing and I counted one n* word. There could be more but it's not quite the book. I can't talk to the faithfulness of the adaptation. The story is much more fitting for a mini-series with its episodic nature. The kid is pretty good. He has the rambunctiousness. Jim needs a bigger performer. It's easier to dial it down than it is to dial it up. All in all, their friendship is what sells the movie and the story. They do well in that aspect and thereby makes this movie work.

I had the pleasure of watching the final scene of this film being shot back in 1959. I was six years old and witnessing this began my lifelong love for the movies. When the film arrived in our city, I was struck by Jerome Morross' incredible music score, which completely captured the sense of adventure, wonder and beauty of life on the Mississippi River and rural Missouri. The film itself is robust, dramatic and filled with Mark Twain's colorful, classic words. The cast is perfect and Michael Curtiz' direction keeps the action flowing. This is a wonderful film for all ages.

Mississippi River rafting with Eddie Hodges (as Huck) and Archie Moore (as Jim) impersonating Mark Twain's pair of runaway drifters. Despite the obvious attempt to be a classy production, with a well-intentioned assemblage of cast and crew, this version sinks like a pebble (if not a stone). It's overcast and miscast, but occasionally satisfying. Lucky young Hodges, who sang with Frank Sinatra, has a great scene with Andy Devine and Buster Keaton. Apparently, 20th century filmmakers were too shy to truly transfer all "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to film. What they hinted at (or left out completely) can be found by reading the book - or, if you're lazy, listen to a vocal version of "Moon River". We're after the same rainbow's end.

***** The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (6/17/60) Michael Curtiz ~ Eddie Hodges, Archie Moore, Tony Randall

Adaptation-wise, die-hard fans of the book will find plenty of fault. On its own this film is not bad at all, actually from this viewer's perspective it was decent. Of the 5 Huckleberry Finn adaptations on film that I've seen it is around the middle, with the 1938 Mickey Rooney film being the best and the 1975 Ron Howard film(the only one of the 5 that was anywhere close to bad) being the worst. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(1970) could have been better. Eddie Hodges was a little weak and somewhat too prim for Huck and while there are some tense, heart-warming and moving moments the storytelling could have been much stronger. The additions and some omissions didn't always make the narrative cohesive(for example much more could have been done with the ending)- though the Ron Howard does a much worse job at this- and because the grimmer parts of the book are trimmed down or diluted there are times, not always mind, where things did come across as a little on the "cute" side. The adaptation is beautifully filmed though with evocative and quite charming locations and river settings(where the photography was at its most striking). The music score is rousing, foreboding and poignant at all the times it's called for and it is placed appropriately, while the scripting is colourful and generally makes an effort to capture the spirit of Mark Twain's own writing and while not all the storytelling is as good as it could've been it is difficult not to be moved by Jim's talking of his deaf child(something that anybody would identify with). The acting is good generally. Archie Moore is just great and very dignified as Jim(his chemistry with Hodges just about convinces), while Neville Brand is a brutish Pap, Mickey Shaughnessy is appropriately oafish with an ability to be menacing and humorous and Tony Randall's King is superbly conniving. Buster Keaton and Andy Devine also make lively appearances in one of the more delightful and chemistry-strong scenes of the film. All in all, a decent film but "purists" may want to look elsewhere. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Purists of Mark Twain will find fault with this adaption of Huckleberry Finn, but I like it and I think it captures the charm of Twain and the moral lessons he was trying to teach.

Small town America, it's strengths and weaknesses is a subject done to death in novels, plays and film. I myself just did a review of This Boy's Life which has some of the same themes as Huckleberry Finn. Hannibal, Missouri of the 19th century sure had more charm than Concrete, Washington of the 20th century. Yet Eddie Hodges as Huck Finn had to leave it to fulfill his destiny as surely as Leonard DiCaprio had to leave Concrete.

In fact the most riveting performance in this film is Neville Brand as Huck Finn's Pap. He's as bigoted and narrow-minded, though more explicitly racist than Robert DeNiro in This Boy's Life. Today we would call someone like Neville Brand, trailer park trash.

Because the two are on screen for nearly the whole time, the players essaying the parts of Huck and Jim have to be good and have good chemistry. Archie Moore who was the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion when this was made delivers a great performance as the runaway slave Jim. As does Eddie Hodges as Huck. One theme of Twain's that remains intact is Huck's growth as a human being after being thrown together with Jim who he now sees as a person instead of property.

In fact MGM put together an excellent supporting cast for tyro players Eddie Hodges and Archie Moore. Tony Randall and Mickey Shaughnessy as con men King and Duke are a joy to watch. The whole movie is.