Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Huckleberry Finn Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 29, 2019

Note: This film is available as part of Tom Sawyer / Huckleberry Finn.

Was Arthur P. Jacobs a masochist, or at least a glutton for punishment? Jacobs didn’t have a ton of credits as a producer, but he did have a couple of sizable hits in vastly different genres with both What a Way to Go! in 1964 and Planet of the Apes in 1968. However, in between those two smashes Jacobs made the perhaps unfortunate choice to produce one of the biggest behemoth flops of the decade, the musical version of Doctor Dolittle, which came out in 1967 and threatened to erase all of the profits 20th Century Fox was still amassing from The Sound of Music. Jacobs may have been stung from the experience, since by all accounts there were frequently bouts of chaos during both pre-production and the actual shoot, and once the film opened, things went from bad to worse. That said, Jacobs must have subscribed to the “pick yourself up and dust yourself off” adage, because a mere two years later he was back with another musicalized version of a classic British tome, the 1969 version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips, which, while less costly and troublesome than Doctor Dolittle, was another pretty spectacular flop at the box office. (It might be noted in passing that Jacobs had a kind of annus horribilis in 1969, since his non- musical The Chairman didn’t exactly have hordes lined up at the ticket booth begging to get into a showing.) Some producers may have stopped at those two musical strike outs, but Jacobs persevered, and in fact as the seventies got underway Jacobs reportedly entered into a multi-picture deal with the Sherman Brothers, who had of course become household names initially courtesy of their long association with Walt Disney and such classics as Mary Poppins. Kind of interestingly, Jacobs had had Leslie Bricusse write both the screenplay and music and lyrics for Doctor Dolittle, but by the time Goodbye, Mr. Chips rolled around, had consigned Bricusse solely to composing and lyric writing duties, with Terence Rattigan handling the screenplay. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn returned to the Doctor Dolittle model, with the Sherman Brothers providing both screenplay and song score for both pictures.

In a way it’s kind of surprising to see Richard Sherman quoted as saying “Our film is not everything it could have been” in the insert booklet of this release with regard to Huckleberry Finn, since this follow up to the previous year’s Tom Sawyer at least has some semblance of authenticity vis a vis one element of its historical epoch. Without trying to make light of an obviously very serious subject, that iconic fence in Tom Sawyer may not be the only thing some viewers may feel was whitewashed in that film, since there’s a virtual absence of any black performers (and the few who are in the film are consigned to bits), and there's a similar virtual absence of any reference whatsoever to that “pesky little problem” of slavery. Tom Sawyer is in fact a rather lighthearted romp for the most part, that completely avoids what is probably the unavoidable subtext of Huckleberry Finn — the yearning of every man (and woman and child) to be free.

Huckleberry Finn does in fact begin with an anthem called "Freedom", sung by Roberta Flack (who reportedly got into some feud with the film's creative staff which prevented the tune from being released as a single), which plays to no doubt intentionally ironic imagery of slaves heading out to do a day's work. And of course fans of Mark Twain's source novel will no doubt know that a great deal of Twain's story dealt with Huck (Jeff East, reprising his performance as Huck in Tom Sawyer) and runaway slave Jim (a really moving Paul Winfield). The film version certainly doesn't shirk from the subtext here, but there's also a holdover from the decidedly lighter (in more ways than one) Tom Sawyer, with Huckleberry Finn darting off into purely comedic sidebars, many having to do with the "twin scoundrels" The Duke (David Wayne) and The King (Harvey Korman).

If Tom Sawyer was perceived as being the more "successful" adaptation of the two Twain musicals, I'd argue that Huckleberry Finn at least has the ambitions of being more resolutely Twain-ian, at least in terms of offering a somewhat darker (in more ways than one) assessment of some of the issues of its era. Sherman was probably correct in his assessment, for the film never totally "goes there" in its indictment of the vagaries of the way some groups have been (mis)treated throughout history, but Huckleberry Finn has a more elegiac and melancholic tone than its predecessor.

Huckleberry Finn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Huckleberry Finn is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.34:1. This presentation doesn't have quite the luster of Tom Sawyer, and it shows considerably more age related wear and tear than its predecessor, with a number of white flecks and other speckling present. As I mentioned in the Tom Sawyer Blu-ray review, something that struck me about both presentations was the heavier grain in several of the riverside scenes, and that can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review. The entire transfer is definitely on the soft side, but it almost looks like diffusion filters may have been used at times. Some of the most brightly lit environments, as in the big production duet between The Duke and The King, offer a nicely warm palette.

Huckleberry Finn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unlike Tom Sawyer, which had three audio options in addition to its isolated score, Huckleberry Finn boasts only a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. The track isn't overly directional, but the musical moments have some breadth and are presented with excellent fidelity. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout the audio presentation.

Huckleberry Finn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:11)

Huckleberry Finn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's simply no way any reasonable adaptation of Huckleberry Finn could have offered the same generally carefree tone that Tom Sawyer did, and in that regard I have to say I think this film does at least an adequate job in addressing some of its subtextual issues, something that is helped along by a very impressive performance from Paul Winfield as Jim. Gary Merrill, Harvey Korman and David Wayne seem to be in some kind of competition to see who can chew the most scenery the fastest (with Arthur O'Connell not far behind), which can make for some kind of odd juxtapositions. This presentation offers slightly less pleasing video and only stereo audio, for those who are considering a purchase.