The Adventures of Mark Twain

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The Adventures of Mark Twain is the title of two unrelated American entertainment films based on the life of Mark Twain or inspired by his works.

1 1944 biographical film
2 1985 animated film
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] 1944 biographical film

The Adventures of Mark Twain is a 1944 live action biographical film starring Fredric March as Samuel Clemens (Twain) and Alexis Smith as his wife, Olivia. It was produced at Warner Brothers, and directed by Irving Rapper, with music by Max Steiner. Only loosely based on Clemens's life, the film rearranges events in ways that defy both history and logic. For example, the film shows Clemens working as a journalist in Nevada when he learns of the outbreak of the Civil War and then has him leave Nevada in order to fight for the Confederacy. In real life, Clemens went to Nevada after the war started, partly to get away from the war. Later in the film, Henry Huttleston Rogers warns Clemens that if he allows his (Clemens's) publishing company to publish Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, he will go bankrupt. Clemens replies that the country owes the former Union commander such a debt of gratitude that going bankrupt would be a small price to pay. In reality, Clemens's company did publish Grant's memoirs--about eight years before Clemens met Rogers--and the venture was a huge success. Clemens's company did, in fact, eventually go bankrupt, but its failure had nothing to do with its publication of Grant's memoirs. Later still, the film has a scene set in Italy, where Clemens's wife, Livy, insists that he go to Oxford University to accept an honorary degree; shortly afterward, she dies. It is a very moving scene; however, Clemens was living in New York City when he received his invitation to go to Oxford in 1907. Livy had died in Italy three years earlier. Similar liberties with the facts of Clemens's life permeate the film, but Frederic March nevertheless provides a moving and convincing portrayal of Clemens.

[edit] 1985 animated film

The Adventures of Mark Twain, released in the UK as Comet Quest, is a 1985 stop motion animated film directed by Will Vinton (best known for "The California Raisins" animation). After many years in television syndication, it was released on DVD in January 2006. The film features a series of vignettes extracted from several of Twain's works, built around a plot that features Twain's attempts to keep his "appointment" with Halley's Comet. The concept was inspired by a famous quote by the author:

I came in with Halley's Comet, and I must go out with it. The Almighty surely said that these two freaks of nature came into the world together, and they must go out together.

Included are sketches taken from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Mysterious Stranger, The Damned Human Race, Injun Joe (briefly), The Diary of Adam and Eve (Letters from the Earth), Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven and a rendering of Twain's first story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.