If the 21st century could be given a motto, it should be, “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” It’s disturbing to see how many stories which were once beloved classics are being removed from curricula, pulled from libraries, and generally cancelled because they don’t follow the current agenda. As a result, an entire generation is missing the experience of enjoying and learning from these great old works. Whether a book, a film, or a stage work, art from the past is a time capsule to a long dead age, helping us to understand how mankind’s nature never truly changes.
Today’s Moment of Movie Wisdom is from “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from 1939. In this scene, Huck Finn (Mickey Rooney) talks to Captain Brandy (Minor Watson) about his moral conflict regarding slavery and abolition. Huck dislikes abolitionists as a loyal Southerner, but his friendship with runaway slave Jim (Rex Ingram) has shaken his stance on slavery. As the fair-minded riverboat captain assures the boy that abolitionists aren’t evil, he reveals that he is one himself. He then quotes a fellow abolitionist who lives in Illinois, describing the future President Abraham Lincoln. This scene shows that equality and justice are eternal principles which mustn’t be lost beneath the customs of the day.
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” stars 18-year-old Mickey Rooney as the title character. As usual, the film starts when the young troublemaker is living with spinster sisters Widow Douglass (Elisabeth Risdon) and Miss Watson (Clara Blandick). Despite their attempts to “civilize” him, Huck prefers smoking his pipe and going barefoot to dressing properly and going to school. One day, Huck’s drunken father (Victor Kilian) shows up to claim Huck and his inheritance from his mother unless the sisters pay him $800. Knowing they can’t afford the bribe, Huck fakes his own murder so he can escape his father’s shack.
The Scene
In the later part of the film, the King and the Duke are posing as the estranged uncles of two bereaved sisters (Lynne Carver and Jo Ann Sayers) so they can steal their inheritance. Acting as their valet, Huck is horrified by their greedy scheme, so he goes to the sisters’ family friend, Captain Brandy. He tells the captain that the men are shysters and implores him to arrest them, but he is reluctant to involve the authorities because the two crooks are blackmailing him.Eventually, Huck admits that the phony royalty threatened to turn in his friend, Jim, a runaway slave. He expects Brandy to think he’s “lowdown” for helping a slave, but the captain surprises him by commending his actions. Huck doesn’t want to be characterized as an abolitionist, but Captain Brandy argues that many abolitionists are fine people, revealing that he himself is one.
Seeing that Huck is beginning to accept the idea that abolitionists aren’t “lowdown and dirty,” Captain Brandy says that he wishes he could meet some of them. As an example, he quotes some thoughts on the injustice of slavery from a friend in Illinois. “Suppose it is true that the Negro is inferior to the white in the gifts of God. Is it not the exact reverse of justice that the white should take from the Negro any part of the little which he has?” This makes sense to Huck, and he asks if the man who said this is a nice sort of fellow. Brandy answers that he’s “a fine sort of fellow. He’s a lawyer up there. His name is Lincoln, Abe Lincoln.”
Its Significance
Mark Twain’s quintessential Southern tale of antebellum youth has been as distinctly American as apple pie since he wrote it in 1884. Tragically, both “Huckleberry Finn” and its 1876 predecessor, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” have been banned by many public schools recently because of their “racist” (realistic) depictions of relations between white and black folks in the Old South. Some of these same people have started labeling Abraham Lincoln a racist because some of his comments and speeches about abolishing slavery included statements about the perceived inferiority of the black race.This scene was invented by the screenwriters, since it wasn’t featured in the book. The original novel doesn’t include a clear statement from Huck or any of the other characters against slavery, as in the 1939 movie. The statement from Abraham Lincoln which Captain Brandy quotes appears to be a movie invention, although it sounds like something he could have said. Nevertheless, it’s a dramatic moment when the captain refers to the future 16th president, who would have then been a simple lawyer with simple ideas about freedom.
Understanding the Times
People are a product of their times, and that includes politicians and writers. Mark Twain didn’t concoct this prejudiced society out of his imagination; the society and views he depicted were accurate to the era in which he grew up. The same is true of President Lincoln. However, people today get so caught up in the antebellum semantics that they miss the whole point and end up villainizing advocates of freedom and equality.How many votes would Abraham Lincoln have received if his campaign slogan had been, “Votes for Negros! Legalize Miscegenation”? Not many, I warrant. By speaking in the terms of his day, Abraham Lincoln was able to end slavery in the United States. Similarly, Mark Twain created a powerful story about man’s innate value, regardless of race.
The 1939 movie emphasized this point more, because black people had gained more rights by the late 1930s. One has to understand historical figures’ times, as well as our own.
