The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)

Fun adaptation of Mark Twain's classic novel with ideal casting of Mickey Rooney as Huck Finn. It's the story of an adventurous boy who sails down the Mississippi with his friend Jim, a runaway slave. Your kids might enjoy it if you're lucky enough to have kids who can appreciate older films or smart enough to understand the period in which the story takes place. Even if you don't have kids who fit that description, I'd say it's still worth trying to get them to watch it with you there to answer any questions they may have. The film obviously has some subject matter that kids (and a lot of adults) today may be oversensitive to. I'm speaking primarily of the character Jim, played brilliantly here by Rex Ingram. This part of the story is watered down from the novel but still people will grouse about it anyway. It's not surprising considering some have been trying to get the book banned from schools for decades now and have sadly been successful in some of our more politically militant indoctrination centers. Some fans of the book won't like that some changes have been made. It's not a perfect adaptation, for sure, but it's the best of any that I've seen.

Even though 14-year-old Huckleberry Finn stole, smoked, lied, cursed and was lazier than an old possum, he was still a likable sort of rascal who was always full of bull and yarns and home-spun advice for all of his gullible friends, and the likes.Released in 1939 - The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn would the first of 4 screen adaptations that energetically tackled Mark Twain's novel (written in 1884) of the same name.Set in the year 1835 (where the action takes place in Missouri, along the Mississippi River), this decidedly average MGM production was still an entertaining and good-natured tale that I think was probably best suited for the enjoyment of a much younger audience than myself.Though far from being faithful to the novel (where the racism was toned-down considerably), The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn starred the young, gung-ho actor, Mickey Rooney (who was 19 at the time) as the title character.Full of pep and energy, Rooney (like the rest of the cast) put in a sincere and believable performance which certainly helped to keep the story fresh and relatively interesting.This picture's story focuses in on Huck's raft trip down the Mississippi, accompanied by Jim, a negro slave running away from being sold. Together these 2 strike a bond of friendship as they inevitably find themselves led through some harrowing events and hair-raising adventures.

Victor Kilian is a superbly terrifying Pap. The rest of the cast excellent. All the quibbling about not following the book is pointless. No movie follows any book verbatim its impossible. This is an excellent adaptation of the book with a no -holds barred examination of the shameful horror that was slavery in the U.S. Mickey Rooney is perfectly cast as Huck. He was also perfectly cast as Puck a few years earlier. The director Rickie Thorpe is a veteran of the Tarzan movies and handles the action sequences and mighty Mississippi parts very adeptly.Mickey Rooney is perfectly cast as Huck. He was also perfectly cast as Puck

fr muffinheuer: >...Mickey Rooney simply stated is the best actor that has ever lived...< Um, no, he isn't. There are many others who far outshine him, but just because MGM kept partnering him in the "hey kids, let's put on a show!" movies, he just kept going. A far better kid actor was Freddie Bartholomew, who left movies when it was right to do so. Rooney just kept being in the same type of movie, and they got very dated very quickly.He was good in "Captains Courageous" as Dan, and as Homer in "The Human Comedy" and somewhat fair in "It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world", but overall, just average. Now that he spouts the studio line on Judy Garland and the way the studio got her addicted to drugs, he's just a former kid star who didn't age well.