The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)

To avoid his abusive father, a rambunctious boy rafts the Mississippi River with a slave, encountering many wild characters.

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

Hugo Butler, Mark Twain (novel)

Stars:

Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, William Frawley

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Mickey Rooney	...	Huckleberry Finn
Walter Connolly	...	The 'King'
William Frawley	...	The 'Duke'
Rex Ingram	...	Jim
Lynne Carver	...	Mary Jane
Jo Ann Sayers	...	Susan
Minor Watson	...	Capt. Brandy
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Widow Douglass (as Elizabeth Risdon)
Victor Kilian	...	'Pap' Finn
Clara Blandick	...	Miss Watson

Storyline

Huckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River. Accompanying him is Jim, a slave running away from being sold. Together the two strike a bond of friendship that takes them through harrowing events and thrilling adventures.

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Plot Keywords:

character name in title | mississippi river | raft | escape | coming of age | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 February 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Huckleberry Finn

Filming Locations:

Alabama, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

MGM bought the rights to Mark Twain's novel specifically for Mickey Rooney.

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Goofs

All through the movie Jim and Huck talk about going down to Cairo. That would mean they started in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, northern Missouri, or northern Illinois. Most of those are not slave states. If they had to get to Cairo. A lot safer way to do it, for Jim would have been to simply cross the Mississippi from Missouri (which was a slave state) to Illinois and simply walk to Cairo. He would not have had to worry about that route. It's not covered why they need to get to Cairo so quickly. And therefore had to use the river. Why they just didn't keep to the Illinois side of the river. So they could ground their boat in Illinois if threatened.

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Connections

Version of The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)

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Soundtracks

Jim's Song
(uncredited)
Written by Franz Waxman

User Reviews

Imperfect But the Best Film Version of a Great Novel

Fun adaptation of Mark Twain's classic novel with ideal casting of Mickey Rooney as Huck Finn. It's the story of an adventurous boy who sails down the Mississippi with his friend Jim, a runaway slave. Your kids might enjoy it if you're lucky enough to have kids who can appreciate older films or smart enough to understand the period in which the story takes place. Even if you don't have kids who fit that description, I'd say it's still worth trying to get them to watch it with you there to answer any questions they may have. The film obviously has some subject matter that kids (and a lot of adults) today may be oversensitive to. I'm speaking primarily of the character Jim, played brilliantly here by Rex Ingram. This part of the story is watered down from the novel but still people will grouse about it anyway. It's not surprising considering some have been trying to get the book banned from schools for decades now and have sadly been successful in some of our more politically militant indoctrination centers. Some fans of the book won't like that some changes have been made. It's not a perfect adaptation, for sure, but it's the best of any that I've seen.