Much to the exasperation of his Aunt Polly (Celeste Holm), Tom (Johnny Whitaker) likes nothing better than going fishing with Huck Finn (Jeff East, who reprised the role a year later in Huckleberry Finn), spinning a tall tale, or convincing the other boys to whitewash a fence for him. But life gets complicated when a pretty girl moves in to town (10-year-old Jodie Foster), and then a friend runs into serious trouble and only Tom can bail him out.