While an anticipated film adaptation of a classic American novel is being released this week to generally unfavorable reviews, I decided to check out this version of another often filmed, beloved work. This early, 1939 filmization of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a bastardized, Cliffs Notes rendition of Mark Twain's classic that omits much, and gets very little right, including entirely missing the spirit of the story. Mickey Rooney, who would seem ideal for the role, comes across as stilted, but does receive good support of Rex Ingram as Jim and William Frawley and Walter Connolly who are amusing as the Duke and the Dauphin.
