Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19489 in VHS
• Released on: 1998-09-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Customer Reviews

Typical Forties Biography
Fredric March stars as the famous writer, who despite all the honours that would come his way, had the mud of the Mississippi River stuck between his toes and never got past the plain spoken humour and truth that were a part of him, whether the academics appreciated it or not. The film spans his whole life, taking highlights from various points and tying them together with his famous works and quotations often associated with him. March is quite good in the role, a challenge given the impression everyone already has of the famous writer. Alexis Smith plays his wife and biggest fan. There's not much to the role, and she does what she can with it. His early adventures are a lot more interesting than his later life, although March is more effective as the older Twain. I particularly enjoyed the early riverboat scenes. As with any biography from Forties Hollywood, it approaches its subject with reverence. That's fine, but it doesn't always make for exciting viewing. The film is directed without style or edge, and although it's easy to watch, it's not very inspired or engaging. I think Mr. Twain would have wanted a sharper script!

PLEASANT NOSTALGIA.
Twain was someone who lived a full life in his 75 years. He was a Mississippi riverboat man in his early years, and he experimented with gold mining in California. As a writer of growing stature, he courted and won the well-bred Olivia Langdon who traveled with Twain around the world. Twain was in deep bankruptcy after publishing disasters and he became exhausted by work in order to clear his debts. Entertainment derives from Twain's epigrams and comments on humankind; in later years, he became a kind of performing pundit: rather like a nineteenth century version of Will Rogers. Fredric March gives a genuinely spendid performance as the beloved American writer who lived from 1835-1910. A trivia note: Because he was born while it was in orbit, Twain once remarked that he expected to "go out" with Halley's comet when it reappeared in 1910 - and - amazingly, he did! Warners tried to cover too much territory in this film; THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN were too many, and the picture is forced to montage too much of his life. What saves this film is the uncannily brilliant performance given by March. In the episodes showing him as the elderly Twain, March achieves a truly remarkable portrayal; he was indeed a dedicated and convincing actor!

Good Twain Bio for forties Hollywood
I especially enjoyed the early scenes which were wonderful and seeing Twain on the riverboat was thrilling. For a forties Hollywood bio, this film does remarkably well. There are factual errors here and there but on the whole, it was a pleasant surprise to see that they got much of it right. I've read that his daughter Clara was a consultant on this movie. Of course it also contained a typically overly sentimental death scene which all films of that era included. I've only been able to see this movie on TCM. Unfortunately, it is unavailable on VHS or DVD.
I don't understand why they have recently issued the Max Steiner score on CD but the DVD is still not available!