THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER (1938)

Independent producer David O. Selznick must have been using this Mark Twain adaptation as run-up to next year’s GONE WITH THE WIND mega-pic: similar era, TechniColor; Max Steiner score; antebellum South atmosphere; and nearly the same production staff, including über designer William Cameron Menzies, stretching artistic muscle on the impressive Cave Sequence. Considering its disappointing cast of kids (Tommy Kelly’s Tom Sawyer particularly weak), there’s really not much wrong with it. Yet it’s almost entirely unsatisfying, missing the rhythm of life on the Mississippi and substituting Hollywood whimsy for Twain’s tone of naughty delight when things go wrong only to turn out right; with the famous incidents tucked in rather than developed. Not that other attempts have fared much better, including one from 1930 quickly followed by the same cast’s HUCKLEBERRY FINN/’31 under this film’s director Norman Taurog. (Something of a kid specialist, his big hit this year was M-G-M’s maudlin BOYS TOWN.) But what makes this still worth a look is the delicate use of early TechniColor by cinematographer James Wong Howe, taking advantage of a production fluke that had him filming on sets designed for a scuttled b&w shoot, lending an earth-toned backdrop to the colorful costumes while he darkened coverage as much as possible, especially in the truly frightening cave sequence. (So good, even the acting improves.) Stellar work that naturally led to Howe being blackballed by TechniColor for over a decade.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: The restored picture element in the Kino Lorber edition remains uneven, with too many out-of-register 3-Strip TechniColor shots creating a halo-effect. But when it’s good (and thankfully most of it is), it’s very good.