On the Trail of On the Trail with Mark Dawidziak
TV Critic
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
    Some background: "On the Trail of Mark Twain" has been made
available to PBS stations around the country by WNET in New York. It
seems that no two stations are playing it at the same times and the same
nights, so, as the overworked expression goes, check your local
listings.
    I've seen all four installments (hey, they pay me to do this,
folks), and it doesn't get much better. It slightly improves in the
third and fourth segments, which take Ustinov to India and South Africa.
So, particularly from a Twainian point of view, the documentary is a
disappointment. And, of course, that's our rock-solid point of view.
We're all approaching it from the perspectives of hard-core Twainiacs.
    I found it amusing, for instance, when Ustinov, in the opening
minutes, suggested that it was  the "twinge" to travel that caused Twain
to undertake the journey described in "Following the Equator." There was
no mention of the real reason Sam the Man was undertaking such a
grueling tour. Nor did the documentary mention that the lecture started
here, in Cleveland -- July 15 and 16, 1895 -- at the vast Music Hall
(which burned to the ground in 1898, no thanks to a stray cigar from
Sam). Both appearances were benefits for the Newsboys' Home. How's that
for a hometown angle?
    But if a failure, I don't think "On the Trail of Mark Twain" is a
total failure. First, I think it would have been better received if the
title had been reversed -- "Traveling with Peter Ustinov: On the Trail
of Mark Twain" -- letting viewers know that Ustinov was their traveling
companion, not Twain. If a little Ustinov goes a long way for you, that
would have seen a proper caution flag flying over this four-part-series.
Second, I think it would have been better if presented as a travelogue,
not a documentary (which, of course, it only slightly resembles). A
travelogue can be somewhat lightweight. A documentary suggests more
substance and, well, documenation. Third, for the casual viewer who
knows little about Twain, the trip has its fun and illuminating moments.

    Does any of this let PBS off the hook? Of course not. Does it make
"On the Trail. . . " a total abomination? Let's not go too far in the
other direction, either. People, I've been looking at the pilots for
network series for the last three weeks. This thing's a bloody
masterpiece compared to the likes of "Shasta McNasty" and "The WWF
Smackdown."
    I think it also goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that
Ustinov, 78,  is no Twain scholar. He had to learn about "Following the
Equator" on the run. I had the chance to interview him last month in Los
Angeles, so I pass along excerpts from that for anyone's use, interest
or condemnation:
Ustinov: "The film starts with me in my garden saying, 'I don't know why
I'm doing this, because it's lovely here.' I'm sitting in idyllic
circumstances. And at a time of life when most of my sons'
contemporaries are taking early retirement, I'm taking a trip around the
world. I don't know why I did it, but I don't regret it for a moment,
because it was fascinating really. Curiosity, I guess is the best
answer."
    "Following the Equator: "It's not the best of the books, it's not up
to 'Huckleberry Finn' or anything like that. But I think he was a
wonderful writer. He was a superb journalist. And from that ooint of
view, the book is awfully interesting because it contains things which
are surprising for the period. Such as one remark which, I won't get
correctly, because I can never remember it exactly, but he said
something like, 'There's not a square inch of the world's surface that
hasn't been stolen,' which, for that time of history, was a very
extraordinary statement. It's similar to when his friend Kipling, for
instance, said, 'You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.' If you
analyze it, there must have been old English gentleman sitting in clubs
who were livid, saying, 'What are you talking about? He was far better
than Gunga Din!' You know, those were relatively revolutionary
statements at a time when picaresque-ness was the order of the day.
    "I think Mark Twain is a wonderful type of person. I love that sort
of mind. He has a very questing mind, and a very civilized mind, and a
very American mind. I read 'Huckleberry Finn' when I was quite young,
and I liked it very much, and that's real literature. I think he would
have been very satirical about some of things going on today, and I
really regret that his voice is not heard."

Final note: Okay, I can hear you all saying, "Yeah, too bad his voice
isn't heard more in this PBS program." I certainly can't disagree with
that. Just wanted to throw a few more logs on the fire.
Best,
Mark