I loved TOM SAWYER and it's great songs and score wonderfully conducted and adapted by John Williams. Felt the follow up HUCKLEBERRY FINN paled greatly in comparison. I think if it had as good as score as TOM SAWYER it could have been great. Jeff East was in his young prime. Only found One good song in the HUCK score and that was "What's right? What's wrong?" performed by East.
Wonder why the Sherman's dropped the ball so badly on HUCK FINN?
Would love to see a New Broadway Production with the Sherman's Songs and Score and Williams adaptation. I think it's time and the music really is Awesome!
Also still would love a Complete Songs and Williams underscore cues released on CD of TOM SAWYER.
Just exuberant brilliant stuff!
Here's the Audio from the opening right from the Film with the extended Williams score arrangement, not on the Soundtrack LP or CD Released. Just love it!
For me this song "What's right, what's Wrong" from the Sherman Bros. HUCK FINN score was the only song that had any kind of passion at all in the whole score:
It was Huck's great song, like Johnny Whitaker in TOM SAWYER had "How Come?"
The only other song in the HUCKLEBERRY FINN score I can say I like even a little, is their HUCKLEBERRY FINN song and it's pretty simplistic and not that great. But it is the only other song that has any kind of catchiness, be it ever so slight.
Here it is played at the End Credits followed by "Cairo Airo, Illinois" which doesn't come close to TOM SAWYER'S rousing "Hannibal MO" and "Freebootin". A shame:
Both movies were produced by Arthur P. Jacobs of PLANET OF THE APES fame.
TOM SAWYER was directed by Don Taylor who also directed Jacobs production of ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES and HUCKLEBERRY FINN was directed by J. Lee Thompson who directed CONQUEST OF and BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES for Arthur P. Jacobs. I believe Jacobs died of a heart attack during the filming of HUCKLEBERRY FINN.
John Williams who adapted and conducted the TOM SAWYER Score also conducted and supervised Arthur P. Jacobs Production of GOODBYE MR. CHIPS.
Would have been cool, since Williams adapted and conducted TOM SAWYER, if Jerry Goldsmith would have adapted and conducted HUCKLEBERRY FINN since he and Jacobs had a relationship on the Original APES and ESCAPE. That could have been totally cool.
In the Disney Documentary THE BOYS, about the Sherman Bros. John Williams appears with Richard and Robert Sherman, sitting at the piano with Richard and playing "Gratifaction" and joking and having fun together during the production of TOM SAWYER. I just saw the short clip when watching THE BOYS a few nights ago. Williams is sporting his longest more reddish hair look and looks much like one of his son's. Great but really fast stuff. They looked like great collaborators. The Laser Disc Release of TOM SAWYER is said to have more rehearsal footage of John Williams and the Sherman Bros. working together. It's very Rare and hard to find. Would love to see it!
Can't figure out how to capture a DVD Frame and the programs I downloaded didn't work, so I reflected through a mirror these images of the Brothers working with John Williams on TOM SAWYER. Sorry I'm so inept.
The Sherman's talking and playing through GRATIFACTION trying different phrases:
John Williams playing GRATIFACTION with The Brothers:
Wonder why the Sherman's dropped the ball so badly on HUCK FINN?
It wasn't until producer Arthur P. Jacobs was in the middle of shooting TOM SAWYER (during the summer of 1972) that he decided to make another musical of the Mark Twain characters. HUCKLEBERRY FINN premiered just one year after TOM SAWYER. As a result, the Sherman brothers took just six months to write and score HUCKLEBERRY FINN as opposed to the four years of preparations that went into TOM SAWYER.
Shooting on HUCKLEBERRY FINN began just a month after the opening of TOM SAWYER. Originally, musical arranger Irwin Kostal was set to supervise, arrange, and conduct the soundtrack. But in October 1973, with the production nearly complete, Fred Werner was signed to perform those tasks.
