The Adventures of Huckeleberry Finn (United States, 1960)


Figure 1.--Here we see Huck and Jim and the beginning of the film. Huck was played by Eddie Hodges and Jim by pro-boxer Archie Moore. The film is a rather sacrine production of Twain's novel, but has many of the best-known scenes. There were some inaccuracies with the costuming.

This classic Mark Twain novel about a boy running away from home on the Mississippi River. The book is set before the Warm but was written after it and the earlier lighter Ton Sawyer novel. Twain addressed the issues of slavery, friendship, and loyalty. This version stars Eddie Hodges, who performs very well. He wears a straw hat,long pants. and sometimes goes barefoot. This all seems appropriate for the ante-bellum period, but his pants have a ather modern cut to them. In one scene he wears a dress as a disguise in one scene. It is a long dress and he wears jeans underneath. He attempt to talk and act like a girl. He grimaces to reflect how distastefull he finds the whole thing. Eddie had a really infectious personality. I think this is one of the better renditions of the Twain novel, at least the basic story line.

Filmology

This MGM production was a lower budget approach to a film planned for production in 1952 with major film sars. MGM had planned a major musical production. NGM had planned on using Dean Stockwell as Huck. Jim was to be played by William Warfield who was a great suceess in "Show Boat" (1951), another musical set on the Mississipi. Gene Kelly and Danny Kaye were to be the two con men. I'm not sure why MGM decided not to make the film. This version of Huck was directed by Michael Curtiz,

The Book

Twain addressed the issues of slavery, friendship, and loyalty. Mark Twain's saga of the pre-Civil War American boyhood is one of the classic's of American literature. It is as close as you can get to the American epic. Despite its current controversiality, it is arguably the most powerful anti-slavery novel ever written. The book was a sequal to Twain's imensely popular Tom Sawyer and was published in 18??). It was, however, a very different book. Twain arrgues powefully for the esential humanity of Black Americans. Strangely the book is often a target of Black groups demanding it be removed from school libaries and required reading lists. The book is set in the 1840s and uses realistic dialog of the day. Huckleberry's characteridtiv bare feet and rough clothes are a realistic look at how the average boy in pre-Civil War America dressed.

Setting

The book is set like Tom Sawyer again in Hanibal, Missouri, before the Civil War. It was, however, written after it and the earlier lighter spirited Tom Sawyer novel. Twain picks up on two characters, Huck and the slave Jim.

Cast

This version stars Eddie Hodges, who performs very well. Eddie had a really infectious personality. I am not sure he was the best choice for Huck as Eddie is definitely on the clean-cut side, but he does a good job. The other main character, Jim, is plyed by Archie Moore, a widely aclaimed pro-boxer. H also does a good job, although his performance varies. He has one very touching scene when he tells Huck about his deaf child. Also appearing in the film is Tony Randal as The King. Neville Brand plays the abusive Pap Finn.Buster Keaton has a cameo appearance the lion tammer. Another cameo part is the barber played by Sterling Holloway. His name is ot well known, but his voice is. He voiced the part of Winnie the Pooh and Jiminy Cricket in Disney films.

Plot

This classic Mark Twain novel about a boy running away from home on the Mississippi River. The version here is fairly faitful to the Twin plot line. Huckleberry Finn is essentially an orphan, although his abusive father still lives. Huck doesn't have many advantages and he doesn't care much for civilization. He escapes both by taking off on a raft to sale down the Mississippi. He finds himself with Jim, a runaway slave. This provides the basic tension of the book, but only midly presented in the film. Huck likes Jim who proves to be a faithful friend, yet Hucl seens Jim as breaking the law and has grown up thinking of abolitionists as terrible people. Huck's adventures all are experienced with Jim. There is only so much you can do in a brief film. This version does pick up on sone of the better known scenes.

Costuming

Huck wears a straw hat,long pants. and sometimes goes barefoot. This all seems appropriate for the ante-bellum period, but his pants have a rather modern cut to them. And this become apparant in one scene while Huck and Jim are still on the river boat. Just before they jump in the to river, Huck pulls on his pants. There is a definite "snap". He then pulls us his zipper. Of course these were not how ante-bellum worked. They buttoned, often at the side. Sbaps and zippers had not yet been invented. Historical accuracy was clearly not very impotant to costume director Jack Martell. Huck in one scene wears a dress as a disguise in one scene. It is a long dress and he wears jeans underneath. He attempt to talk and act like a girl. He grimaces to reflect how distastefull he finds the whole thing.

Timing

The timing of both Tawain's book and the film here is iteresting. Twain published Huck in 1884. This was a time when the early optimism of Emancipation had been denied by white racist violence in the South and the emergence of Jim Crow, The heroic images of Black Americans promoted by abolistionists and earned by Black soldiers during the Civil War had been undermined by the Lost Cause historians and a largely inaccurate depiction of Reconconstruction. This was the environment in which Twain published Huck--surely his greatest book. The timing of the film is also interesting, set squarely in the middle of the Civil Rights struggle. The Supreme Court had issued its landmark school desegreagaion decesion (1954), but the assault on segregation in the South had just begun.

Assessment

I think this is one of the better renditions of the Twain novel, at least the basic plot outline. It is, however, rather a characiture of the film, perhaps suitable for children. Twain's book is much darker and more serious than the director has presented to us here.






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Created: 11:14 AM 3/2/2007
Last updated: 11:14 AM 3/2/2007