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If you didn't watch the credits for this, you might not have realized what an all star crew director Irving Rapper was working with...Max Steiner doing the music, John Hughes and Fred M Maclean on set design, Paul Detlefsen and John Crouse on visual effects with Nathan Levinson doing sound effects- all of whom would be nominated for academy awards for this picture- Alan Le May behind the screenplay, and Don Siegel in the cinematography and editing department.
And that's not even mentioning the brilliant cast.
The story covers the prophetic life of Mark Twain, from his conception- riding in on the tail of Haley's Comet- to his death- riding back out on it.
It begins with his life in the south, as a boy, working for his brother Orion as a typesetter in the printing business. Though, dreaming of one day being a steamboat pilot, and navigating his way along the stretches of the Mississippi River into infamy.
He'd eventually run away from home to achieve this dream...and make his name famous, when he successfully dircted a steamboat through a dangerous series of shoals in a pea soup fog.
Knowing there was nowhere to go but down from there, he'd exit this life at his peak, and set out on his next adventure with his good friend- a small time hustler- named Steve Gillis.
The two friends would venture to Virgina City, Nevada with hopes of striking it rich in the gold rush.
There they would open Queen Dixie Mines (named after the Steamboat he captained), on Jackass Hill. But they were unsuccessful. Only to discover they had just barely missed a vein which would later be discovered at that very spot.
And when they tried to get in on the claim, they just missed out on that too.
Timing really is everything.
Timing would be on his side, however, when Twain and Gillis witnessed the murder of the local reporter at the hands of a gunslinging thug, who didn't appreciate a story that was written by the now deceased man.
Twain saw this as a new opportunity, putting himself up for the job, by writing a story to honour the memory of this slain reporter.
Truth and Justice by his side.
It was during this tenure that he would go on to write his first short humour story- The Jumping Frog Of Calveras County- about an experience he and Gillis went through to try and rally up a few bucks.
And put him on the path to legacy and infamy.
It skips over his whole stint in California, but does mention his return to the south, to cover the war, after Fort Sumter is attacked by the Confederate troops during which the Mississippi would become blocked by a sunken steamer.
And it is here, that he would make his third prophecy (which would later come true)...that he would one day marry Olivia, the sister of another one of his friends, and the girl of his dreams.
One might point out that saints have been anointed for less.
Eventually he would be tracked down by a man named JB Pond, who sought to send him on a lecture tour in the East, in promotion of his story about the frogs, that would help all of America laugh their way through the war.
And while travelling through New England, he would get the chance to make that prophecy come true...winning the heart and hand of Livy, for the rest of his life.
He would keep writing humour stories, to pay the bills...but desperately wanted to write something more serious to prove to Livy that he could. Even though she was perfectly content that he was the man who could make everyone laugh.
He was as much a stand up comedian as he was writer. And it was laughter through which he touched her heart.
However, he would always have to put off these plans because of bad investments, including an attempt to start his own publishing company...which put him deeply in debt.
To pay off these debts, he would travel around the world on a final lecture tour. And it is this that established himself as the most famous man in the world.
Winning him a seat alongside Disraeli, Brown, Emerson, Wordsworth, Longfellow and Tennyson as one of the greatest authors in the history of mankind. With honours from Oxford and Yale to prove it.
Though it would not come without a cost, as illness would take Livy's life in Florence, Italy. Where they spent their final days together.
Twain would eventually return to his three daughters- Jean, Suzy and Clara- in the US, where he would live out his final days in Stormfield...before exiting the stage- on the tail of Haley's Comet- like he came in.
Passing over to the realm of his imagination, while reminding his daughter, "What you look upon as my death is greatly exaggerated" (citing a quote he had made to a reporter in Europe when rumours he had died had been circulating).
And so ends the magical tale of the great life of the man known as Mark Twain.
Safe waters are ahead.
A truly magical, and highly underrated film. Backed by excellent writing and the perfect cast. Frederic March shines as Twain, while Alexis Smith inspires as Livy. With everyone in front of and behind the camera doing their jobs to perfection, to honour this great man as he should be honoured. With heart and imagination.
But as the ending quote suggests, artistic liberties were taken in the telling of this story. Which is not wholly accurate.
Not like Sam would have minded anyways.
10 out of 10.
score 10/10
meddlecore 5 August 2020
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5969467/ |
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6-3-2021 12:06:19