Tom Sawyer

Young Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn enjoy the free days of youth in this 1973 film adaptation of the classic Mark Twain story "Tom Sawyer." With their stories and lives of the two boys blending in together so much, it's hard to tell where one starts and the other leaves off. They both live in the same slow easy days, which are also fresh with rascally trouble and bristling with uncouth characters. Tom Sawyer lives with an Aunt played by Celeste Holm and her two children. The boy does not like him and continually sets up booby traps for Tom when he sneaks in his room late for supper, but the daughter thinks the world of him. On one of their many hikes, Tom and Huck witness a scuffle that leads to murder. And Tom has a love interest in the form of a new girl, played by Jodie Foster. But all this takes a back seat to the adventurous and easy-going spirits of the boys and the wonderful music score and songs by the Sherman brothers. The performances by Johnnie Whitaker as Tom and Jeff East as Huck are very natural (Jeff East was particularly memorable) and a lot of recognizable faces make up the colorful supporting cast. A true highlight of the film is Charley Pride's song about being young and free, sung at the beginning and end of the film. I looked into buying the cd. But it was way too expensive, being a very rare find. If you love musicals and the imagination of Mark Twain, then you need to find this right away and while away the hours doing something close to nothing but getting in trouble anyway.