I feel so luck to have caught this rare film at CINEFEST the annual early & rare film festival in Syracuse, NY - March 2003. More film buffs should support these festivals and share their discoveries on the IMDB so other film fans can track these old titles down.
TOM SAWYER (1930, Paramount, D: John Cromwell) Was utterly charming, telling the story from Jackie Coogan's (Tom Sawyer) point of view and the now older `Kid' Coogan was perfectly cast. Junior Duncan (Huck Finn) was also a natural, an ironic side note is that Duncan would die only five years later in a car crash. Killed along with Duncan was Coogan's Father who was driving the car! Virtual gold mine Mitzi Green, played an innocent Becky Thatcher and stole ever scene she graced. It was fun to see Clara Blandick best known for her WIZARD OF OZ "Auntie Em" playing Aunt Polly. Where as Jackie Searl was so annoying as Sid Sawyer we didn't blame Tom for all the tricks he played on him. Rarer than the Technicolor, Selznick remake it was a big enough hit to warrant a sequel HUCKLEBERRY FINN. A perfect Depression-era film focusing on Mark Twain's fading golden age image of American small-town life, wistful and lazy, laced with homespun humor.
TOM SAWYER (1930, Paramount, D: John Cromwell) Was utterly charming, telling the story from Jackie Coogan's (Tom Sawyer) point of view and the now older `Kid' Coogan was perfectly cast. Junior Duncan (Huck Finn) was also a natural, an ironic side note is that Duncan would die only five years later in a car crash. Killed along with Duncan was Coogan's Father who was driving the car! Virtual gold mine Mitzi Green, played an innocent Becky Thatcher and stole ever scene she graced. It was fun to see Clara Blandick best known for her WIZARD OF OZ "Auntie Em" playing Aunt Polly. Where as Jackie Searl was so annoying as Sid Sawyer we didn't blame Tom for all the tricks he played on him. Rarer than the Technicolor, Selznick remake it was a big enough hit to warrant a sequel HUCKLEBERRY FINN. A perfect Depression-era film focusing on Mark Twain's fading golden age image of American small-town life, wistful and lazy, laced with homespun humor.