April 2, 1993 – The Adventures of Huck Finn is Released to Theaters
“Oh, sure, there’s a few stretches here and there, but then I never met anybody who didn’t lie a little when the situation suited him.”
On April 2, 1993, the movie The Adventures of Huck Finn was released to theaters. Based on the best-selling and controversial book by Mark Twain, the film was adapted and directed by Stephen Sommers, and stars Elijah Wood as Huck, Courtney B. Vance as Jim, Robbie Coltrane as The Duke, and Jason Robards as The King. Although the film is good family fare, it does cut out major plot points of the book, including scenes where Tom Sawyer is supposed to appear.
The movie opens with our main character, Huck Finn, getting punched in the face. A fight has ensued between the Huck and another student on the bank of the river, with the other students watching and cheering. After taking a few punches, Huck begins to fight back, giving the other boy a nosebleed. Just as Huck is about to lay the final blow, he notices a strange footprint in the sand. Believing it to belong to his father, he runs alongside the bank of the river and enters the cabin of a slave name Jim, who is able to tell the future. “Pap’s back,” Huck says, and asks Jim to tell him his future, and how long his father plans on staying. Jim’s advice to Huck overall is to run away for a while, and Huck decides that he needs to disappear, permanently.
Huck is caught sneaking back in the house by the Widow Douglass (L) and Miss Watson (R)
Huck returns to the home of the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, who have taken Huck in and raised him to be a gentleman. After being subjected to the “torture” of being dressed up, Huck sneaks out to play with his friends. When he returns, he finds his father waiting for him back in his room. His father kidnaps him from the widow’s house, and takes him to a small cabin up the river. His father has found out that Huck was left $600 in his mother’s will, and decides that Huck has to die so he can collect the money. A chase ensues, with the drunken man trying to kill Huck with a knife, but when Huck grabs his father’s shotgun, the two remain at a stalemate until morning. When Huck’s father heads to town for supplies, Huck decides to leave once and for all, faking his own death with the help of a wild boar he killed.
Huck decides to head to Jacksons Island, but is alarmed to find Jim there. Jim tells Huck that everyone thinks Huck has been killed by a robber. He also tells Huck that he has become a runaway slave, as a slave trader has offered $800 for him and he was going to be sold by Miss Watson, his owner. Jim has decided to travel to the free states to earn money for his family. Huck, with no other options, decides to help Jim. The first thing Huck does is travel to a house and steal food from a kindly woman, who informs him that everyone thinks Jim has killed Huck and run away. Huck and Jim skedaddle down the Mississippi river to Cairo. Upon finding a wanted poster with Jim’s picture on it, the two decide it will be safest to travel only at night.
Jim tries to explain how wrong slavery is to Huck, but Huck doesn't understand, as it goes against everything he knows
The two find an abandoned ship on the rocks one stormy night, and decide to use it as shelter. As Huck goes down into the ship, he stumbles upon a robbery taking place, just as Jim discovers the corpse of Huck’s father. Huck gets caught as the ship begins to take on water, but manages to escape just in time with Jim. They discover the thieves’ boat on the river and take it. The next morning, Jim asks Huck if he would still help him escape to Cairo, even if his father was dead, but when Huck replies that he would head back home, Jim keeps the news of Huck’s father’s death a secret. Later that night, Jim excitedly declares that he is close to freedom and earning money to buy his wife and children. He adds that if his family won’t be sold to him, he’ll just steal them. Huck is alarmed by this talk, but Jim argues that it’s his family. “Selling people and using them for slaves ain’t right, Huck,” Jim explains, but Huck argues that it’s the way it is and has always been. Jim tries to explain that all men should be free, but Huck clings to the old ways, and decides that he needs to turn Jim in.
Jim catches on to Huck’s plan, although Huck believes he’s doing the right thing, and going to hell if he helps to set Jim free. While Huck paddles away to get “help,” Jim decides to leave Huck and set out on his own. Fortunately for Jim, Huck changes his mind and lies about who is on the boat, with Jim watching with pride, and rejoins the boy. Later that night, the raft is destroyed by a riverboat, and Huck and Jim get separated. Huck is found and brought into the Grangerford house, where the women of the house clean him up. Huck sees that they found Jim and have him chained up as their new slave. The son of the Grangerford house explains to Huck that they have a feud with the Shepherdson house, and Huck finds himself involved. Although Jim wishes to continue to Cairo, Huck is reluctant, as he wants to stay with the Grangerfords. After seeing the welts on Jim’s back from the overseer’s whip, Huck feels remorse about stopping Jim’s journey, and decides that the two should set off again. Unfortunately, the feud has reached a boiling point, and Huck arrives in time to see his friend Billy, one of the last Grangerfords, get gunned down. Jim finds Huck grieving over Billy’s body, and they set off again.
The Duke (L) and The King, threatening Huck as the con begins to unravel
The two discover they’d passed Cairo by forty miles, and decide to catch a steamboat to take them back upriver. They then find themselves entertaining two con men, known as The Duke and The King. The two see the wanted poster for Jim, and blackmail Huck and Jim into waiting on them hand and foot. The two then stage a con to collect on the will of a man, which disgusts Huck and Jim. The con men are planning on going “all the way” with this con, stealing everything from the women of the house. Another man in the village, Dr. Robinson, has his suspicions about the conmen, but the family is too involved in conmen’s lie to listen to him. Huck decides to find Jim and leave. Unfortunately, the two men had turned Jim in for the reward. Huck decides to help him escape, until Jim finally tells the truth about Huck’s father. Jim is sorry at Huck’s reaction, and resigns himself to his fate.
As the con grows, Huck finds that he cannot participate any longer. He decides to steal the gold from the men and escape, with the intention of writing a letter to the lady of the house, Mary Jane, to let he know where he hid the treasure. He ends up stuffing the gold in the coffin, and the next day, he informs Mary Jane of the fraudulent brothers. Huck comes up with a plan to make things right, and begins to set the plan in motion. The con is uncovered when the real brothers come into town to claim their inheritance. The mob decides to dig up the grave to see who is telling the truth about being related to the late Peter Wilkes. Huck uses this moment to steal the sheriff’s keys and help Jim escape, and the two make their way to the steamboat.
Huck recovers in bed while Jim tells him that he is now a free man
Unfortunately, as the two head toward the steamboat, the mob begins to shoot at Huck and Jim, and Huck is hit in the back with a bullet. They near the steamboat, but Huck can’t run any further with his injury. Huck urges Jim to run, but Jim gives up his chance for freedom to save Huck. Jim is taken by the mob and is set to be lynched, while Huck lies on the ground, helpless. Just as all seems lost, Mary Jane arrives on the scene, demanding that Jim and Huck be let go. Huck’s injury is treated, and he wakes up in the Wilkes house, seeing Widow Douglass by his side. Jim shows up, letting Huck know that he and his family have become free, due to the stipulations in Miss Watson’s will. Although Huck is happy, isn’t thrilled to be taken back to be civilized again. In the final scenes of the film, Huckleberry takes off to the call of the steamboat.
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