Mark Twain (2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Twain is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2002.

 

The title explains the topic. This film is about the life and work of the famous American writer Mark Twain who lived 1835-1910.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Director: Ken Burns

** Writers: Dayton Duncan and Geoffrey C. Ward

** Narrator: Keith David

** The voice of Mark Twain: Kevin Conway

** Episode 1 = 110 minutes

** Episode 2 = 105 minutes

** Total run time = 215 minutes

 

The film was later released on DVD. The DVD version comes with five bonus features.

 

The DVD version released in 2004 is a double-sided disc. Side A has episode 1 and three bonus features, while side B has episode 2 and two bonus features

 

The DVD version released in 2005 is in a box with two discs. Disc one has episode 1 and three bonus features, while disc two has episode 2 and two bonus features

 

This film covers the life and work of the famous American writer in great detail from the beginning in 1835 until the end in 1910.

 

The first episode covers the first fifty years (1835-1885), while the second episode covers the final twenty-five years (1885-1910).

 

Episode 1 is divided into eight chapters.

Here are the headlines:

# 1. Introduction

# 2. Safe water

# 3. Roughing it

# 4. Innocents abroad

# 5. The best girl in the world

# 6. The gilded age

# 7. Old voices

# 8. All right then, I’ll go to hell

 

Episode 2 is also divided into eight chapters.

Here are the headlines:

# 1. Introduction

# 2. A Connecticut Yankee

# 3. Exile

# 4. Following the equator

# 5. The unutterable sorrow

# 6. First God made idiots

# 7. The mysterious stranger

# 8. The American

 

Several persons are interviewed in this film

Here are the names of the participants

Listed in alphabetical order

 

** Russell Banks (1940-2023) – a poet

** John Boyer (born 1946) – a historian – since 1998 he is the executive director of the Mark Twain House and Museum

** David Bradley (born 1950) – a writer

** Jocelyn Chadwick – a Mark Twain scholar

 

** Shelley Fisher Fishkin (born 1950) – a Mark Twain scholar

** Dick Gregory (1932-2017) – a comedian

** Hamlin Hill (1931-2002) – a Mark Twain scholar

** Hal Holbrook 1925-2021) – an actor

 

** Chuck Jones (1912-2002) – a cartoonist

** Arthur Miller (1915-2005) – a playwright

** Ron Powers (born 1941) – a writer

** William Styron (1925-2006) – a writer

** Laura Skandera Trombley – a Mark Twain scholar

 

Mark Twain is known as a writer and a public speaker. But he had many other jobs during his life. 

 

He was a printer’s apprentice, he was a pilot on a steamboat on the Mississippi River, he was a businessman and an inventor.

 

He lived and worked in many locations. He travelled all over the US and he travelled all over the world.

 

He had a colorful life. He was successful in many ways. He also suffered some serious losses.

 

He was born in a village named Florida in the state of Missouri in 1835. His name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He died in Redding in the state of Connecticut in 1910. Here is a timeline with special focus on his marital status:

 

Chapter 1 (1835-1861)

** He is a child

** He is a young man

Chapter 2 (1861-1870)

** He is moving from place to place

** He is a single man

Chapter 3 (1870-1904)

** He is a married man

** He is a family man

Chapter 4 (1904-1910)

** He is a widower

** He is an old man

 

Here is a timeline with special focus on his life as a family man

1870 - He marries Olivia Langdon (1845-1904)

1870 – The first child is born, a son named Langdon

1872 – Langdon dies. He is not even two years old

1872 – The second child is born, a daughter named Susy, who is Mark Twain’s favorite

1874 – The third child is born, a daughter named Clara

1880 – The fourth child is born, a daughter named Jean

1896 – Susy dies

1904 – Olivia dies

1909 – Jean dies

1910 – Mark Twain dies

1962 – Clara dies

 

Here is a timeline with special focus on the locations where Mark Twain lived and worked

 

1835 – he is born in Florida (Missouri) with the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens

1839 – the family moves to Hannibal (Missouri) located on the bank of the Mississippi River

1847 – his father dies. Samuel is only eleven years old

1848-1853 - he works as a printer’s apprentice

1857-1859 - he is an apprentice to become a pilot on a steamboat

1859-1861 - he works as a certified pilot on a steamboat

1861 – when the Civil War breaks out, he leaves his job as a pilot and travels towards the western part of the US

1861-1864 – he lives in Nevada, prospecting for silver and gold. He is also working as a reporter

1863 – he begins to use the name Mark Twain.

1864-1866 – he lives in California

1866 – he visits Hawaii, which is not yet an American territory

1867 – he is a reporter on a cruise to the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East

1868-1871 – he lives in New York

1870 – he is married to Olivia Langdon

1874-1891 – Mark Twain and Olivia and the children live in a house in Hartford, Connecticut

1891-1894 – he has economic problems. The family moves to Europe in order to avoid his creditors. They stay in France, Germany, and Italy

1894 – he declares bankruptcy. He makes a promise to pay his creditors what he owes them

1895-1896 – he organises a tour around the world giving public speeches in many locations

1896 – When the tour is completed, he has made enough money to pay his debts

1896 – his daughter Susy dies

1904 – Olivia dies

1904-1906 – he lives in New York

1907 – he travels to the UK. Oxford University has awarded him an honorary doctorate

1908 – he lives in a new house in Redding, Connecticut

1909 – his daughter Jean dies

1910 – he visits Bermuda

1910 – he returns to his home in Redding where he dies

 

As stated above, the DVD comes with five bonus features. Here are the headlines:

 

# 1. The Making of Mark Twain

Interview with Ken Burns (10 minutes) and with Dayton Duncan (10 minutes)

# 2. A conversation with Ken Burns (10 minutes)

# 3. Some famous Mark Twain quotes and some old photographs (6 minutes)

# 4. Ken Burns – Making history (6 minutes)

# 5. Interview outtakes with Hal Holbrook and others. This feature, which runs for 24 minutes, is divided into four sections:

** Twain the man

** Twain the writer

** Huck Finn

** Older Twain

 

What do reviewers say about this film?

Here are some answers:

 

75 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

83 percent = IMDb

94 percent = Amazon Prime Video

 

Eight user reviews are posted on IMDb. Here are the headlines and the ratings offered:

 

70 - Treacherous “Safe Water”

90 - He was a great and inspiring man

90 - Great documentary

100 - A masterpiece

100 - 212 minutes. Wow!

100 – Another winner by Ken Burns!

100 - Great Doc

One review does not offer a specific rating

 

IMDb has links to some reviews written by critics:

 

Need Coffee Dot Com

No specific rating but very positive

 

Patti Aliventi

Thoughts from the Mountain Top

No specific rating but very positive

 

Andy’s Film Blog

24 July 2015 

This review offers 3 of 4 stars (75 percent)

 

James Brewer

World Socialist Website

09 February 2002

While this review is positive, it mentions a serious flaw regarding Mark Twain and his anti-imperialism

 

The film by Ken Burns mentions the fact that Mark Twain became an anti-imperialist around the year 1900. But the topic is not explored as much as it deserves.

 

The film by Ken Burns does not mention that Mark Twain joined the American Anti-Imperialist League in 1900 or that he was the vice-president of this organization from 1901 until his death in 1910.

 

James Brewer mentions some short items which Mark Twain wrote against American imperialism:

** To the Person Sitting in Darkness (1901)

** To My Missionary Critics (1901)

** A Defence of General Funston (1902)

** The War Prayer (written in 1905, but not published in his lifetime) (it was published in 1923)

 

None of these items are mentioned in the film by Ken Burns. It seems Ken Burns did not want to focus too much on this aspect of Mark Twain’s life.

 

Mark Twain scholar Barbara Schmidt has compiled a list of 29 factual mistakes in the film about Mark Twain.

 

The first item concerns the quote: 

 

“I am not an American. I am the American.”

 

This quote appears on the poster for the film. 

It is on the cover of the DVD box.

 

But this quote is not something Mark Twain wrote about himself. It is misleading to present it as if Mark Twain described himself in this way.

 

Most factual mistakes on this list concern a conflict between what is said about a certain event or a certain person and what is shown on the screen at the same time.

 

Three items concern Mark Twain’s younger brother Henry who was injured in a serious accident on a steamboat in 1858.

 

# 9. When the narrator talks about Henry and the accident in 1858, they show a picture of Henry as a boy. But Henry was twenty years old in 1858.

 

# 10. When the narrator says that Samuel sails to Memphis as fast as he can in order to visit his brother in the hospital, they show a picture of a boat which was taken in 1878. Twenty years off base.

 

# 11. When the narrator explains that Henry died in the hospital, because he had been seriously burned in the accident, they show a picture taken in a hospital in 1864. Henry is not in this picture. The patients in this picture are soldiers who had been wounded in the civil war.

 

I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with many of them.

 

The topic is important. The story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done quite well.

 

But as you can see, there is are some flaws which cannot be ignored. Which cannot be overlooked.

 

I have to remove one star because of these flaws. This film deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Some books by Mark Twain

 

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865)

Innocents Abroad (1869)

Roughing It (1872)

The Gilded Age (1873)

(co-author Charles Dudley Warner)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

 

The Prince and the Pauper (1881)

Life on the Mississippi (1883)

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)

Following the Equator (1897)

 

# 2. Some books about Mark Twain

 

Mark Twain: God’s Fool

by Hamlin Hill

(1973)

 

A Historical Guide to Mark Twain

Edited by Shelley Fisher Fishkin

(2002)

 

Mark Twain

by Ron Powers

(2005)

 

Mark Twain’s Aquarium: The Samuel Clemens Angelfish Correspondence, 1905-1910

Edited by John Cooley

(2009)

 

Mark Twain’s Other Woman:

The Hidden Story of his Final Years

By Laura Skandera Trombley

(2010)

 

Mark Twain

By Ron Chernow

(2025)

 

# 3. Film and video

 

Mark Twain’s America

** Director: Donald B. Hyatt

** Narrator: Howard Lindsay

** Run time: 53 minutes

(1960)

 

Famous Authors: Mark Twain

** Director: Malcolm Hossick

** Run time: 30 minutes

(1996)

 

# 4. The following items are available online

 

Mark Twain Quotations, Newspaper Collections & Related Sources by Barbara Schmidt

Special Feature: Mistakes and Misrepresentations in Ken Burns’ film Mark Twain (2002) (28 April 2010)

 

Jerome Loving

“Birthday Party Brouhaha,”

Humanities

November-December 2008

 

“And So, I am an Anti-Imperialist:

How Mark Twain Became a Radical,”

The Radical Tea Towel

19 August 2022

 

*****

 

Mark Twain

DVD box with the quotation

on the front cover 

 

***** 

Mark Twain House and Museum

Hartford, Connecticut

 

*****