> >
> > Why are so many intellectuals and academics so mad at Ken Burns?  just
> > wondering. . .



> I just couldn't make myself like it, but I'm not mad, just mildly
> disappointed. And my quibbles are just that: quibbles. I truly did
> appreciate the avoidance of any further Disnefication (this word has no Y)
> of his image. As for race, I see Steve Railton's point, but HF has taken
> such a beating over the years, and it was refreshing to see the other side
> presented in a forum that will reach the average reader. If you are a
> scholar, you see this side presented often enough, but if you are an
average
> reader, you just read in the newspaper about another school board banning
> it, etc.
>
> I got out the old 1995 A&E Biography, and was pleasantly surprised. It
runs
> under an hour, moves at a lively pace (no lingering over still images),
has
> far less banjo music (it even has violins and guitar), seven talking heads
> who don't do any verbal gymnastics trying to capture the "essential"
Twain,
> a nice mix of modern color footage with original photos, many
illustrations
> from his books (new and old), every quote is attributed and in context and
> unaltered, and it covered race and religion. And given the time
constraint,
> it did all of this well.
>
> But it did leave out Langdon's and Jean's deaths entirely, made no mention
> of some important people, had some annoying mistakes like talking about an
> 1865 lecture while showing an 1873 document, called Twain a "confederate
> deserter," made no use of the Edison film, and had a terrible voice-over
> imitation of Twain's voice that made him sound like a hayseed (no blend of
> CT and MO accents).
>
> All in all, it did a better job (per minute) than Burns, and covered the
> same ground (in fact, some of the same graphics and the sometimes unusual
> choice of quotes showed up again in Burn's film). I was impressed, but I
> didn't cry.
>
> Neither film made use of the 1920s recording of William Gilette imitating
> Twain telling part of the Jumping Frog story. That puzzles me, especially
> since both films were so eager to sling modern imitators at us. WG was a
> fine actor known for his impersonations and he had heard Twain speak.
Unless
> an original Twain recording comes to light, his is the closest thing to
> Twain's voice that exists. I think HH used the WG recording as a model for
> his own imitation, and I think Clara gave her stamp of approval to HH's
> imitation. I hope the WG recording is in a wave file at some online Twain
> site. If not, it should be.
>
> Kevin Mac Donnell
> Mac Donnell Rare Books
>
>