Tom Sawyer (1917)

Tom Sawyer, a young Missouri lad, finds fun and adventure with his pals Joe Harper and Huckleberry Finn, running away to hide out on Jackson's Island and pretending to be Mississippi River ... See full summary »

Director:

William Desmond Taylor

Writers:

Mark Twain (novel), Julia Crawford Ivers (photoplay)

Stars:

Jack Pickford, George Hackathorne, Alice Marvin

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jack Pickford	...	Thomas 'Tom' Sawyer
George Hackathorne	...	Sid Sawyer
Alice Marvin	...	Mary Sawyer
Edythe Chapman	...	Aunt Polly
Robert Gordon	...	Huckleberry Finn
Antrim Short	...	Joe Harper
Clara Horton	...	Becky Thatcher
Helen Gilmore	...	Widow Douglas
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carl Goetz	...	Alfred Temple

Storyline

Tom Sawyer, a young Missouri lad, finds fun and adventure with his pals Joe Harper and Huckleberry Finn, running away to hide out on Jackson's Island and pretending to be Mississippi River pirates. When Tom is believed dead by his grieving Aunt Polly, he sneaks back to town to attend his own funeral.

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Plot Keywords:

pirate | aunt | island | funeral | mississippi river | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 December 1917 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Hannibal, Missouri, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min 44 min (2000 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Tom Sawyer (1973)

User Reviews

Interesting museum piece gives about half of Tom's adventures

It is said that director William Desmond Taylor intended a sequel that would detail the rest of Mark Twain's classic. Two hour movies were not popular in 1917, despite the success of D.W. Griffith's work. Since the original book was just a series of episodes, it is surely no grounds for condemning this old film for the same quality. Actually, it is rather entertaining and faithful to the book for the episodes it contains. For proper enjoyment, though, you have to project yourself via mental time warp back to 1917 and the film technology of the era. If you can, you can see Mary Pickford's brother Jack doing a good job of bringing that eternal scamp Tom Sawyer to life. And it is a chance to see the work of William Desmond Taylor whose death a few years later was one of the greatest Hollywood mysteries of all time.