1 9 7 9 – 1 9 8 0 (Canada/West Germany)
26 x 60 minute episodes
Arguably the best screen adaptation of Mark Twain’s stories, this Canadian/West German production starred Ian Tracey as Huck Finn and Sammy Snyders as Tom Sawyer. The young actors are both superb, and the supporting cast is of the same stellar quality.
Huckleberry Finn and His Friends does a tremendous job of adapting Twain’s stories into a cohesive and logical narrative, and the beautiful Canadian location filming and haunting musical soundtrack add to the period authenticity.
For a children’s series, some episodes are unusually dark and gritty, particularly those involving Injun Joe (Alex Diakun) and the scenes where an entire family is wiped out in a violent gun battle while Huck can only look on and watch.
Huckleberry Finn
Ian Tracey
Tom Sawyer
Sammy Snyders
Aunt Polly
Brigitte Horney
Sid
Bernie Coulson
Jim
Blu Mankuma
Constable
Gunnar Möller
Judge Thatcher
Barney O’Sullivan
Aunt Sally
Dinah Hinz
Injun Joe
Alex Diakun
Joe Harper
Dale Walters
Becky Thatcher
Holly Findlay
Pard
John Curtis
Ben Rogers
Brad Sakiyama
Widow Douglas
Lillian Carlson
Miss Watson
Cathryn Johnston
