Tom Sawyers und Huckleberry Finns Abenteuer (1968) User Reviews (6)

Capturing the true spirit of Mark Twain

[Rascar-Capac · 8/10 · 20 January 2008]

From the mid-Sixties to the end of the Seventies a cooperation of German and french TV producers led to the adaption of several children classics and adventure tales. The mastermind behind these little epics was scriptwriter and supervisor Walter Ulbrich. The charming „Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn" is a fine example of Ulrichs achievements. It was an overwhelming success at it's time and still manages to please the audience. One of the main reasons why this mini-series works so well may be it's old-fashioned way of storytelling. During each episode the voice of a narrator introduces us to the world of Tom and Huck, tells us about the background of several side-characters and leads us through the emotional troubles of our young heroes. This way the spirit of Mark Twains Novels is perfectly captured and transfered to the screen. Whereas other adaptations tend to omit the not-so-adventurous parts of the story, here we follow the authors portray of a young boy captured in the ups and downs of puberty. Listening to Twains ironic phrases, we discover Toms hometown being a place where the respected authorities always teach god fearing and Christian moral values while at the same time no one objects slavery.

The film was shot in Romania, with the delta of the Danube doubling in for the Mississippi. Though the film had a fairly large budget at it's time, the adult audience will notice some shortcomings like a hand painted background at aunt Polly's house or night-scenes which are all-to-obvious shot on clear day. On the other hand Wolfgang Liebeneiners direction is well-paced and nearly all the characters are exceptionally well cast, especially Tom (Roland Demongeot), Huck (Marc di Napoli) and the main villain Indian Joe (Jacques Bilodeau).

A classic, but dated

[nitratestock35 · 7/10 · 27 March 2007]

I saw this four part mini series a few times during the early 1970s in my native Germany. The first time still on a black-and-white TV set.

I remember being all excited about it and knowing that it was not a US production (even though it took place in the US), but still I loved every minute of it since it was about distant places, memories and adventures - so far away from the day-to-day life in Central Europe back then.

Watching it now it seems rather dated. The low budget shows, filming took place in Romania at the river Donau, sets are rather small (Aunt Polly's house has - poorly - painted backgrounds) and even though done with love care and craftsmaship, the only existing river steam boat (standing in for a few) is a boat dressed up to look vintage American a "side wheeler" as known to experts. Exhaust steam coming from underneath the paddle boxes where no paddle wheels are seen (because there are no): wrong! - it would come out of steam pipes that run along with the twin funnels.

Also: the German language version sounds really dated by now. There is an old fashioned "1930s Berlin low life backyard language" used by Tom Sawyer's voice and the Narrator somehow sounds too "preachy" and "patronizing" (wherweas Huck Finn sounds too educated)- perhaps that already was evident back when the movie first was aired - even though a quite a lot of dialog has been lifted~literally out of the German issues of the Mark Twain stories.

Still a classic - to be treasured - that brings back fond memories to people who were children back then, but it definitely is dated by now.

Very enjoyable

[JB-9 · 14 March 2002]

I saw this as a kid when it came out first. It was the closest to the Book.The fact that it was dubbed didn't take from it. I have not seen it since and wonder would I still feel the same. I would recommend this to anybody

very human touch and natural acting

[kfkdb · 10/10 · 20 April 2005]

In Germany it was screened in four parts in the pre-Christmas season. I would not miss one minute of it. An excellent cooperation of the different TV-companies. The participation of actors from different European countries makes a good change from the US-productions. Even as a grown up I have video-taped it as a sweet memory for a close-to-the-book filming, convincing acting by the actors of Tom and Huck and the funny comments the narrator makes. Their acting was totally realistic, natural and not at all exaggerated, except for the part of Becky. They children-cast capture all what is important at such age in a small town. Worth watching for persons of all ages.

All in all an okay watch for the young (at heart) that is maybe a bit too long for its own good

[Horst_In_Translation · 5/10 · 28 October 2017]

"Les aventures de Tom Sawyer" or "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is a co-production between Romania, West Germany and France that was shown first on television back in 1968, so this one has its 50th anniversary soon and I guess they went with the French title here because most of the actors in here are from France. This mini-series consists of 4 episodes and each of them has a runtime of 85 minutes approximately, which means that you can watch the entire thing in under 6 hours. If you have the patience, that is. It is a mini-series that I would not call well-known here in Germany, but it isn't totally forgotten either. The characters of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have names that really most Germans have definitely heard of already, also because there have been more recent films about these two rascals featuring some really well-known actors like Benno Fürmann. He plays Indianer-Joe, the main antagonist in this series here too.

But while he is a decent enemy for the two boys, he was also overused with how powerful he is and nobody dares to hang him and with how often he appears out of nowhere really posing a threat to Tom and Huck. This is a bit of a shame as the idea of the two watching Joe commit a horrible crime and framing somebody else for it wasn't too bad. I also liked the idea of them not running to the sheriff, but caring for their own safety and keeping their mouths shut. Initially, of course. That's why I believe the first episode was among the best the quadrology had to offer. Afterward, the film lost itself in recurring Indianer-Joe references that become repetitive quickly and the Becky Thatcher baby love story was so irrelevant it was among the film's biggest weaknesses actually. How Tom is trapped in a cove with her and everybody's thinking he is dead is a poor man's version of Tom and Huck fleeing to the island early on. By the way I must say I found the Huck character much more interesting and initially underused than Tom, who is a bit of a lookalike of Benji Gregory from ALF. That's why I was really glad that the 4th and final chapter had him at the very center of it all and there also was a new prime antagonist in Huck's father, which was a really nice addition. Negro Jim (have to censor here or IMDb won't let me submit the review) was an okay addition too. And I also really liked the authentic take of the last installment that this was not a forced feel-good happy reunion father-son story, but that Huck found a father figure in somebody else he really didn't think he would, also with some racist remarks by him earlier that were just the rule back then.

I am a bit surprised that IMDb does not list this as a western film. The town totally looks like a typical western town and one main character is called an Indian. Maybe because with how American the film was that there is absolutely nothing American in the production. It was shot in Romania with French actors as a German television production. Says it all right? Doesn't get more European than that. Anyway, I think overall this had its ups and downs and it is tough to make a definite choice whether to recommend the watch or not. Maybe you want to check out the first 1.5 hours and then decide for yourself. But be aware that things go south very quickly at that point and stay there for a while. The 4th episode is one that you can also watch without having seen the previous 3 as it almost feels like a sequel. As a whole, I give a very cautious thumbs-up I guess. Check it out if you like the Lederstrumpferzählungen for example too.

A terrific series- one of the best ever!

[dwerith · 8 June 2007]

I first saw this series in the UK during the Summer of 1973, and it was on each day in the morning. It was first shown here weekly, in the evenings of 1970 Summer. It was translated and retitled into 11 episodes, totally different to the 2 original films first shown in Europe. I sadly missed a couple of early episodes. The series was terrific, laced and spiced with wit, humour, romance, and excitement. The most interesting and suspenseful scary bits were the doctor's murder, and towards the end with the old house and coffin, the dark windy night, and Injun Joe in the McDougals' Caves. It has never been shown on UK TV since it's final weekly repeat in late 1974, to my knowledge. I never knew at first it was not an American Film! I wish they would show it again here, or release the English Version here on DVD. The music is lovely too. David