Considering the state of motion picture technology in 1893, the chances of Clemens having access to a kinetoscopic camera were just about nil. Gregg Sent from my iPad > On Mar 5, 2014, at 8:01 PM, "Lee, Judith" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > 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>