[This is the first of three thought-provoking messages sent to me by Wesley Britton, and posted to the Mark Twain Forum on his behalf. Although Wesley does not yet have access to e-mail, discussion and replies concerning these postings are welcomed at <[log in to unmask]>; Wesley receives the Forum's log files periodically and follows the discussion here. If you want to send a private or urgent reply to Wesley, though, you should direct it to his snail-mail address at the end of this message. --Taylor Roberts] _Mark Twain Encyclopedia_ Media Update No. 1 (July 1995) by Wesley Britton Since my article, "Media Adaptations of Mark Twain and His Works" appeared in the _Mark Twain Encyclopedia_, new productions have been issued, and other items have come to my attention I overlooked. This list supplements that article and seeks assistance in locating further information. _Movies_ Anyone interested in specific information on Hollywood studio versions of Mark Twain's works should consult _Magill's Survey of Cinema_ On Line Directory. For each film, _Magill's_ provides all productions and casting credits, plot synopsis, and in many cases extended reviews and short bibliographies of reviews. The information is detailed and well-organized; the reviews are unevenly insightful. According to the January/March 1995 issue of the _Mark Twain Circular_ (pg. 8), Clyde V. Haupt's 1994 _Huckleberry Finn on Film: Film and Television Adventures of Mark Twain's Novel 1970-1993_ (Macfarlane and Co.) discusses eleven American versions of HF including historical and production background, plot summaries, comparisons of the films with the original text, analysis, and critical and box-office reception to the films. In 1980, Signet paperbacks issued a tie-in edition of _Life On the Mississippi_ to coincide with the PBS T.V. movie of the book hosted by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Eight pages of photographs from the film are included. The rare dustcover of the 1944 hardcover edition of _The Adventures of Mark Twain_ by Albert B. Paine, released as a tie-in with the 1944 Warner Brothers movie of the same name, has a collage of photographs of Frederick March as Twain on the back. According to _Cardiff's Internet Movie Database_, "A Million to Juan"--a new version of Twain's "The Million Pound Bank Note"--was released in 1994. _Television_ Disney continues to be the studio most interested in Mark Twain, and they have issued several well-crafted family-fare, made-for-cable films. In 1991, the Disney Channel broadcast "Mark Twain and Me," starring Jason Robards as Twain, a romanticized retelling of Mark Twain's relationship with Angelfish Dorothy Quick. The film is now available on video. The same network aired in 1992 "Return to Hannibal," a speculative narrative of Huck and Tom as adults helping Jim in a legal jam, the King and Duke appearing as minor characters in this minor effort. In August and September 1994, the Learning Channel cable network aired two high-quality Twain documentaries. The first was a well-constructed episode of the "This Century" series hosted by Tom Brokaw, an hour-long show originally produced in 1989 by NBC for its "America: A Look Back" series. The show emphasizes Twain as a cultural figure and observer of his times. The hour is illustrated by photographs of styles and fashions of the nineteenth century. The film has a quick pace touching on many points and ignores Twain's literary works. Still, the films's visual details and appropriate background materials make this one of the more useful media biographies to date. The second Learning Channel project documents "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," examining the novel from a variety of standpoints with commentary by Justin Kaplan, James Cox, Victor Doyno, Garrison Keillor, and John Wallace and Nat Hentoff speaking at the 1993 Hartford Mark Twain Conference. The hour-long documentary serves as an excellent introduction to the novel with scenes from many Huck Finn movies including the rarely seen silent versions as well as newer reenactment and readings from the book. An installment of the "Great Book" series, Dale Minor and Gordon Hyatt produced the film for Discover Productions earning a Cronkite Award for film documentaries. The film, narrated by Donald Sutherland, contains much useful material for the classroom, although its editing and organization are occasionally confusing, and the ending seems to drift in the last fifteen minutes. It is most useful pointing to the variety of interpretations, highlights the novel's key scenes, and analyzes the novel's significance for modern readers. (My more detailed analysis of using media materials to teach HF will be included in Jim Leonard's upcoming _Teaching HF_ volume.) In 1995, the History Channel's _Civil War Journals_ series episode "Vicksburg: Siege and Battle" included two quotes from _Life On the Mississippi_ describing the city. An overblown, Marxist analysis of "Star Trek," with limited comments on Mark Twain's appearance in two episodes of that series, is Valerie Fulton's "An Other Frontier: Voyaging West With Mark Twain and _Star Trek_'s Imperial Subject." The article is available in the May 1994 _Postmodern Culture_ (v.4, n.3), and on the _Mark Twain Forum_. In 1995 (?), Connecticut Public Broadcasting aired a "Power Of Language" special, a condensed version of the October 1994 Hartford Conference hosted by the Mark Twain House. While little of the conference was directly related to Twain or the ostensible subject of _Huckleberry Finn_ beyond Shelley Fisher-Fishkin's reading of an important Twain _Buffalo Express_ letter regarding the lynching of an innocent black man, the special contains much thought provoking material on language, political correctness, and racial tensions. The special is not yet available on video. One episode of "Bonanza" featured a young Sam Clemens (played by Howard Duff) in a fictional adventure set in Virginia City. Writing for the _Enterprise_, Sam helps the Cartwrights win a land dispute, choosing the pen-name "Mark Twain" at the episode's end. Twain is briefly quoted in a 1994 episode of "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" in an episode featuring Robert Vaughn and Patrick Magnee. _CD-ROM, VR, and Audiotexts_ In the July/September 1994 issue of the _MT Circular_, Jim Leonard's review of multi-media resources _Twain's World_ and _Uncle Mark_ (pages 3-6) lists the videos included on those discs (including the 1909 Edison film of Twain himself). Jim also discusses the educational merits of the videos, filmstrips, and audio-visual components of the CDs. A posting on the MT Forum listed a 1993 Virtual Mark Twain, which "stands at the threshold of the public's craving for new types of entertainment"-- a creation of Color Concepts and Images. "American Humor and Satire" is a six-cassette anthology of readings including works by Twain, Harte, Artemus Ward, and many others. It is available from Filmic Archives for $44.95. In 1995, R. Kent Rasmussen wrote an insightful, detailed, and useful review of the following audiobooks for the _Mark Twain Forum_: Michael Prichard's _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ (1977, 7 cassettes, 10.5 hours), _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_, (1979, 6 cassettes, 9 hours), and _Roughing It_ (1986, 12 cassettes, 18 hours). Each of Prichard's readings was released by Books on Tape, Newport Beach, California. Rasmussen also reviewed the _Mark Twain Gift Set_ (_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_ and _The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County_). Much of this material, issued by Mind's Eye, Petaluma, Calif. (7 cassettes), was listed separately in the original _Mark Twain Encyclopedia_ media entry. Actor Norman Dietz has issued nine Twain titles on Recorded Books including Twain's major novels as well as _Roughing It_ and "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg." Further information about these books is available on the Mark Twain Forum. _Musical Adaptations_ Originally released in 1966, the soundtrack of the Broadway show, "The Apple Tree," was reissued in 1992 featuring ten songs based on _The Diaries of Adam and Eve_. Goddard Lieberson, unquestionably the most important and influential producer of Broadway soundtracks, oversaw the cast of Alan Alda (yes, Hawkeye sings), Barbara Harris, Larry Blyden, and Robert Klein in retelling of three stories: Twain's _Diaries_, "The Lady and the Tiger" by Frank R. Stockten, and _Passionela_ by Jules Feiffer. _Fiddler on the Roof_ veterans Jerry Boch and Sheldon Harnick wrote the music. Elmira College's "Mark Twain: A Musical Biography" (1989) with William Perky and Bernedette Wilson, is now available on audio-cassette and video. Produced by the Mark Twain Arts Council, the show is more musical production than biography, with many inaccuracies and distortions of Twain's life. In 87 minutes, the well-staged show emphasizes Twain's Elmira connections and his "home circle" of Livy and the children, a local production with a local emphasis. Allison Ensor's detailed explication of Jerome Kern's "Mark Twain Portrait for Orchestra" is in the April/June (Vol. 8, No. 3) issue of the _MT Circular_ on pages 4-5. Write George Sterm, Music Assoc. of America (224 King St., Englewood NJ 07631) for information about the 1995 CD of Paul Allan Levi's "Mark Twain Suite" performed by the New York Choral Society. _Help!_ Kevin Bochynski--to whom I am deeply indebted for much of this information--discovered an old _T.V. Guide_ which listed a film of _Roughing It_ with James Daly as "an elderly Mark Twain" and Andrew Prine as the younger Sam Clemens. Robert Saudek Associates produced it. We know nothing more about it. Does anyone know more? Does anyone have information about "The Great Rocky Mountain Chase" in which Sam Clemens and Mike Fink have a contest? Do you know the airdate of the MacNeill/Leher report on the Mark Twain Project? Word has it a "Rifleman" television episode featured Twain playing pool with Lucas McCain, telling his son about time passing by. An episode of the time-travel series "Voyagers" had one episode featuring a young Sam Clemens helping a black slave escape Hannibal on a raft, supposedly inspiring Huck Finn. Rumor has it a recent "Babylon 5" episode featured a take on the "War Prayer." Does anyone have information about either "This Old House" or the "Discovery" channel's shows on Twain's Hartford home or any other media productions not listed above or in the _Mark Twain Encyclopedia_? Please send any information (or copies, if feasible) to: Wesley Britton Sherman, TX 75090