Huckleberry Finn (1974 film)


Huckleberry Finn is a 1974 musical film version of Mark Twain's 1884 novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
The movie was produced by Reader's Digest and Arthur P. Jacobs and directed by J. Lee Thompson. It stars Jeff East as Huckleberry Finn and Paul Winfield as Jim. The film contains original music and songs, such as "Freedom" and "Cairo, Illinois", by the Sherman Brothers: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman.
This film followed the previous year's highly successful Tom Sawyer, based on Twain's 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, also produced and written by the same team and starring East in the role of Huckleberry Finn.

Synopsis

Huckleberry Finn is a boy from Missouri living with a kindly widow and her sister who has taken him in. One day his father, previously thought dead, shows up because he heard of treasure Huck had found. Huck's father essentially kidnaps the boy, wanting $1,000 for his safe return. Staging his own death, Huck escapes and meets up with the kindly slave Jim. Together they travel downriver, in search of Jim's freedom.

Cast

Like Tom Sawyer, the film was shot in Arrow Rock and Lupus, Missouri. It was also shot in Natchez, Mississippi.

Setbacks in the film's production

The 1974 movie faced numerous setbacks in production. There was the sudden death of producer Arthur Jacobs halfway through the shoot. Director J. Lee Thompson had problems with the synchronized musical direction. The third major problem was the unfortunate timing of writer Robert B. Sherman's knee operation.
Without a producer, the film crew had difficulties managing the actors. Roberta Flack sang "Freedom" but insisted on having a guitar backing to her recording. She later threatened to sue if the original cast album was released with a dominant orchestral backing, and so although the album was recorded and printed, it was never released.
Despite these setbacks, the film still achieved some success and some of the film's songs, including "Freedom", are still considered classics.

Songs

The songs and score were written by the Sherman Brothers.
  1. "Freedom". Sung by Roberta Flack.
  2. "Someday, Honey Darlin'". Sung by Paul Winfield.
  3. "Rotten Luck". Sung by Gary Merrill.
  4. "Cairo, Illinois". Sung by Jeff East and Paul Winfield.
  5. "A Rose In A Bible".
  6. "Royalty!". Sung by Harvey Korman and David Wayne.
  7. "The Royal Nonesuch". Sung by Harvey Korman.
  8. "What's Right, What's Wrong?" Sung by Jeff East.
  9. "Into His Hands". Sung by Harvey Korman.