Tom Sawyer is a 1930

1930 in film

-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...

 American

Cinema of the United States

The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by John Cromwell

John Cromwell (director)

Elwood Dager Cromwell , known as John Cromwell, was an American film actor, director and producer.-Biography:...

. The screenplay by Grover Jones

Grover Jones

Grover Jones was an American screenwriter and film director. He wrote more than 104 films between 1920 and his death...

, William Slavens McNutt

William Slavens McNutt

William Slavens McNutt , was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 28 films between 1922 and 1939. He was nominated for an Academy Award on two separate occasions. At the 1932 awards he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story for Lady and Gent...

, and Sam Mintz is based on the 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the Town of "St...

by Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

.

The film was the third screen adaptation of the Twain novel, following silent versions released in 1907 and 1917. It was made on location at the Paramount Ranch in Agoura, California

Agoura, California

Agoura is an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, which is located southeast of the city of Agoura Hills, California, adjacent to the city of Calabasas in Los Angeles County. Agoura was the historical name of the area, before much of the area was developed and before the incorporation of the...

.

The film grossed $11 million and was the top box office attraction of the year. Its success prompted the studio to release Huckleberry Finn, directed by Norman Taurog

Norman Taurog

Norman Rae Taurog was an American film director, and screenwriter.Between 1920 and 1968, Taurog directed over 140 films, and directed Elvis Presley in more movies than any other director...

 and starring most of the Tom Sawyer cast, the following year.

Plot

After arguing with his sweetheart, Becky Thatcher, Tom Sawyer

Tom Sawyer

Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...

 seeks solace from his friend Huck Finn, who tells him about a mysterious cure for warts that requires them to visit the local cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 at midnight. While there they witness a murder committed by Injun Joe, who convinces Muff Potter, who also was there but in an inebriated state, that he is guilty of the crime. Tom and Huck promise each other they will not divulge what they have seen.

When Tom is caught lying about stealing his half-brother Sid's crabapples, his Aunt Polly punishes him by making him whitewash the fence on a Saturday morning. The boy leads his friends to believe he is enjoying the task, and before long they are giving him their treasures in exchange for the privilege of joining in the fun.

Together with Huck and Joe Harper, Tom runs away from home to become a pirate. The three set off on a raft to Jacksons Island in the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, where they remain for three days. Upon returning home, Tom discovers it was thought the three had drowned, and the boys attend their own funeral service at the church.

At Muff Potter's trial, Tom admits the truth about the murder, but Injun Joe manages to escape. While attending the school picnic near a cavern, Tom and Becky decide to explore it and get lost. As they try to find their way out, they stumble upon Injun Joe and a chest of gold. While angrily pursuing the two children, he falls into a crevasse and is killed. Huck finds Tom and Becky and leads them to safety, together with the treasure.

Cast

• Jackie Coogan
  Jackie Coogan
  John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...
  
   ..... Tom Sawyer
  Tom Sawyer
  Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
  
  
• Junior Durkin
  Junior Durkin
  Junior Durkin, born Trent Bernard Durkin , was an American film actor from New York, New York. Durkin began his acting career in theater while a child. He entered films in 1930, and played the role of Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer , and Huckleberry Finn...
  
   ..... Huckleberry Finn
  Huckleberry Finn
  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic Mark Twain novel.Huckleberry Finn may also refer to:*Huckleberry Finn , a fictional character in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
  
  
• Mitzi Green
  Mitzi Green
  Mitzi Green was an American child actress for Paramount and RKO, in the early talkie era...
  
   ..... Becky Thatcher
• Tully Marshall
  Tully Marshall
  William Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
  
   ..... Muff Potter
• Clara Blandick
  Clara Blandick
  Clara Blandick was an American actress. Her many film appearances include the role of Auntie Em in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:She was born Clara Dickey, the daughter of Isaac B...
  
   ..... Aunt Polly
• Ethel Wales
  Ethel Wales
  Ethel Wales was a Passaic, New Jersey-born American actress, who appeared in 130 films between the years 1920 and 1950. She had one son named Wellington Charles Wales.- Selected filmography :* Miss Lulu Bett * Manslaughter...
  
   ...... Mrs. Harper
• Dick Winslow ..... Joe Harper
• Jane Darwell ..... Widow Douglas
• Charles Stevens
  Charles Stevens (actor)
  Charles Stevens was an American actor.The grandson of Geronimo, Stevens appeared in nearly 200 films between 1915 and 1961...
  
   ..... Injun Joe
• Lon Poff ..... Judge Thatcher
• Jackie Searl
  Jackie Searl
  Jackie Searl was an American child actor who began performing on a local Los Angeles radio at the age of three...
  
   ..... Sid

Critical reception

Mordaunt Hall

Mordaunt Hall

Mordaunt Hall was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for The New York Times, from October 1924 to September 1934....

 of the New York Times said of the film, "It is an extraordinarily faithful conception of the book, and while there are of necessity certain omissions and other parts that receive but scant attention, the main incidents are included in a detailed fashion. It is wonderfully interesting to see Mark Twain's characters come to the talking screen, for if there are minor discrepancies, they are unimportant . . . Jackie Coogan's Tom Sawyer is excellent . . . In fact, the whole cast is unusually competent. Mr. Cromwell's direction is imaginative and restrained. The result is that this picture is one of the few that can be seen with appreciation and enjoyment, even immediately after reading the book over again."

However, this version was eventually superseded only a few years laterin by David O. Selznick

David O. Selznick

David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...

's 1938 Technicolor remake

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938 film)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a 1938 American drama film directed by Norman Taurog. The screenplay by John V.A. Weaver was based on the classic 1876 novel by Mark Twain.-Plot:...

 of the novel, which, true to Selznick's legendary fastidiousness, boasted not only better performances but a far more cinematic style than the fixed-camera early talkie look of the original. The cave sequence in the 1938 is noted for being one of the most terrifying sequences in a family motion picture, with Becky Thatcher (Ann Gillis

Ann Gillis

Ann Gillis , sometimes credited as Anne Gillis or Ann Gilles, is a retired actress, starting her career in the early 1930s as a child actress and ending in 1947. She later came back into acting for a small part in 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968...

) toppling over into hysteria after the death of Injun Joe (Victor Jory

Victor Jory

Victor Jory was a Canadian actor.-Biography:Born in Dawson City, Yukon, Jory was the boxing and wrestling champion of the Coast Guard during his military service, and he kept his burly physique. He toured with theater troupes and appeared on Broadway, before making his Hollywood debut in 1930...

).