Good concept, poorly executed.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I just watched this movie on Turner Classic Movies and I really enjoyed it. I don't know how closely it follows the book, as I haven't read this book, just "Tom Sawyer", but I find the movie to be a great family movie. It was fun watching Huck get out of one scrape just in time to get into another. He was always on the run, along with the Widow Douglas' slave, Jim. It made think back to my boyhood days and honestly, it made my boyhood adventures look dull. The plot hearkens back to a time when life was simple and offered more freedom to boys then today's world does. I'm not sure the movie is entirely realistic, but that's quite all right with me. The acting was well done, the colour quality was great for 1960, and the whole plot flowed quite smoothly. I didn't quite understand the ending, which I won't spoil for you. If you like tales of boyhood adventure from an America the world will never see again, you have to see Huck Finn. And it's got some of the greatest actors of the day in it as well. What more can you ask for.10/10

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the movie, has been criticized for various reasons. Many believe that in making the movie humorous and enjoyable for audience, it dissolves Mark Twain's message about slavery and twists the plot line of the book. In my opinion, this is a great movie that kept me laughing, crying, and on the edge of my seat. It is true that this movie is very different than the book. For example, in the book, Huck never becomes a cabin boy, and the Kind and the Duke never try to kill Huck. These differences, however, kept me wondering what would happen next. The ending was unpredictable, and that made the movie interesting. Mark Twain's message about the moral injustices of slavery is very prominent in the book, but not so prominent in the movie. This movie, however, was intended for entertainment purposes. If you have read this book, you will enjoy the movie. If you haven't read the book, you will also enjoy the movie, but keep in mind that it is nothing like the book. There has been much controversy about the portrayal of Jim and how it denigrates blacks. I do not agree. Jim is actually very smart, and he has another side that he doesn't let Huck see. For example, Jim knows all along that Huck's father was dead, but he cared about Huck enough to not tell him. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a great movie. I recommend it to all audiences!

Michael Curtiz should have been thoroughly ashamed of himself when he was finished with this production. I can understand why directors will shorten or paraphrase certain adaptations from well-known literature, but to make wholesale changes in an American masterpiece is unforgivable. Huge and important parts of the novel were totally absent, or switched around and added to other parts of the movie that made it incomprehensible. Eddie Hodges (and Archie Moore) were terrible choices for the two main characters. Aside from never coming even close to a realistic dialect from that time and locale, neither actor were truly up to the task. There were some bright spots, though - notably Mickey Shaughnessy and Tony Randall (but even these were wasted.) Overall, a very poor effort and a waste of any true film buff's time. It leaves a very bad taste in one's mouth. Twain deserves better. If you want to see a better version, check out the 1939 version with Mickey Rooney.

I had the pleasure of watching the final scene of this film being shot back in 1959. I was six years old and witnessing this began my lifelong love for the movies. When the film arrived in our city, I was struck by Jerome Morross' incredible music score, which completely captured the sense of adventure, wonder and beauty of life on the Mississippi River and rural Missouri. The film itself is robust, dramatic and filled with Mark Twain's colorful, classic words. The cast is perfect and Michael Curtiz' direction keeps the action flowing. This is a wonderful film for all ages.