> > > > 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 > >