Watch Tom Sawyer For Free

Very Cool!!!

Thanks for the memories!

A Masterpiece!

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Young Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn enjoy the free days of youth in this 1973 film adaptation of the classic Mark Twain story "Tom Sawyer." With their stories and lives of the two boys blending in together so much, it's hard to tell where one starts and the other leaves off. They both live in the same slow easy days, which are also fresh with rascally trouble and bristling with uncouth characters. Tom Sawyer lives with an Aunt played by Celeste Holm and her two children. The boy does not like him and continually sets up booby traps for Tom when he sneaks in his room late for supper, but the daughter thinks the world of him. On one of their many hikes, Tom and Huck witness a scuffle that leads to murder. And Tom has a love interest in the form of a new girl, played by Jodie Foster. But all this takes a back seat to the adventurous and easy-going spirits of the boys and the wonderful music score and songs by the Sherman brothers. The performances by Johnnie Whitaker as Tom and Jeff East as Huck are very natural (Jeff East was particularly memorable) and a lot of recognizable faces make up the colorful supporting cast. A true highlight of the film is Charley Pride's song about being young and free, sung at the beginning and end of the film. I looked into buying the cd. But it was way too expensive, being a very rare find. If you love musicals and the imagination of Mark Twain, then you need to find this right away and while away the hours doing something close to nothing but getting in trouble anyway.

A wide-eyed, whitewashed version of Mark Twain's Mississippi classic "Tom Sawyer", unsuccessfully transformed into a musical. The adaptation begins by showing off its high production values; and, the cast and crew feature many capable professionals; however, they do not add up to anything of substantial merit. The first clue something is terribly wrong occurs when Celeste Holm (as Aunt Polly) sings "Tom Sawyer!"; the crude, uncouth boy she sings about doesn't really describe the part Johnny Whitaker is playing.The musical numbers are predicable (It's called "Gratification"!) and, sometimes, atrocious. The obvious exception is the outstanding soundtrack song "River Theme", sung by Charley Pride, who does not appear. The filmmakers would have been wise to include some more accomplished singers in the cast.Little leading lady Jodie Foster (as Becky Thatcher) and Whitaker are good in their "first meeting" scene. Character actor Henry Jones (as Mr. Dobbins) is always a pleasure. Mr. Whitaker and Jeff East (as Huckleberry Finn) are the actual co-stars; and, their "Freebootin'" is a relative highlight. Very likable, but ill cast, Mr. East would return in his character's sequel "Huckleberry Finn" (1974). **** Tom Sawyer (3/14/73) Don Taylor ~ Johnny Whitaker, Jeff East, Jodie Foster, Celeste Holm

Mark Twain's timeless story turned into a wholesome, plastic-coated musical with cutesy-poo asides and unmemorable songs. Composers Richard and Robert Sherman also adapted the screenplay, but they don't have the feel of Twain's prose down (or perhaps the book is singularly impossible to adequately get on film?). Johnny Whitaker, a fine child actor of the 1970s, tries his best as young Tom Sawyer, a hell-raisin', tall tale-tellin' ragamuffin in 1840s Hannibal, Missouri; Whitaker isn't a singer (not many in the cast are), yet these songs would likely trip anybody up. Instantly forgettable, the lead-in for each tune takes an excruciating four or five seconds of hesitation, as if this were an old musical from the 1940s. Despite real Missouri locations, there isn't much here that rings true. Not Celeste Holm's Aunt Polly (who punishes Tom and then smiles wistfully at his antics, ready to burst into song), nor Warren Oates as whiskey-swillin' Muff Potter. Jeff East is sorely miscast as Tom's best friend, drop-out Huckleberry Finn (East appears to have wandered in from the nearest citified casting agency), although Jodie Foster is nearly-perfect as girlfriend Becky Thatcher (it probably helped that Foster and Whitaker had already made a picture together, 1972's "Napoleon and Samantha", as they have a built-in rapport which is immediately apparent). The 1800s milieu--from the schoolhouse to the riverboat landing to the picnic grounds--is distinctly artificial, rendering the end results a misfire in a sub-Disney vein. Reader's Digest financed the project (they followed this with a sequel, "Huckleberry Finn", in 1974), and were nearly trumped by a TV-version of Twain's book which aired the same week this movie premiered! *1/2 from ****

I saw this one in the theater when it was released and still love it! This is the perfect example of a "Classic Family Movie". The harshest word you hear is "damn". The performances are wonderful to watch from the entire cast (Jodie Foster may be the weakest of them all, but just my opinion), the music fits beautifully (thanks to the Sherman brothers) and the settings make me feel the era. An enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon. And to the reviewer who commented on Celeste Holm's "attempt" to sing - check her resume, my friend. Everyone who knows her work (see "High Society" or the 1965 version of "Cinderella", or just listen to the Original Broadway Cast recording of "Oklahoma!") knows she CAN!