Thank you, Judith. The story had a distinct air of bunkum about it, and the text you quote supports that. In my Illinois history course that I teach at Harper College, I devote a fair amount of attention to the Fair, and I had never seen a single reference to any moving picture of the Fair, let alone one taken by Mark Twain. The reference to him having a heart attack at the sight of Little Egypt's performance strikes me as reminiscent of his description of his reaction to the Can-Can in "The Innocents Abroad": "Twenty sets formed, the music struck up, and then--I placed my hands before my face for very shame. But I looked through my fingers." <-----Original Message-----> >From: Lee, Judith [[log in to unmask]] >Sent: 3/5/2014 9:54:46 PM >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Mark Twain, the World's Columbian Exposition, and belly dancing > >Larry and Jim, > >Joe Slade opened his copy of Donna Carlton=92s Looking for Little Egypt (Bl= >oomington, IN: IDD Books, 1994), so here is more of the paragraph that is = >apparently excerpted out of context in the link. Carlton gives an account = >of =93the hooch coochy Little Egypt=94 (as distinct from the Horatio-Algere= >sque legend of Fahreda Mahzar) on p. 93: =93This Little Egypt belonged to = >a sensualist, degenerate, pleasure-seeking demimonde of freaks and cheap th= >rills. She was both harem queen and concubine to the sideshow sheiks . . .= >Ladies and gentlemen, direct from the Chicago World=92s Fair, see the hooc= >h coochy dancer! She walks! She talks! She crawls on her belly like a rep= >tile! This Little Egypt strutted about wearing practically nothing. Her n= >ame even became a slang expression for a loose woman. Finally, in a fabri= >cated legend, her contortions resulted in a coronary for mark Twain, who co= >llapsed after viewing a performance.=94 > >Carlton clearly cites the tale as a myth, although she appears to be cited = >as if supporting it. > >Judith > > >On Mar 5, 2014, at 6:21 PM, Lawrence Howe <[log in to unmask]<mailto:LHowe= >@ROOSEVELT.EDU>> wrote: > >Jim-- > >I've never heard this story, but it has all the earmarks of a fabrication. = >=3D >Your recollection that he was ill when visiting Chicago is correct. He wa= >=3D >s here (Chicago's my current home) to negotiate with Paige on separating hi= >=3D >s interests on the typesetter. In addition to the letters, David Fears Mar= >=3D >k Twain Day-By-Day gives the details of his movements--or lack of them, he = >=3D >was laid up in the the Blackstone hotel, if I remember correctly. Clemens = >=3D >recovered enough from his illness to visit the fair on the afternoon of the= >=3D >last day he was in the city. As for him shooting a film of Little Egypt, = >=3D >I don't know of any accounts of him ever taking a photograph (though certa= >=3D >inly more were taken of him than perhaps any other living person). We know= >=3D >about his interest in the typewriter and the dictaphone. I suspect if he'= >=3D >d actually used a movie camera, we'd know about it. =3D20 > >I've long been curious about whether he had ever seen a film. It's widely = >=3D >known that the Edison crew made one of him at Stormfield, but I know of no = >=3D >reference from him of ever having seen one. In "Italian Without a Grammar"= >=3D >(1903) he includes some newspaper clippings that feature two ads for films= >=3D >being shown in Florence, and they were adaptations of classic stories--Qui= >=3D >xote was one, if I recall correctly. It's hard to imagine that he wouldn't= >=3D >have been interested in a new way of telling stories. But nothing has tur= >=3D >ned up. So the idea that he actually shot a film of an exotic dancer is fa= >=3D >scinating, though it seems unlikely. If you learn anything about the sourc= >=3D >e of this story, I'd be interested. > >--LH > > >Larry Howe >Professor of English >Chair, Department of Literature and Languages >Roosevelt University >________________________________________ >From: Mark Twain Forum [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behal= >f Of James Edstrom [jedst=3D >[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] >Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2014 5:22 PM >To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Mark Twain, the World's Columbian Exposition, and belly dancing > >In the course of reading an item on Salon today with the arresting >title, "Why I Can't Stand White Belly Dancers" ( >http://www.salon.com/2014/03/04/why_i_cant_stand_white_belly_dancers/), >this sentence caught my eye: "(fun trivia: Mark Twain made a short film >of a belly dancer at the 1893 fair)." This was a new one to me. >Although he was in Chicago during the Fair, I don't think Twain had a >chance to visit, as he was ill (if my recollection is correct). As for >the story that he filmed Little Egypt--I'd be curious to learn the >source of that myth. Another source--a book titled "Looking for Little >Egypt," which is excerpted at >http://www.allaboutbellydance.com/book.html --claims that Little Egypt >"supposedly caused Mark Twain to suffer a coronary and starred in one of >the first motion pictures, filmed at the fairgrounds by Mark Twain >himself." Wikipedia repeats the story as well and cites a 1965 >documentary titled The Love Goddesses as its source. Has anybody ever >heard this story before? > >Jim Edstrom=3D > >Judith Yaross Lee >Professor & Director of Honors Tutorial Studies >Editor, Studies in American Humor >Co-director, Central Region Humanities Center >School of Communication Studies >Ohio University >Lasher Hall >Athens, OH 45701 > >T:740-593-4888 >F:740-593-4810 >[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> >http://www.coms.ohiou.edu/judith-yaross-lee > >My newest book: Twain's Brand: Humor in Contemporary American Culture <htt= >p://www.ohio.edu/people/leej/Twains_Brand.html> >.