This is How Movies Should Be Made

Good start, but then it gets ruined

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Back in the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood often took a rather cavalier attitude towards classic material. A great example is 1936's "Romeo & Juliet", which featured actors two to three times the age of the characters and credits 'additional dialog' to an MGM writer! Another is "Wuthering Heights"...where the studio tacked on a HAPPY ending!! Because of this, I assumed that they'd similarly ruin Mark Twain's classic story of Huck Finn...especially because the story has a strong abolitionist slant...and studios OFTEN would sanitize these sorts of things in order to not offend racist audience members! I was shocked, then, when the story turned out to be very close to the source material...and as a result, it is a fine movie. It also deeply humanizes Jim and makes for an amazingly heartfelt film. Well worth seeing.By the way, at one point in the film, Huck is bitten by a rattlesnake and Jim cuts open the wound and sucks out the poison. Despite this being a common belief, this is NOT a good idea!! Kids, don't try this at home.

Yeah it is hard not to notice Mickey Rooney and a bit of Andy Hardy leaks through. I don't know any movie that can capture Mark Twain total wit, The only ilk of that type are a few Shakespeare movies. This later complaint coming from stuff shirts 1939 critics. What this movie makes you want to do is read the book, which is a good thing. This movie was about 100 pages of script, the book 400. If Twain could have written it in 100 pages he would have.Why anyone thinks you can do a verbatim reproduction of a book is beyond me. Look at Gone with the Wind, or the modern book The Shining. The Shining totally fails as a movie, both releases, as the book is a more richer story. Slight spoiler for the Shining follows. The first Shining move especially because of the ending and ignoring the hotel's furnace problem which is an important thread in the book.Rex Ingram as Jim should have at least been nominated for a best supporting actor. He was the glue in the film. This is just a good classic golden age movie.

Like any literary adaptation, this film throws out many scenes and changes others around. As a film, though, it works perfectly. Comparing it to the 1960 version, the reputation of the 1930s as the golden age of Hollywood is exemplified in this picture. Although the film and editing techniques were primitive at this point, the humour is funny, the characters click, and the drama is captivating. I'm not sure why this and the 1960 leave out the scene where Huck convinces Jim he's dreamt them separating in the fog, since its one of the most important in the novel. In any case, Jim's plight is tragic, and makes one shudder to think of the many people that had to be subjected to the institution of slavery. Rex Ingram gives a great performance, and his best scene may be in the jail, right before the lynch mob bursts through the door. "Somebody help me!" he cries. Amazing.It should also be noted that Clara Blandickgives an outstanding performance as Miss Watson. Mickey Rooney is okay as Huck, but his acting style hasn't aged as well as the others in the film. Overall, I highly recommend this as great entertainment and a great film.8/10

I believe that this film was well appropriate for the time zone in which it was created.When viewing this movie, one needs to place themselves in a time capsule so to speak. It is a movie based on a child's story. I enjoy Mickey Rooney, and was sorry to hear of his passing around December 2006. He shows determinant energy in his acting on this film. Rex Ingram, although, this movie placed him in a very stereotypic role, he put his all into it. The movie had several great actors, and great areas, I think anyone who views it through the eyes of a child, will truly enjoy it.