michaelRokeefe Review of The Adventures of Mark Twain

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)

A look at the life of a down home author.

[7/10 · 30 June 2005]

Irving Rapper directs this biopic of the beloved American author Sam Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Fredrick March is excellent in his portrayal of Clemens from his early 20's to his death at age 75. The story goes that Sam's birth was ushered by Halley's Comet. This entertaining tale may not be accurate enough to be a serious biography, but is good enough to sustain Twain's legacy. Alexis Smith plays Twain's wife Olivia, who understands that her husband may always be a boy at heart. His tales of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn remain enduring as the day he introduced them. The prolific writer had a major financial reversal due to bad investments and his struggle to publish the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. Twain would go on a world wide speaking tour to pay off his debts before his death. Most memorable is the film's finale with spirits of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn urging the spirit of Twain to join them in heaven...just at the time Halley's Comet streaks the sky. In supporting roles are: Donald Crisp, John Carradine, Percy Kilbride, Alan Hale and William Henry.