Huckleberry Finn (1974)

Set in Missouri, a boy (Jeff East) is adopted by a widow (Lucille Benson) and her sister (Ruby Leftwich) after his abusive father (Gary Merrill) is presumed dead. But when the father turns up alive, the boy joins a runaway slave (Paul Winfield) in going downriver on a raft to Illinois. Based on the classic novel by Mark Twain and directed by J. Lee Thompson (CAPE FEAR). A real dud! This musical adaptation of Twain's novel with songs by Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman (MARY POPPINS) is a chore to sit through. The songs are just awful and with one exception, the majority of the performances are inconsistent, either too broad or too flat. The one exception is Paul Winfield who brings some dignity to Jim, the runaway slave. I'm not particularly a fan of the Twain novel but it deserves a better movie than this. Granted there have been some dozen or more film, TV and stage adaptations including another musical version BIG RIVER, a 1985 Broadway musical which won some 7 Tonys (which I've not seen) but it has to be better than this. With Harvey Korman, David Wayne, Natalie Trundy, Arthur O'Connell and Odessa Cleveland.