Unseen Treasures from the George Eastman House: Huckleberry Finn (1920)

The Andy Warhol Museum continues its partnership with the world-renowned photograph and motion picture archives, the George Eastman House, to bring rarely shown silent and early sound masterpieces from its extensive collection exclusively to Pittsburgh. All films will be shown in recently restored 35mm prints courtesy of the George Eastman House.

William Desmond Taylor (1872 -1922), known today more from Hollywood Babylon than from his films, had directed Tom Sawyer in 1917 and The Further Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1918 so he was the logical choice to direct the first film adaptation of Mark Twain’s American classic Huckleberry Finn. The film follows Huck’s adventures with the runaway slave, Jim, on the Mississippi River, where the film was shot so as to be as faithful to the novel as possible. Upon its release in February of 1920, Huckleberry Finn was both a critical and commercial hit.

Tonight’s film will be shown in a recently restored 35mm print courtesy of the George Eastman House with live musical accompaniment composed and performed by Daryl Fleming.

70min. Directed by William Desmond Taylor. With Lewis Sargent, Katherine Griffith, Gordon Griffith, Thelma Salter, George Reed, Orral Humphrey, and Edythe Chapman.

Additional Information

This film is part of the Unseen Treasures from the George Eastman House Series