Huckleberry Finn (1931)

Jackie Coogan (Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid), Mitzi Green, and Junior Durkin star in this underseen 1931 film version of Mark Twain’s classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Tom Sawyer’s (Coogan) puppy love of Becky Thatcher (Green) keeps him home, while Huck Finn (Durkin), sick of “civilizing” influences like school and shoes, plans to run away. Tom and Jim (Clarence Muse, Hearts in Dixie) help him escape, and all three raft down the Mississippi, where they’re joined by two likable con men and meet pretty orphans Ella and Mary Jane (Charlotte Henry, Alice in Wonderland). The latter may change Huck’s mind about girls! Directed by Norman Taurog (Boys Town, G.I. Blues), this cheerful adaptation was made as a follow-up to Paramount’s Tom Sawyer, which had been released a year earlier with the same main cast and became the top-grossing film of 1930.