TWAIN-L Archives

Mark Twain Forum

TWAIN-L@YORKU.CA

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 6 Apr 1998 00:08:26 -0400
Content-Type:
TEXT/PLAIN
Parts/Attachments:
TEXT/PLAIN (24 lines)
Oh, it's Clean as a steamwhistle in River City, er, Hannibal, Mo.
That's capital "C" which rimes with "T" which stands for Tom, Tom
Sawyer that is.

And the clean Tom I mean is the Tom of _The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer_ (1973), the Universal Pictures version starring Vic Morrow
as Injun Joe, Buddy Epsen as Muffed potter,  etc. in a 76 minute
deluxe-boxed videotape issued last year by Goodtimes video.  I
found it at my local K-Mart for ten bucks, and others may seek to
do likewise.

Tis hard to believe this little ditty--would have been truer to
Twain if the original text were a short story instead of a novel--
was produeced in the '70s.  Everything about it reads Ike AGe or
earlier, from the _Music Man_  soundtrack to the Andy Griffith
cornball dialuge.  The visuals, reportadly filmed in "a 19th
century Canadian village that closely resembles Hannibal" (?), may
be the best part of the production.  Still, completists,
collectors, and those seeking bleached white family fare will rush
to the bins and track this one down.  Others may wish Injun Joe had
got his hands on the young whippersnapper in time to preclude any
possible sequels.  Ah well, Lily Tomlin is probably right--It's
hard to be a good cynic anymore.  It's impossible to keep up.

ATOM RSS1 RSS2