Mocidade Feliz

Who hasn't heard of Huckleberry Finn and his barefoot adventures on a raft down the river? There have been a multitude of movie versions about him as well as a TV series at one point and it seems that the constant depictions of him throughout the decades rival those of Ebenezer Scrooge.

It's a tiring tale from the Ol' South which propelled me to look further back to see how the earliest depictions were. I watched this flick tonight and as primitive and dated as it was, I found a certain charm towards the whole thing.

The title character was played by Junior Durkin and he was indeed the true star of this ancient flick, but he never received top billing. That honor went to Jackie Coogan who was a major star back then which wouldn't have made it acceptable if he had been placed into a secondary role with a limited screen appearance.

No, he was thrown right in there as a major showcase even though it showed that he wasn't really necessary. Huck & Jim could've pretty well carried the whole flick themselves.

The homeless and uneducated Huck is thrust into the care of the dear Widow Douglas and her uptight sister and adapting to being clean and civilized doesn't suit him too well. He constantly craves to escape all that and head on "down the river" but the kindness and compassion showed towards him by the Widow Douglas causes him to continue tolerating it. He evidently liked and cared about her too and it showed.

Well, Huck's alcoholic and arrogant father enters the picture and he wants to cash in on the situation his son was now in. He even forcibly kidnaps the boy and makes him prisoner in an old shack.

Well, Tom Sawyer and Jim come to the rescue and they all ultimately end up rafting down the river to escape everything and to fall into the pretend world of being "pirates". It's quite noticeable too how Jim was depicted as a subservient African American man who's only purpose was to try and always please the "white folks". A racist depiction from that long ago era.

There are "villains" who enter the story and who pretend to be "nobles" to fool the boys and Jim into catering to them and making sure they got the VIP treatment. It's a ruse that caused the boys to feel obligated in making sure that royalty were fed so they head out to score food in one town.

I did enjoy this antique version of Mark Twain's famous iconic character, but felt that Junior Durkin should've been given the star billing he deserved in this film. He gave a great performance and clearly showed the talented qualities he had for being an actor.

Jackie Coogan just seemed to be "in the way" of it all, most especially when it was obvious the story was focused on Huck and not Tom Sawyer. That was one of the major peeves.

Yeah, Trent Junior Durkin was a rising star back then who had his chance to shine in the early 1930s. But whose life was tragically cut short in a car accident in 1935. What would his Hollywood have been like if he lived to an old age? Well, chances are he might've hit legendary status along with such classic icons as Mickey Rooney. Then again, when he got older and was no longer a fresh face in Hollywood, he might've hit a decline in his career.

He might've been reduced to minor roles in films and would 've later surfaced as a guest star on "The Love Boat" in the 1970s and later on "Fantasy Island". Who knows what could've been, but from what I saw in this film tonight, he was indeed a very talented young man. The potential was there, but sadly, he didn't have the chance to fulfill that due to his early death.