[This is the first of three thought-provoking messages sent to me by
     Wesley Britton, and posted to the Mark Twain Forum on his behalf.
     Although Wesley does not yet have access to e-mail, discussion and
     replies concerning these postings are welcomed at
     <[log in to unmask]>; Wesley receives the Forum's log files
     periodically and follows the discussion here.  If you want to send a
     private or urgent reply to Wesley, though, you should direct it to his
     snail-mail address at the end of this message.  --Taylor Roberts]

_Mark Twain Encyclopedia_ Media Update No. 1 (July 1995)
by Wesley Britton

Since my article, "Media Adaptations of Mark Twain and His Works" appeared
in the _Mark Twain Encyclopedia_, new productions have been issued, and
other items have come to my attention I overlooked.  This list supplements
that article and seeks assistance in locating further information.

_Movies_

Anyone interested in specific information on Hollywood studio versions of
Mark Twain's works should consult _Magill's Survey of Cinema_ On Line
Directory.  For each film, _Magill's_ provides all productions and casting
credits, plot synopsis, and in many cases extended reviews and short
bibliographies of reviews.  The information is detailed and well-organized;
the reviews are unevenly insightful.

According to the January/March 1995 issue of the _Mark Twain Circular_ (pg.
8), Clyde V. Haupt's 1994 _Huckleberry Finn on Film: Film and Television
Adventures of Mark Twain's Novel 1970-1993_ (Macfarlane and Co.) discusses
eleven American versions of HF including historical and production
background, plot summaries, comparisons of the films with the original
text, analysis, and critical and box-office reception to the films.

In 1980, Signet paperbacks issued a tie-in edition of _Life On the
Mississippi_ to coincide with the PBS T.V. movie of the book hosted by Kurt
Vonnegut, Jr. Eight pages of photographs from the film are included.  The
rare dustcover of the 1944 hardcover edition of _The Adventures of Mark
Twain_ by Albert B. Paine, released as a tie-in with the 1944 Warner
Brothers movie of the same name, has a collage of photographs of Frederick
March as Twain on the back.

According to _Cardiff's Internet Movie Database_, "A Million to Juan"--a
new version of Twain's "The Million Pound Bank Note"--was released in 1994.

_Television_

Disney continues to be the studio most interested in Mark Twain, and they
have issued several well-crafted family-fare, made-for-cable films.  In
1991, the Disney Channel broadcast "Mark Twain and Me," starring Jason
Robards as Twain, a romanticized retelling of Mark Twain's relationship
with Angelfish Dorothy Quick.  The film is now available on video.  The
same network aired in 1992 "Return to Hannibal," a speculative narrative
of Huck and Tom as adults helping Jim in a legal jam, the King and Duke
appearing as minor characters in this minor effort.
In August and September 1994, the Learning Channel cable network aired two
high-quality Twain documentaries.  The first was a well-constructed episode
of the "This Century" series hosted by Tom Brokaw, an hour-long show
originally produced in 1989 by NBC for its "America: A Look Back" series.
The show emphasizes Twain as a cultural figure and observer of his times.
The hour is illustrated by photographs of styles and fashions of the
nineteenth century.  The film has a quick pace touching on many points and
ignores Twain's literary works.  Still, the films's visual details and
appropriate background materials make this one of the more useful media
biographies to date.

The second Learning Channel project documents "The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn," examining the novel from a variety of standpoints with
commentary by Justin Kaplan, James Cox, Victor Doyno, Garrison Keillor, and
John Wallace and Nat Hentoff speaking at the 1993 Hartford Mark Twain
Conference.  The hour-long documentary serves as an excellent introduction
to the novel with scenes from many Huck Finn movies including the rarely
seen silent versions as well as newer reenactment and readings from the
book.  An installment of the "Great Book" series, Dale Minor and Gordon
Hyatt produced the film for Discover Productions earning a Cronkite Award
for film documentaries.

The film, narrated by Donald Sutherland, contains much useful material for
the classroom, although its editing and organization are occasionally
confusing, and the ending seems to drift in the last fifteen minutes. It
is most useful pointing to the variety of interpretations, highlights the
novel's key scenes, and analyzes the novel's significance for modern
readers.  (My more detailed analysis of using media materials to teach HF
will be included in Jim Leonard's upcoming _Teaching HF_ volume.)

In 1995, the History Channel's _Civil War Journals_ series episode
"Vicksburg: Siege and Battle" included two quotes from _Life On the
Mississippi_ describing the city.

An overblown, Marxist analysis of "Star Trek," with limited comments on
Mark Twain's appearance in two episodes of that series, is Valerie Fulton's
"An Other Frontier: Voyaging West With Mark Twain and _Star Trek_'s
Imperial Subject."  The article is available in the May 1994 _Postmodern
Culture_ (v.4, n.3), and on the _Mark Twain Forum_.

In 1995 (?), Connecticut Public Broadcasting aired a "Power Of Language"
special, a condensed version of the October 1994 Hartford Conference hosted
by the Mark Twain House.  While little of the conference was directly
related to Twain or the ostensible subject of _Huckleberry Finn_  beyond
Shelley Fisher-Fishkin's reading of an important Twain _Buffalo Express_
letter regarding the lynching of an innocent black man, the special
contains much thought provoking material on language, political
correctness, and racial tensions.  The special is not yet available on
video.

One episode of "Bonanza" featured a young Sam Clemens (played by Howard
Duff) in a fictional adventure set in Virginia City.  Writing for the
_Enterprise_, Sam helps the Cartwrights win a land dispute, choosing the
pen-name "Mark Twain" at the episode's end.
Twain is briefly quoted in a 1994 episode of "Kung Fu: The Legend
Continues" in an episode featuring Robert Vaughn and Patrick Magnee.

_CD-ROM, VR, and Audiotexts_

In the July/September 1994 issue of the _MT Circular_, Jim Leonard's review
of multi-media resources _Twain's World_ and _Uncle Mark_ (pages 3-6) lists
the videos included on those discs (including the 1909 Edison film of Twain
himself).  Jim also discusses the educational merits of the videos,
filmstrips, and audio-visual components of the CDs.

A posting on the MT Forum listed a 1993 Virtual Mark Twain, which "stands
at the threshold of the public's craving for new types of entertainment"--
a creation of Color Concepts and Images.

"American Humor and Satire" is a six-cassette anthology of readings
including works by Twain, Harte, Artemus Ward, and many others.  It is
available from Filmic Archives for $44.95.

In 1995, R. Kent Rasmussen wrote an insightful, detailed, and useful
review of the following audiobooks for the _Mark Twain Forum_: Michael
Prichard's _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ (1977, 7 cassettes, 10.5
hours), _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_, (1979, 6 cassettes, 9 hours), and
_Roughing It_ (1986, 12 cassettes, 18 hours).  Each of Prichard's readings
was released by Books on Tape, Newport Beach, California.

Rasmussen also reviewed the _Mark Twain Gift Set_ (_Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn_, _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_ and _The
Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County_).  Much of this material,
issued by Mind's Eye, Petaluma, Calif. (7 cassettes), was listed
separately in the original _Mark Twain Encyclopedia_ media entry.

Actor Norman Dietz has issued nine Twain titles on Recorded Books
including Twain's major novels as well as _Roughing It_ and "The Man That
Corrupted Hadleyburg."  Further information about these books is available
on the Mark Twain Forum.

_Musical Adaptations_

Originally released in 1966, the soundtrack of the Broadway show, "The
Apple Tree," was reissued in 1992 featuring ten songs based on _The
Diaries of Adam and Eve_.  Goddard Lieberson, unquestionably the most
important and influential producer of Broadway soundtracks, oversaw the
cast of Alan Alda (yes, Hawkeye sings), Barbara Harris, Larry Blyden, and
Robert Klein in retelling of three stories: Twain's _Diaries_, "The Lady
and the Tiger" by Frank R. Stockten, and _Passionela_ by Jules Feiffer.
_Fiddler on the Roof_ veterans Jerry Boch and Sheldon Harnick wrote the
music.

Elmira College's "Mark Twain: A Musical Biography" (1989) with William
Perky and Bernedette Wilson, is now available on audio-cassette and video.
Produced by the Mark Twain Arts Council, the show is more musical
production than biography, with many inaccuracies and distortions of
Twain's life.  In 87 minutes, the well-staged show emphasizes Twain's
Elmira connections and his "home circle" of Livy and the children, a local
production with a local emphasis.

Allison Ensor's detailed explication of Jerome Kern's "Mark Twain Portrait
for Orchestra" is in the April/June (Vol. 8, No. 3) issue of the _MT
Circular_ on pages 4-5.

Write George Sterm, Music Assoc. of America (224 King St., Englewood NJ
07631) for information about the 1995 CD of Paul Allan Levi's "Mark Twain
Suite" performed by the New York Choral Society.

_Help!_

Kevin Bochynski--to whom I am deeply indebted for much of this
information--discovered an old _T.V. Guide_ which listed a film of
_Roughing It_ with James Daly as "an elderly Mark Twain" and Andrew Prine
as the younger Sam Clemens.  Robert Saudek Associates produced it.  We
know nothing more about it.  Does anyone know more?  Does anyone have
information about "The Great Rocky Mountain Chase" in which Sam Clemens
and Mike Fink have a contest?  Do you know the airdate of the
MacNeill/Leher report on the Mark Twain Project?  Word has it a "Rifleman"
television episode featured Twain playing pool with Lucas McCain, telling
his son about time passing by.  An episode of the time-travel series
"Voyagers" had one episode featuring a young Sam Clemens helping a black
slave escape Hannibal on a raft, supposedly inspiring Huck Finn.  Rumor
has it a recent "Babylon 5" episode featured a take on the "War Prayer."
Does anyone have information about either "This Old House" or the
"Discovery" channel's shows on Twain's Hartford home or any other media
productions not listed above or in the _Mark Twain Encyclopedia_?  Please
send any information (or copies, if feasible) to:

Wesley Britton
Sherman, TX 75090