Tom Sawyer (1973)

Academy Awards, USA 1974

Nominated Oscar	Best Costume Design Donfeld
	Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation Richard M. Sherman Robert B. Sherman John Williams
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Philip M. Jefferies Robert De Vestel

United Artists
Directed by Don Taylor
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Tired musical "adaptation" of Mark Twain, with Johnny Whitaker playing the free-spirited boy in Hannibal, Missouri. When Tom and his best friend Huck witness a murder in a graveyard, they go on the run. Their raft gets hit by a river boat and they end up on an island where they can live free from all the restrictions they despise. However, Tom gets homesick for his Aunt Polly and the two make a surprise visit to their own funeral. The final showdown with a crazed Indian killer takes place in a cave. This might have worked better as just a plain old drama, I can't remember a single song. Filmed on location in Missouri, but still somehow seems contrived and far away from the Mark Twain original.