Movie Review: Tom Sawyer (1973)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Charming take on a literary classic

Cons: Songs only okay, slow start

The Bottom Line:

Singing, dancing Tom

The songs sure could be better

But movie is fun

Faithful Musical Retelling of a Twain Classic

I recently heard about this little film for the first time, and I just had to see it. Mark Twain's classic Tom Sawyer reimagined as a musical? While I am not a huge fan of the original novel, I like it well enough. And I always enjoy a good musical. I had to give it a try.

My desire only grew when I discovered that the songs had been written by the Sherman Brothers. They wrote many songs for Disney in the 60's and 70's, but are best known for writing the songs for Disney's Mary Poppins. Additionally, the movie was scored by John Williams. Yes, that John Williams. So with anticipation high, I sat down to enjoy.

Anyone familiar with the source material will recognize the story. Orphaned Tom Sawyer (Johnny Whitaker) is a young boy growing up in 1840's Hannibal, Missouri. An orphan, he's being raised by his Aunt Polly (Celeste Holm). And he is quite the handful. He regularly plays hooky to fish and swim with best pal Huckleberry Finn (Jeff East). He constantly lies to get out of trouble, too.

Through this movie, we watch as Tom struggles with his conscience after witnessing a murder in the cemetery. He tricks the boys in town to white washing the fence for him. And he develops a crush on new girl Becky Thatcher (a young Jodie Foster). But will Injun Joe (Kunu Hank) get his sworn revenge on the boy?

I'll admit it took me a while to get into the movie. Why is that? Because it starts very slowly. There hardly seems a point to anything for quite a while. But considering that is my biggest complaint with the book, too, I'm not that surprised.

Once it got going, I began to really get into it. Using great costumes and sets, it brings the period to life. And there's something fun about spending time with Tom. I would hate to have to raise him, but watching him trick others into painting that fence or sharing a carefree day or two with Huck has a certain appeal to it.

As I got into the story, I found the acting improved as well. I wasn't quite on board at first with Johnny Whitaker and Jeff East, but when they actually had a story to act about, they were quite good. Jodie Foster doesn't have as much screen time as the other two kids, but she certainly stands out from the get go. But the actor that impressed me the most was Kunu Hank. He is downright creepy as Injun Joe. I wouldn't want to cross him.

Which leaves us with the songs. I'm disappointed to say they are almost immediately forgettable. A few of the songs are fun, like "Man's Gotta Be (What He Was Born to be)" and "Freebootin'," but they aren't catchy. I didn't find any of them stuck in my head afterward. With the exception of the "River Theme," I enjoyed them at the time. But I would rather rewatch the film for the fun adventures and characters then the songs. Most of the time, I love the songs as much as anything else in a musical. The majority of the songs are short and incidental, not the major show stoppers of most musical.

Tom Sawyer has an innocence and charm to it that I really did enjoy. While not perfect, there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half.