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