Fresh from Broadway's "The Music Man" and MGM's "A Hole in the Head", Eddie Hodges seems a bit too well spoken to be cast as Huckleberry Finn in this remake that MGM had done 20 years before with Mickey Rooney. However, he's quite endearing, especially when on his own with the slave Jim (played beautifully by Archie Moore) and when dealing with his drunken father (an excellent Neville Brand) who kidnapped him from the Widow Douglas (Josephine Hutchinson). Huck fakes his death to get away from his brutal father and ends up encountering conman Tony Randall and Mickey Shaughnessy who suspect the truth about the two whom they hitch a ride with on Huck's raft.
It turns out that Randall and Shaugnessy are out to fleece the grieving Patty McCormack and Sherry Jackson, but that's a quick con that is easily exposed. The episodic nature of the story is obvious but energetically performed with veteran actors Minerva Urecal, Buster Keaton, Sterling Holloway, John Carradine and Judy Canova in nice cameos.
It's the comaradarie between the free spirited Huck and the freedom seeking Jim that stands out to give this story real purpose. The narrative shows how Huck's feelings are altered as his mission to ensure Jim's dream (which also includes being reunited with his wife and family) becomes the focus. There really wasn't a need to include a few brief songs (none of which are memorable) but that's one of the few flaws. Some of the photography is mighty blurry considering the night setting on the mighty Mississippi, and the narrative takes a few minor liberties, but as directed by the legendary Michael Curtiz, it's a decent variation of the great American novel.
It turns out that Randall and Shaugnessy are out to fleece the grieving Patty McCormack and Sherry Jackson, but that's a quick con that is easily exposed. The episodic nature of the story is obvious but energetically performed with veteran actors Minerva Urecal, Buster Keaton, Sterling Holloway, John Carradine and Judy Canova in nice cameos.
It's the comaradarie between the free spirited Huck and the freedom seeking Jim that stands out to give this story real purpose. The narrative shows how Huck's feelings are altered as his mission to ensure Jim's dream (which also includes being reunited with his wife and family) becomes the focus. There really wasn't a need to include a few brief songs (none of which are memorable) but that's one of the few flaws. Some of the photography is mighty blurry considering the night setting on the mighty Mississippi, and the narrative takes a few minor liberties, but as directed by the legendary Michael Curtiz, it's a decent variation of the great American novel.