i've read all of 'Tom Sawyer'(very short book), and half of 'Huck Finn'(way too long, i was too young), so i am pretty familiar with Twain's stories.
this adaptation does no justice to the book. although none of the versions have been very good. approaching this as a musical is all wrong. you could sort of get away with it with 'Tom Sawyer' because that is really just a children's book and much lighter. 'Huck Finn' is a serious novel aimed at older readers and, as i recall, was some 500 pages long (which was why i could'nt finish it). being a darker more serious story than 'Sawyer', it weathers being a musical far less.
it does'nt help that a couple of the songs really stink either. the movie gets off to a decent start, and the title song 'Freedom' is actually quite good. so are the songs 'Honey Dar'lin' and the excellent 'Rose in a Bible', but pretty much all the rest are sub par. the Harvey Corman number, 'Royalty', is just plain awful. and so is Corman. it's hard to imagine Harvey Corman as giving such a horrible performance, since he is always so talented and funny, and you think he would be just right for this role, but he's not. he over acts so terribly and the song is so bad, it pretty much sinks the movie at that point, and it never recovers.
i actually really love the Sherman bros. music for Disney, but outside of Disney they are pretty much a miss. did'nt like 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'(that song is obnoxious and Van Dyke is oddly wasted in that bomb), hated 'The Slipper and the Rose'(remember 'protocoligorically correct'? unfortunately i do.) did'nt care for 'Tom Sawyer' either. his music for 'Little Nemo' was cute, but not very memorable. when the Sherman Bros. are good, they hit it right out of the ball park, as with Disney favorites like 'Mary Poppins' and 'One and Only Family Band'. but when the Sherman Bros. miss it's like, PEE YEW, plug your nose. remember the mind bogglingly awful 'Monkey's Uncle' song? but at least 'Monkey' was so bad it was funny.
but i'd take the 'Monkey' song over most of this uninspired tripe. i love musicals, usually, but here is a example of "DON'T SING!!!".
the cinematography is good, the acting by Jeff East and others is good,especially the actress playing the Widow Douglas. and Paul Winfield is an excellent choice for the character of "nigger" Jim.
all in all this was one big "Nonesuch". Arthur P. Jacobs should've stuck to "ape" movies.
this adaptation does no justice to the book. although none of the versions have been very good. approaching this as a musical is all wrong. you could sort of get away with it with 'Tom Sawyer' because that is really just a children's book and much lighter. 'Huck Finn' is a serious novel aimed at older readers and, as i recall, was some 500 pages long (which was why i could'nt finish it). being a darker more serious story than 'Sawyer', it weathers being a musical far less.
it does'nt help that a couple of the songs really stink either. the movie gets off to a decent start, and the title song 'Freedom' is actually quite good. so are the songs 'Honey Dar'lin' and the excellent 'Rose in a Bible', but pretty much all the rest are sub par. the Harvey Corman number, 'Royalty', is just plain awful. and so is Corman. it's hard to imagine Harvey Corman as giving such a horrible performance, since he is always so talented and funny, and you think he would be just right for this role, but he's not. he over acts so terribly and the song is so bad, it pretty much sinks the movie at that point, and it never recovers.
i actually really love the Sherman bros. music for Disney, but outside of Disney they are pretty much a miss. did'nt like 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'(that song is obnoxious and Van Dyke is oddly wasted in that bomb), hated 'The Slipper and the Rose'(remember 'protocoligorically correct'? unfortunately i do.) did'nt care for 'Tom Sawyer' either. his music for 'Little Nemo' was cute, but not very memorable. when the Sherman Bros. are good, they hit it right out of the ball park, as with Disney favorites like 'Mary Poppins' and 'One and Only Family Band'. but when the Sherman Bros. miss it's like, PEE YEW, plug your nose. remember the mind bogglingly awful 'Monkey's Uncle' song? but at least 'Monkey' was so bad it was funny.
but i'd take the 'Monkey' song over most of this uninspired tripe. i love musicals, usually, but here is a example of "DON'T SING!!!".
the cinematography is good, the acting by Jeff East and others is good,especially the actress playing the Widow Douglas. and Paul Winfield is an excellent choice for the character of "nigger" Jim.
all in all this was one big "Nonesuch". Arthur P. Jacobs should've stuck to "ape" movies.