Tom Sawyer (1973)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Great Film overall

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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.

A wide-eyed, whitewashed version of Mark Twain's Mississippi classic "Tom Sawyer", unsuccessfully transformed into a musical. The adaptation begins by showing off its high production values; and, the cast and crew feature many capable professionals; however, they do not add up to anything of substantial merit. The first clue something is terribly wrong occurs when Celeste Holm (as Aunt Polly) sings "Tom Sawyer!"; the crude, uncouth boy she sings about doesn't really describe the part Johnny Whitaker is playing.The musical numbers are predicable (It's called "Gratification"!) and, sometimes, atrocious. The obvious exception is the outstanding soundtrack song "River Theme", sung by Charley Pride, who does not appear. The filmmakers would have been wise to include some more accomplished singers in the cast.Little leading lady Jodie Foster (as Becky Thatcher) and Whitaker are good in their "first meeting" scene. Character actor Henry Jones (as Mr. Dobbins) is always a pleasure. Mr. Whitaker and Jeff East (as Huckleberry Finn) are the actual co-stars; and, their "Freebootin'" is a relative highlight. Very likable, but ill cast, Mr. East would return in his character's sequel "Huckleberry Finn" (1974). **** Tom Sawyer (3/14/73) Don Taylor ~ Johnny Whitaker, Jeff East, Jodie Foster, Celeste Holm

Mark Twain's timeless story turned into a wholesome, plastic-coated musical with cutesy-poo asides and unmemorable songs. Composers Richard and Robert Sherman also adapted the screenplay, but they don't have the feel of Twain's prose down (or perhaps the book is singularly impossible to adequately get on film?). Johnny Whitaker, a fine child actor of the 1970s, tries his best as young Tom Sawyer, a hell-raisin', tall tale-tellin' ragamuffin in 1840s Hannibal, Missouri; Whitaker isn't a singer (not many in the cast are), yet these songs would likely trip anybody up. Instantly forgettable, the lead-in for each tune takes an excruciating four or five seconds of hesitation, as if this were an old musical from the 1940s. Despite real Missouri locations, there isn't much here that rings true. Not Celeste Holm's Aunt Polly (who punishes Tom and then smiles wistfully at his antics, ready to burst into song), nor Warren Oates as whiskey-swillin' Muff Potter. Jeff East is sorely miscast as Tom's best friend, drop-out Huckleberry Finn (East appears to have wandered in from the nearest citified casting agency), although Jodie Foster is nearly-perfect as girlfriend Becky Thatcher (it probably helped that Foster and Whitaker had already made a picture together, 1972's "Napoleon and Samantha", as they have a built-in rapport which is immediately apparent). The 1800s milieu--from the schoolhouse to the riverboat landing to the picnic grounds--is distinctly artificial, rendering the end results a misfire in a sub-Disney vein. Reader's Digest financed the project (they followed this with a sequel, "Huckleberry Finn", in 1974), and were nearly trumped by a TV-version of Twain's book which aired the same week this movie premiered! *1/2 from ****

This was a show well worth seeing. Johnnie Whitaker gives a sweet and charming performance and the legendary Celeste Holm is wonderful as always, portraying the exasperated yet loving Aunt Polly. From the wonderful songs, that, unlike most musicals, help to move the story along, to the realistic setting(it was filmed on location), to the excellent and talented cast, this movie is a charming little glimpse into the life of one one America's greatest characters and the insight into the talented author that created him.