# Tom Sawyer added to the League **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2004, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733 "2004-01-30T09:19:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/1 "2004-01-30T09:19:48Z")
I just learned that the character of Tom Sawyer was added to the movie version of _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_ because of fear that the movie would be uninteresting to American viewers if there were no American characters. Two questions leap to mind. 1. Do Americans actually care that there are no American characters, to the point of not going to a movie they would otherwise? 2. The kind of American that does care enough… how to put this politely… does he know that Allan Quatermain, Hawley Griffin, Dorian Gray, Mina Harker, Nemo and dr Jekyll aren’t American? ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/2 "2004-01-30T10:57:51Z")
Well, don’t all of those characters “tawk funnee”? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/3 "2004-01-30T12:38:12Z")
Well, this is hardly the first time American characters have been added to adapted films when no American character appeared in the source material, i.e. _The Bridge on the River Kwai_. Even when depicting real-life events, Americans cast themselves in leading roles though there may be no historical reason to do so, i.e. _The Great Escape_. There’s an underlying assumption that Americans won’t see an action/adventure movie that lacks a major American character or actor, which I personally doubt. Interestingly, though, a half-assed attempt to respect history was made for _Tobruk_ (1967), starring Rock Hudson. The setting of the movie (North Africa, 1942) didn’t really have a historically valid place for an American, so they made his character Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/4 "2004-01-30T14:20:40Z")
The LOEG movie appears to have been the result of the worst botch job in history, where they threw away everything that was interesting about the comic and made a poorly-done action movie with what was left, so we shouldn’t be surprised at the additional idiocy of adding an American character “because American audiences want to have an American character.” Basically, the producers seem to have been the worst kind of Hollywood yahoos. It occurs to me that somehow “Frankenstein” was a good horror movie without an American; “She” was a good adventure movie without an American; “Cold Comfort Farm” was a good comedy without an American; so I suspect that good movies can be made without American characters… Hmmmm. I sound a little bitter. Yes, yes, I am; because that piece of garbage prevented a proper movie about the LOEG from being made. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/5 "2004-01-30T15:16:40Z")
Don’t forget that some say it’s not even the “real” Tom Sawyer, since the character is too young in relation to when the Twain novels are set. They also note that he is only called “Mr. Sawyer” in the film, although he is called “Tom” in one of the deleted scenes included on the DVD. I think they are giving too much credit for playing coy to filmmakers who managed to screw up damn near everything else when trying to adapt the comic. As for adding an American character, I can see doing it when trying to line up a big star who can’t or won’t do a decent foreign accent, just a tradeoff that’s part of deal making for films. But since Sawyer wasn’t played by a well known American actor, my WAG is someone (the producers?, the director?, Connery?) wanted a known character for Quatermain to have that stupid father/son style bonding subplot with. Just another thing they got wrong. And we Americans keep going to see movies about the Arthurian legend (there’s yet another one coming this summer) and non-American characters like Robin Hood (no matter how bad or slippery the accent, right Kevin Costner?), so I don’t think the argument has as much merit as film producers may think. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/6 "2004-01-30T15:31:40Z")
I wouldn’t have minded Tom Sawyer’s inclusion if there were anything Tom-Sawyerish about him (maybe a reference to his friend back home, Marshal Finn, or foiling the villian in an elaborate whitewashing scheme _L_). I haven’t yet read the LOEG books & I’m still disappointed in the movie (I will say, if one blocks out any knowledge about the books, it’s not an awful movie. Just like Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes- that would have been a much better movie if it had been called Simian World or anything but PotA.) ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/7 "2004-01-30T16:27:05Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I wouldn’t have minded Tom Sawyer’s inclusion if there were anything Tom-Sawyerish about him (maybe a reference to his friend back home, Marshal Finn, or foiling the villian in an elaborate whitewashing scheme _L_). **Widdershins** didn’t also note (from the [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311429/trivia)): > [@](#): > > A scene was cut from the film where Sawyer explains that him and his friend, Agent Huck Finn, were tracking down the Fantom, and that the Fantom killed Huck. Those explaining why Sawyer is so intent on getting the Fantom. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/8 "2004-01-30T16:27:27Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I wouldn’t have minded Tom Sawyer’s inclusion if there were anything Tom-Sawyerish about him (maybe a reference to his friend back home, Marshal Finn, or foiling the villian in an elaborate whitewashing scheme _L_). In one of the deleted scenes, Sawyer talks about a childhood friend, another Secret Service agent who was killed by the bad guy. I of course assumed it was Huck, but I would definitely have appreciated some other references to his earlier escapades–if you’re going to go to the trouble of adding a character, why not go whole hog? ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/9 "2004-01-30T17:43:00Z")
> [@AmbushBug](#): > > **Widdershins** didn’t also note (from the [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311429/trivia)): Oh good lord. And here I thought there wasn’t going to be a way for the movie to become -more- cheesy. I was an avid reader of the comics when they came out. When I heard a -movie- was comming out, I almost cheered. Got all my friends excited about it. As it drew nearer and I saw clips etc., I started getting less and less excited. As I ended up saying to one of my buddies after seeing it opening night, “I so wanted to love this movie. I really really did. Now I just want to pretend it never happened.” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/10 "2004-01-30T19:50:31Z")
It seems to me that having Sean Connery would be enough of a draw for that movie. What bugged me was not that Tom was added, but that the plot revolved around him and the movie was about America taking over saving the world from tired old UK. And I’m an American! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/11 "2004-01-31T01:12:54Z")
I’m always annoyed when they introduce the Gratuitous American into movies (it’s not a “Token American”, because he’s usually given the juiciest part). It’s clearly the roducers doing it because they’re afraid Americans won’t watch if Americans aren’t at the center of it. I was annoyed that the SciFi channel’s adaptation of **Riverworld** got rid of Sir Richard Burton – a truly fascinating historical character – and substituted some random “Shuttle Astronaut”. It wasn’t until years after I aw **The Great Escape** that I read the book and learned that, although there _were_ Americans at Stalag Luft III, and they _were_ important, none of them were ultimately actually in the big break, because the Germans had taken them all out of the compound to their own camp (the Germans, accordin to author Paul Brickhill, hoped that the Americans and British would fight with each other. In th midle of Germany?)And Americans weren’t in the position of chief scrounger or designated re-capturee and motorcyce stunt squad. And let’s not talk about **U-571**. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/12 "2004-01-31T01:59:28Z")
The inclusion of Tom Sawyer actually convinced me _not_ to see the movie. I’m an American, and I love Mark Twain. I also really enjoyed the comic _League_. I couldn’t stand to watch a movie that managed to do a hatchet job on both Alan Moore and Twain. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/13 "2004-01-31T03:58:14Z")
I’ve not seen either the comic or the movie, so I have no real opinion on the inclusion. It strikes me that this is ultimately dependant on whether the movie is good or not. I’ve heard that LXG opened well for the first 1/2 hour and then fell apart. In which case, its not excusable. I never saw much point in perfectly matching characters in movies to the actor’s nationality. Shouldn’t be as important as acting ability and proper actor placement. Certainly, since movies aim for a certain versimilitude, you have to make it remotely beleivable. But I don’t think people will care much if an American is cast as an Aussie or Brit. I sort of dislike the attitude of the Harry Potter producers, that all the actor must be genuine Brits. Not because their casting choices are bad, per se, but because I think it was overly limiting and unneccessary. Either someone can do the part or not, regardless of thei nationality. Morgan Freeman’s Red was in no way an Irish kid, but he was damned great playing that character anyway. Of course, some characters are so good at adapting to roles that its hard to even place them. If you just showed me his big movies I would never have guessed that [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000198](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000198)](Gary Oldman) is British. Half his characters sound in no way British. Incidentaly, I’m not perfect at it, but I can change my accent like that, too. I’m working on to what I think is a pretty good light London accent and I think my upper-southern’s well done, too. I used to speak german with, of all things, a Russian accent! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/14 "2004-01-31T04:32:47Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Interestingly, though, a half-assed attempt to respect history was made for _Tobruk_ (1967), starring Rock Hudson. The setting of the movie (North Africa, 1942) didn’t really have a historically valid place for an American, so they made his character Canadian. Same thing happened in _The African Queen_. In the book, Bogie’s character is a cockney. Kate Hepburn could do an English accent (heck, her normal accent sounded English!), but they wanted Bogie to sound like Bogie, so they made him a Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/15 "2004-01-31T05:33:50Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I wouldn’t have minded Tom Sawyer’s inclusion if there were anything Tom-Sawyerish about him (maybe a reference to his friend back home, Marshal Finn, or foiling the villian in an elaborate whitewashing scheme _L_). Actually the inclusion of Tom Sawyer as a secret agent fits pretty well. Most people aren’t aware of it but Mark Twain wrote a Tom Sawyer, Secret Agent novel about Tom’s later life. It just wasn’t very good. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/16 "2004-01-31T17:28:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’m always annoyed when they introduce the Gratuitous American into movies (it’s not a “Token American”, because he’s usually given the juiciest part). It’s clearly the roducers doing it because they’re afraid Americans won’t watch if Americans aren’t at the center of it. I was annoyed that the SciFi channel’s adaptation of **Riverworld** got rid of Sir Richard Burton – a truly fascinating historical character – and substituted some random “Shuttle Astronaut”. It wasn’t until years after I aw **The Great Escape** that I read the book and learned that, although there _were_ Americans at Stalag Luft III, and they _were_ important, none of them were ultimately actually in the big break, because the Germans had taken them all out of the compound to their own camp (the Germans, accordin to author Paul Brickhill, hoped that the Americans and British would fight with each other. In th midle of Germany?)And Americans weren’t in the position of chief scrounger or designated re-capturee and motorcyce stunt squad. > > And let’s not talk about **U-571**. You’re going to hate me for posting this [link](http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0388940/). ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/17 "2004-01-31T20:09:39Z")
As an odd side note- I know in the movie Jeckle was actually kept a lot like the comic book. Sort-of an incredible-Hulk figure. Sadly, I just started reading the actual ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyl and Mister Hyde’, and they make it abundantly (and repetitively) plain that Hyde is actually quite a bit -smaller- than Jeckyl. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/18 "2004-01-31T21:02:18Z")
> [@ArrMatey!](#): > > As an odd side note- I know in the movie Jeckle was actually kept a lot like the comic book. Sort-of an incredible-Hulk figure. Sadly, I just started reading the actual ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyl and Mister Hyde’, and they make it abundantly (and repetitively) plain that Hyde is actually quite a bit -smaller- than Jeckyl. Weird. That’s referenced in Vol II of the comics. It seems that Hyde’s grown, and spending more time active, and Jekyll’s shurnk over time. Jekyll’s barely in Vol II, in fact. It’s clear that Hyde’s in control. ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/19 "2004-02-02T07:02:13Z")
I read the first LOEG series, but don’t recall very much since I was visiting a friend at the time and didn’t get to absorb myself into it as much as I would have liked. That said, the movie didn’t ring any bells with me in reference to the series. Anyhoo, I recall reading somewhere that Tom Sawyer was actually added to the LOEG mythos in some way; like in a backup story or something. I don’t remember where I read this (Wizard Magazine perhaps), but can anybody whose familiar with the continuing stories confirm or repudiate this? And for the record, the movie really stunk. But I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir when I say that. Some of the visuals were impressive, and I enjoyed the Jekyll & Hyde character, but the story was just terrible. However, I’ve heard that the film did very well in Australia, and that there’s been talk of a sequel in reference to that anomaly. (Don’t ask where I heard that.) Fortunately, if such an idea comes to fruition, Sean Connery won’t be involved. Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733/20 "2004-02-02T13:41:18Z")
> [@](#): > > You’re going to hate me for posting this link. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-sawyer-added-to-the-league/226733.md?page=2)