I just finished watching the 1942 biopic starring Fredric March and Alexis
Smith.  It's probably been close to 25 years since I saw it.  Back then,
even though I was familiar with the chronology and many of the details of
Clemens' life, it made me happy just to see him represented on screen by
such a fine actor, and to see many of the real and legendary events of his
live portrayed with loving detail and sentimental devotion.

 

This time around, I found myself much more critical of the whole thing.  I
understand much of the context of the time it was made, and the facts that
Clara was still very much alive and that she and a trust controlled to a
large extent the image and works of her father.  I also understand the need
to tell his life as a story covering 74 years of a variegated career in
about two hours.  I also have a rudimentary sense of how Americans perceived
Mark Twain in the early 1940s.  But, man, did the filmmakers HAVE to deviate
so much from the perpendicular truth to tell a great story?  Isn't the real
story one of the most interesting, one of the most quintessential in
American history, second maybe only to Lincoln's?

 

I'm curious to know if this film has ever been the subject of research. Just
listing the places where it presents the facts incorrectly would be an
article, never mind the more subjective listing of people whose characters
are portrayed as caricatures or stereotypes.

 

Anyone know of any writings specifically about this movie?

 

Thanks,

 

Carl