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Huckleberry Finn

1931, Movie, NR, 79 mins

Huckleberry Finn: Review

Mark Twain must have lived many of the incidents in his Missouri books, as they seem so authentic it is difficult to believe that he dreamed them up. HUCKLEBERRY FINN has been re-made countless times and ripped off even more. Here, even though Coogan is top-lined, it is Durkin who steals the show as the lovable Finn in this sequel to TOM SAWYER, which came out shortly before it. In that film Coogan, Durkin, Searl, and Green costarred. In this film Green and Searl are seen just briefly in the first reel or so, then disappear in order to allow the remainder of the story to progress. Blandick and Darwell take young Durkin under their wings in the hopes of civilizing him but he rebels. His father, Richmond, arrives and wants some of the money that Durkin had in his name. Durkin flees rather than face the wrath of his "pap" and goes down the river with Muse, an escaped slave. They run into river rats Pallette and Apfel, and have them climb aboard. Later, both men attempt to pull off a con that doesn't work. When Durkin turns up missing, Muse is accused of having done the boy in, but Durkin later races back to save Muse from a lynching and finally agrees to allow Blandick and Darwell to raise him properly. A good version of the Twain classic but not as effective as the one MGM did eight years later, in which Blandick reprised her role as Aunt Polly. Charlotte Henry was delightful as Mary Jane and it was this performance that probably got her the title role two years hence in Paramount's all-star version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND. leave a comment