Karry
Best movie of this year hands down!
Vashirdfel
Simply A Masterpiece
Stevecorp
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Intcatinfo
A Masterpiece!
bkoganbing
Johnny Whitaker late of A Family Affair and Jeff East star as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in a musical adaption of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. I think Twain might have liked this one.This is one story that when filmed is rarely deviated from. I guess it's too well known and lovers of Mark Twain wouldn't stand for it.Whitaker and East play the mischievous adolescents from Hannibal, Missouri who are just contributing to everyone's delinquency. Huckleberry Finn seems incorrigible since all he wants to do is fish and swim. And Celeste Holm playing Tom Sawyer's Aunt Polly who is raising Tom with two of her own kids and the widow is just mighty put out by them.Among the grownup population is Warren Oates who is a perfect fit for Muff Potter, Tom and Huck's best friend and whose raffish ways they admire. Truth be told Oates is a lowdown character who earns an extra drinking dollar or three as a graverobber for Dr. Richard Eastham.When Eastham is stabbed to death on one of those grave robbing expeditions Oates is arrested and that sets in motion the main plot of Twain's story.The Shermans wrote a serviceable score for Tom Sawyer. Of course it's nothing like the score they wrote for Mary Poppins. They were nominated for the overall musical score though no individual songs were recognized. Tom Sawyer also got Oscar nominations for Costume Design and Film Editing.The story has been good family reading and viewing for more than a century and this film is no exception.
callie-5
I saw this one in the theater when it was released and still love it! This is the perfect example of a "Classic Family Movie". The harshest word you hear is "damn". The performances are wonderful to watch from the entire cast (Jodie Foster may be the weakest of them all, but just my opinion), the music fits beautifully (thanks to the Sherman brothers) and the settings make me feel the era. An enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon. And to the reviewer who commented on Celeste Holm's "attempt" to sing - check her resume, my friend. Everyone who knows her work (see "High Society" or the 1965 version of "Cinderella", or just listen to the Original Broadway Cast recording of "Oklahoma!") knows she CAN!
jonarmyguy
Having grown up in Missouri only an hour from Hannibal,it is gratifying to see the authentic locations that really capture the setting, and terrific portrayals from a great cast really create the spirit of Twain's book.I first saw this film when my grandparents took me to it long ago but I still can relive the joy of my childhood and "freebootin". I always imagined myself as a sort of Tom Sawyer from watching this(I secretly wanted to be him).....the film still deeply effects me......The cave sequence was actually filmed in Merramac Caverns cave, and I also believe Onondaga Cave in Missouri...it might be worth your time to visit them if you are visiting the state of Missouri....
RodReels-2
The music is mediocre at best, and Johnnie Whitaker doesn't come anywhere near to suggesting Tom Sawyer. This one is fun just to see a ten-year-old Jodie Foster as Tom's girl Becky Thatcher and to hear Warren Oates and Celeste Holm attempt to sing. But for fans of the original novel, the 1938 Selznick version is still hard to beat.
