Cindy, what a lovely compliment.  My favorite phrase:
"affectionate scrutiny."  He's have liked it, too, I'll bet.
Arianne Laidlaw

On Thu, Oct 2, 2014 at 10:50 AM, Cindy Lovell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Nothing makes me happier than=0A=
> to see these sorts of conversations.=0A=
> What a lovable bunch of geeks=0A=
> we are, and wouldn't SLC relish=0A=
> such affectionate scrutiny? Haven't=0A=
> we all 'squandered' countless hours=0A=
> speculating and imagining answers=0A=
> to thousands of questions? What a=0A=
> power he holds over each one of us.=0A=
> He is more intimate to us than many=0A=
> of our own DNA-sharing relatives,=0A=
> yet he belongs to the world.=0A=
> =0A=
> If only ONE lost item or bit of information=0A=
> could be discovered from his life, =0A=
> what would each of you place at the=0A=
> top of the list? (Impossible to answer=0A=
> with only one, I know.)=0A=
> =0A=
> The butler pictured in the film is Claude:=0A=
> http://www.twainquotes.com/beuchotte.html=0A=
> =0A=
> =0A=
> =0A=
> ________________________________________=0A=
> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Kevin Mac Donnell
> <i=
> [log in to unmask]>=0A=
> Sent: Thursday, October 2, 2014 9:49 AM=0A=
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Twain film redux=0A=
> =0A=
> Oh, he's playing for the camera for sure. Even in still photos Twain is=0A=
> seldom caught truly off-guard. Even his supposedly spontaneous speeches
> and=
> =0A=
> interview responses were usually carefully rehearsed. That looks like the=
> =0A=
> self-conscious public Mark Twain stalking about Stormfield, not the
> private=
> =0A=
> Mr Clemens.=0A=
> =0A=
> The little finger extended from the teacup is another good detail.
> Every=0A=
> time the film is viewed more little details emerge, especially if you hit=
> =0A=
> the pause button now and then. As he walks away from the front door there=
> =0A=
> appears to be a silhouette of someone standing inside the entrance. The=0A=
> curtains in the sidelights rustle in the wind, an indication that the
> Frenc=
> h=0A=
> doors of the dining room must have been open, creating a breeze through
> the=
> =0A=
> center of the house (that would also be his pathway to go around and
> circle=
> =0A=
> that end of the house later in the film).=0A=
> =0A=
> But the limp looks real to me. I played with the pause and the rhythm of
> hi=
> s=0A=
> steps does not correspond with each frame, so it's not the film --it's=0A=
> Twain. So, the question is whether it's deliberate. The posture of his
> hips=
> =0A=
> while at the door and the persistent limp in profile both trips around the=
> =0A=
> house, and the left side sway all seem genuine indications of a problem of=
> =0A=
> some sort. When I get time I'm going to run it past my medical friends and=
> =0A=
> seek an expert opinion.=0A=
> =0A=
> Also, it would be nice to nail down the precise date this film was made.
> Is=
> =0A=
> there a list of Edison's employees who might have been in the crew he sent=
> =0A=
> out that day? If so, I could check them against the two Stormfield=0A=
> guest-books. I have the original first guestbook and an old facsimile of
> th=
> e=0A=
> second (the original is at Hartford) and although most of the people can
> be=
> =0A=
> identified, quite a few of the people who signed in are not.=0A=
> =0A=
> Kevin=0A=
> @=0A=
> Mac Donnell Rare Books=0A=
> 9307 Glenlake Drive=0A=
> Austin TX 78730=0A=
> 512-345-4139=0A=
> Member: ABAA, ILAB=0A=
> *************************=0A=
> You may browse our books at:=0A=
> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com=0A=
> =0A=
> =0A=
> -----Original Message-----=0A=
> From: John Chappell=0A=
> Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2014 9:25 PM=0A=
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Twain film redux=0A=
> =0A=
> The Langdons gave the Edison film to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and
> Museum=
> =0A=
> in Hannibal, as I was told in the early 1970s. It was on dangerous nitrate=
> =0A=
> stock, so 16mm prints were made from it; and a number of copies were kept=
> =0A=
> in Hannibal.=0A=
> =0A=
> When I visited Hannibal for a benefit performance around 1971, they ran=0A=
> them on a 16mm projector for me. 18 frames a second looked way too
> fast.=0A=
> Thinking they'd probably been shot at a slower speed, maybe 12 frames a=0A=
> second, we got access to an audio-visual Bell&Howell projector. It had=0A=
> variable speed that made it possible to see them at what was obviously
> a=0A=
> more correct rate.=0A=
> =0A=
> It was my opinion that Twain was intentionally playing the camera for=0A=
> humor. First, he comes out the door as if saying "Get that contraption off=
> =0A=
> my property, and be quick about it!"=0A=
> =0A=
> Next, we see him ambling past the camera but completely ignoring it,=0A=
> puffing away on his cigar. That has to have been deliberate.=0A=
> =0A=
> There's a pause following, and here he comes again wandering past
> camera=0A=
> again, and ignoring it again, as if he'd run madly around the house for=0A=
> another shot, but wouldn't let on to it -- oh,no -- just wander past as if=
> =0A=
> he never noticed camera or crew. Again.=0A=
> =0A=
> From an actor's view, he's working it. And doing it very well.=0A=
> =0A=
> That humor looked might Twainian to me, and to the man who ran the
> Becky=0A=
> Thatcher Bookshop back then. Every time I've viewed the Edison film since=
> =0A=
> I've seen that same humor.=0A=
> =0A=
> It's there again with the tea. Watch him stick his little finger out as he=
> =0A=
> lifts his teacup.=0A=
> =0A=
> They gave me one of the prints, since I wouldn't take money for the show.=
> =0A=
> After, they asked how I liked the table they'd brought to use on stage at=
> =0A=
> the high school.=0A=
> =0A=
> "That's the one, you know," they said. "From the museum. That's the one he=
> =0A=
> wrote Tom Sawyer on."=0A=
> =0A=
> Oh, my. For sure I knew I was in the right town then. Just as I knew
> who=0A=
> you were Susan, when I saw your photo, and that inherited nose so familiar=
> =0A=
> from many, many studies of photographs of the man.=0A=
> =0A=
> John Chappell=0A=
> =0A=
> On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 8:59 PM, Susan Bailey <[log in to unmask]
> >=0A=
> wrote:=0A=
> =0A=
> > Kevin, I've looked at this footage many time and I agree that it looks
> as=
> =0A=
> > if he has a slight limp coming around the corner but then it seems to=0A=
> > clear=0A=
> > up as he appears in front of the house. As Bob said, this could be due
> to=
> =0A=
> > his age.  You can see at the beginning that his right hip seems to be a=
> =0A=
> > bit=0A=
> > higher than his left.=0A=
> >=0A=
> > As a person who actually knew Clara when I was a child, I don't believe=
> =0A=
> > that is Clara on the left. And that is certainly not her in the middle.=
> =0A=
> > That woman has a widow's peak, which Clara didn't have. Clara had a
> stron=
> g=0A=
> > face and, in my memory was not given to girlish gestures like touching
> or=
> =0A=
> > smoothing back her hair.  That could be a difference in age but this
> just=
> =0A=
> > does not look like Clara to me.=0A=
> >=0A=
> > Regards,=0A=
> > Susan Bailey=0A=
> >=0A=
> > On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 8:43 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell <=0A=
> > [log in to unmask]> wrote:=0A=
> >=0A=
> > > Well, I have me bad days and me better days, but it looks like a limp
> t=
> o=0A=
> > > me,=0A=
> > > especially visible as he corners the far end of the house in profile.=
> =0A=
> > >=0A=
> > > It's Jean on the left and Clara in the middle. That's not Ashcroft who=
> =0A=
> > > brings Clara her hat, nor Ossip, but likely a servant and there are=0A=
> > several=0A=
> > > candidates for that honor.=0A=
> > >=0A=
> > > Kevin=0A=
> > > @=0A=
> > > Mac Donnell Rare Books=0A=
> > > 9307 Glenlake Drive=0A=
> > > Austin TX 78730=0A=
> > > 512-345-4139=0A=
> > > Member: ABAA, ILAB=0A=
> > > *************************=0A=
> > > You may browse our books at:=0A=
> > > www.macdonnellrarebooks.com=0A=
> > >=0A=
> > >=0A=
> > > -----Original Message-----=0A=
> > > From: [log in to unmask]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2014 6:27 PM=0A=
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: Re: Twain film redux=0A=
> > >=0A=
> > > Kevin, you're certainly right about the wind. Those trees in the=0A=
> > background=0A=
> > > look like props from news footage of a hurricane making landfall. But=
> =0A=
> > > I'm=0A=
> > > not sure about the limp. If it's there, it's very slight -- and might=
> =0A=
> > that=0A=
> > > just be a normal state of affairs from someone in his 70s?=0A=
> > >=0A=
> > > The little explanation at the beginning says the two women in the film=
> =0A=
> > are=0A=
> > > believed to be Jean and Clara. But didn't someone here confirm a while=
> =0A=
> > back=0A=
> > > that it's Jean and Isabel Lyon? I seem to recall that, anyway. And the=
> =0A=
> > man=0A=
> > > who appears briefly -- is that Ashcroft?=0A=
> > >=0A=
> > > -- Bob G.=0A=
> > >=0A=
> >=0A=
> >=0A=
> >=0A=
> > --=0A=
> > Best regards,=0A=
> > Susan Bailey=0A=
> > Greenville, SC=0A=
> > www.marktwainonline.com=0A=
> >=
>



-- 
Arianne Laidlaw A '58