From the banjo strains of the movie's first frames, this film has some wonderful moments.
Though I was an English major at college, I've never read the Mark Twain classic, so I enjoyed getting the Cliff Notes version in this buddy film with Mickey Rooney as Huck and Rex Ingram as his slave friend, Jim.
The movie is marred by some stereotypes, beginning with Huck's officious schoolteacher, who rants against his fraternizing with "raftmen and other worthless people." (Were these the deplorables of their day?)
Rooney excels as free-spirit Huck, who loves his liberty as much as Jim craves his. Huck may have a pre-diagnosable case of ADHD, but his conscience guides him well.
I hadn't expected the strong anti-slavery theme of this story. Jim is a most sympathetic character, willing to risk everything to flee to a free state and his wife and son. Huck evolves from a knee-jerk supporter of slavery -- "You belong to Mrs. Douglas. God intended you to be a slave" -- to a fearless defier of a truly scary lynch mob.
The movie bogs down in the shenanigans of the King and Duke -- c'mon, no one's interested in Huck's playing Juliet -- but the friendship story redeems such flaws.
Glad I saw this paean to freedom. Yep, "no human bein's got the right to own another human bein'."
Though I was an English major at college, I've never read the Mark Twain classic, so I enjoyed getting the Cliff Notes version in this buddy film with Mickey Rooney as Huck and Rex Ingram as his slave friend, Jim.
The movie is marred by some stereotypes, beginning with Huck's officious schoolteacher, who rants against his fraternizing with "raftmen and other worthless people." (Were these the deplorables of their day?)
Rooney excels as free-spirit Huck, who loves his liberty as much as Jim craves his. Huck may have a pre-diagnosable case of ADHD, but his conscience guides him well.
I hadn't expected the strong anti-slavery theme of this story. Jim is a most sympathetic character, willing to risk everything to flee to a free state and his wife and son. Huck evolves from a knee-jerk supporter of slavery -- "You belong to Mrs. Douglas. God intended you to be a slave" -- to a fearless defier of a truly scary lynch mob.
The movie bogs down in the shenanigans of the King and Duke -- c'mon, no one's interested in Huck's playing Juliet -- but the friendship story redeems such flaws.
Glad I saw this paean to freedom. Yep, "no human bein's got the right to own another human bein'."