Plot:The Olsen twins are called in for a mystery.They are called by twopeople.Commander Flash and Commander Speedy from Huntsville.Beforetake-off,they found a hole in the fuel tank of the shuttle,and theycanceled the mission.No one is sure what happened,and they called theOlsen twins.

This was pretty good.The music kinda sucked,but it was a bit catchyback in the day,which was like eleven years ago.The characters werekinda cool and likable.Speedy was my fav,the cutting and replying partwas funny.The training parts were cool,another reason why I wanted togo to the space center.The mystery itself was interesting.Slightlyunlike the others,it was well thought out and planned.I never thoughtwhat the cause was,did it.Sneaky! Overall,this was good.

4/5—-6/10

2) I absolutely hated the Olsen twins on Full House, but for some reasonthese mystery videos are much more tolerable. I think it's because,where Full House was set in reality, these were set in an alternatereality where these dumb, clueless adults call in two 9 year old girls.The acting in this one, I remember, was worse and more over acted thanin any of the other videos. This one deals with the girls trying tofigure out the case of a monster making it snow. It's really stupid,good for toddlers, but most importantly, any one else will enjoy howcorny and stupid and bad the acting is (purposely bad acting).

My rating: *** out of ****.

3) This was one of the first Mary-Kate and Ashley shorts I saw, and I kind ofliked it. Of course, I was about six or seven, so my taste wasn’t thatgreat. This movie shows how cute the twins are and how they can so notsing. Their acting is okay, keeping in mind that they were only eightyearsold. If you are not a Mary-Kate and Ashley fan or under the age of ten,definitely don’t see this. This is not one of the best movies that theymade. But of course, an Olsen twins fan should see it to see how twinsacted around the end of Full House.

Plot:Mary-Kate and Ashley have another mystery on their hands.They geta call from three people from E.L.F(Extremely Long Flights)Airlines,that "The Spirit of Christmas",an airplane is missing.Theirsystems have also been hacked,and they need their help to find thehacker and get the plane back to the base.

Lets start off with the new characters.Ebanezer Scrooge,the hacker'scode-name was an interesting character.Pulled it off pretty good.Thethree elves.Rick,Nick and Slick.I loved the three of them.Greatacting.The butler,eh didn't bother so much.Nice guy playing Santa.Themusic was great too.I actually liked it more,then the music in theYou're invited version.

The only other thing that bothered me a bit,was the whole Christmas inCalifornia thing.I don't know why though.But the mood was okay.

Overall rating 3/5—-4/10

2) The first time I saw this movie was in the early forties, when I wasfourteen years old, the part I remembered best was the line; you askfor a dime at a time, and then the fist fights as boy's and as men,life aboard a ship. And I always liked the acting of Ian MacDonald as aheavy.

Claire Trevor another favorite of mine, as the girl who was alwaysfaithful, and stuck with her man even though she was losing him.

Evelyn Keyes as the haughty rich girl as one reader said.

The girl who had everything, Stu Erwin is good too and the little boywhom I did not recognize,'till the closing credits rolled Dickie Moore.And Eden's goodbye to Raglan; he said a dime at a time and to me itlooked like they parted as friendly enemies.

I had been looking for this movie ever since I got my first BETA-MAXVTR as they were first called(Video Tape Recoders)I got my copy lastweek and I've really enjoyed it. "Boompa" kingcody3@comcast.net

• The segments based on “The Diary of Adam and Eve” had been released earlier as a separate short to procure investors for the final feature film.
• When they are ejecting ballast from the airship to catch the comet, one of the items thrown overboard is a Paige typesetter, of which Mark Twain comments, “Worst damn investment I ever made.” In reality, Mark Twain did invest – and lost – a lot of money on an automatic typesetter.
• The first full-length feature in clay animation.
• Some television broadcasts of the film have omitted the “Mysterious Stranger” segment because it was considered likely to disturb some viewers (particularly children).

• Revealing mistakes: Dirt and seams visible on the rear projection screen during the scenes in the deck of the airship after they enter the comet.
• Revealing mistakes: Wires holding the asteroids that attack the airship as it nears the comet.
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): All the characters pronounce Halley’s Comet with a long a. The comet is named for Sir Edmund Halley, whose name is pronounced with a short a.

Some have pointed out that it is "not necessarily a kids movie"; Not ATALL a kids movie, i’d rather say.

Nobody forgets seeing it, and as soon as one remembers it later, onestarts to look for it. Alas, it is extremely hard to find – at least inever succeeded. I saw it only twice, on TV, no less than 10 and 14years ago, and my filmometer jumps high every time i think about it.

Find it. See it. Enjoy the ride. Copy it. Copy it again, for yourgrandchildren, and save the copy somewhere safe till they grow up.

2) I must have seen The Adventures of Mark Twain for the first timeover twelve years ago, and for over a decade it had haunted me…rarely, if ever, rebroadcast, I was left only with vague memory ofwhat I remembered as one of the most vibrant pieces of visual artand storytelling that I was exposed to as a youth.I recently purchased it directly from the studio that released it, andgot to return to it for the first time in a long time. Of course, whenreturning to childhood films, you always run the risk of beingdisappointed by the film being worse than you recall.Luckily, I was not disappointed at all. The story is of Mark Twain’scharacters Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Becky Thatcher as theystow on board an airship created by Mark Twain himself. Throughthe course of their journey across the world to meet Haley’s comet,we are invited to retellings of Twain stories and meet all sorts ofdifferent characters. The humour is intelligent and dry, but not overthe heads of children.

Visually, this piece is stunning. There is something vivid andtactile about stop-motion animation that will always appeal to memore than any CGI creation. Will Vinton outdoes himself with thispiece. From the grandeur of Twain’s airship or the Garden ofEden, to the detail of Twain’s parlour/billiard room and the simple,truthful human expressions that the animators manage to createon the characters’ faces, the film is impressive from first tolast.

What surprised me the most is how this film, which I rememberedas a children’s or family film, is in fact quite dark. It deals withaspects of life, death, evil, and human nature that one would neverexpect in a so-called "family" film. But while the outward darkness,and, at times, even morbidity of individual aspects may seeminappropriate for family viewing, it comes from the sane andgrounded perspective that Twain himself seems to have beenknown for. Like in any good storytelling, the dark side of humanityis not spared from the viewer just because of the potentiallyyouthful audiences.

By way of criticism, the film could definitely move at a faster pace.The humour, while clever and dry, as I said, could have beenpushed farther. There were many times the film set us up for quitea punchline and then didn’t deliver, instead settling for a consistentlevel of pleasant amusement. And I wish the episodic structurehad been more fully taken advantage of, and had been extendedinto even more stories. But that may just be me wishing the moviewas longer than 86 minutes. You can’t have too much of a goodthing.

I give the storytelling an 8 out of 10, and visuals a 10 of 10. Overall,a 9. There aren’t too many of those, as far as I’m concerned.

And even if you didn’t like this movie, you gotta admit, it’s one of akind.

3) I know this is going to sound like hyperbole, but this makes my list of theten best movies EVER. What a shame it’s so obscure. Highly recommended,for older kids and adults. A bit dark and scary for younger kids.

The script draws in some of the more obscure Twain works such as TheMysterious Stranger and Tom And Huck Abroad, and does so seamlessly. Theclaymation is excellent. It really gives you sense of both the humor,darkness, and humanity of Mark Twain. Just a great, great movie, and anexcellent overview of Twain and his work.

BTW, I believe that there is a later live-action movie with the same title(The Adventures Of Mark Twain), so don’t get the wrong one.

4) I don't know how they did it. This movie is as close to memorable as"movie magic" will ever get. As i sifted through the previously postedcomments i came to realize that i wasn't the only one who wascompletely "tranced" by its animation and story line as a little kid.Unbelievable! Kudos to those who did it.

I watched it only once before, i think i was around 7, and i NEVER EVERforgot about it! Then i watched it again yesterday, and then anavalanche of unexplained and repressed memories came down trickling asthings became clearer. Well, a bit more clearer!

At any rate, now that i know what it's about, i can't say i amdisappointed. This time nostalgia really paid out. Beautiful movie,even if broody, in every respect. That said, this clearly isn't a moviefor everyone.

5) This film was one of my favourites as a child, and has remained so formany and various reasons. The Claymation in the film is second-to-none,with objects and characters continually reshaping themselves in a mostpsychedelic fashion. The story is fantastic, and weaves togetherseveral of Mark Twain's lesser known tales using a fantasticallydepicted frame story of his most famous characters (Huck Finn, TomSawyer, and Becky Thatcher) stowing away on Twain's balloon in which heintends to meet Halley's comet, there in the year of his birth and theyear of his death. (Quote: "There go those two unaccountable freaks,they came in together and they must go out together") This movie is notjust visually superb, it brings its viewer through the story with allthe emotions that a great movie should bring to its viewer. From joy inthe touching antics of 'Our Ancestor Adam' from the 'Diary of Adam andEve' section through some brilliantly evocative quotes spoken by thefantastically animated 'Twain' to the eerie and fearful intensity thatcomes when the central characters meet 'An Angel', this movie has trueand unconventional value.

I would recommend this to everyone, but as I'd like it to remain one ofcinema's rare hidden gems, don't watch it unless you're ready to beamazed…

6) This is some great claymation. Great detail caught in the facialexpressions, lots of characters and settings. This film is truly acaptivating visual experience. Mark Twain is driving an airship toHaley's Comet into his demise, and his characters Tom Sawyer andHuckleberry Finn have stowawayed themselves on the ship. Some of MarkTwain's other stories are told in the process in claymation, andcreation, death, and the afterlife are all explored. This film is notjust for kids as it has a very adult sense of humor and some very deepthemes. I really enjoyed it more than I expected too, definitely aclassic in clay-animation.

7) I saw this when I was small at my grandmother's house. I saw it onlyonce more, years later somewhere on TV. I had never loved a claymationfilm more until Tim Burton's NBC. I was lucky enough to find it on DVD,and promptly rented and watched it last night. I fell in love all overagain. Tim could learn much from this gem. The facial expressions arespot-on, almost photographic, the story is great, and the sly humour iswonderfully refreshing. This is such a huge labor of love,for the artitself and for the man that inspired it,leagues away from anythinganimation has been for the past 15 years or so. I loved it because itnever talked down to me as a kid, and wasn't afraid to show me thatinnocence can be terrifying. "I can do no wrong, for I do not know whatit is" is the most chilling line I have ever heard spoken in any film.Rent this or buy it as soon as you can, you won't be sorry.

My mother brought this movie home from the library once when I was ayoung child, about 4. I didn't understand it very well, but I wasthrilled by the clay animation. When I was about 13, I came across ittin the library again and after checking it out, I found a post-it notestating: "May not be understood by children under Junior High level."

When I watched it again, I understood it. There was the story of Adamand Eve and how they didn't understand what each other did, and thoughteach other foolish. Then there was the dark side. I still didn'tunderstand it quite as well after watching it a second time, but it wasslightly understood.

This may not being a good movie for younger children, but they do get athrill out of the animation, although they may not fully understand it.

9) "The Adventures of Mark Twain" is a fascinating animated feature. Theclever mind of Will Vinton fashioned a masterpiece from the works of oneofAmerica’s greatest writers. Seeing stories like "The Celebrated JumpingFrog of Calaveras County" and "The Diaries of Adam and Eve" fleshed out inanimation is something else. Of course, it’s doubtful that any studiotodaywould make an animated film exactly like this. Still, I’d think it’s awonderful way to introduce younger people to classic Americanliterature.

10) Where do I begin to explain the splendid majesty of this highlyacclaimed film? It is…enlightening, educating, and most ofall…inspiring. It jolts the imagination to confusion, it swirls themind around the idea of Mark Twain in a submarine in the sky, it makesyou wish that you too could be made of clay and have adventures in thesky.

The most inspiring character is Becky "Angelfish". Her role is small,but she plays it with awe-ing acting and her beauty is undescribablyoff the charts. Her braids swishing in the wind of the air, her squeakyvoice shouting at her Tom, and her obvious statements are so charmingthat you wish that she was real.

Tom and Huck also play amazing characters in this film, but the realactor in this…is Homer, Huck’s frog. Homer’s part has action,adventure and lines that only the wisest can truly fathom. The sequencewhere Homer (spoiler warning) is dangling off the edge of the balloonduring the storm is dramatic, well-played and excellently managed. MarkTwain saves him and Homer is happily reunited with his pal, Huck.

Huck’s character is mature while you may want to beat Tom’s characterwith a stick for his ignorance. Twain is the star, but his actingcannot compare with that of Becky’s and Homer’s.

The animation is superb, the quotes are well placed and the story isimaginative and dark, comical, and unique. I suggest that you go out tothe store and fling yourself at the first copy for it shall change yourlife as you know it. Please do not wait for this opportunity may passyou by. As Mark Twain once said (and says in this movie): "Naked peoplehave little or no influence on society." — Mark Twain

• The brief Civil War battle scene at the bridge and the image of President Grant are from They Died with Their Boots On (1941).
• The scene where Clemens receives an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1907 was the recreation of an event that C. Aubrey Smith, who plays the Oxford Chancellor, actually witnessed.

• Factual errors: The epitaph quoted in the movie by Samuel Clemens was not for his wife’s grave; rather, it was for his daughter Susie.

2) THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN is one of my favorite films. Even as the yearspass, and I discover an ever-increasing number of biographical errors, itstill possesses a kind of magic that is captivating. It may not be thehistoric Twain on the screen, but it’s a Twain we all would have liked toknow!

How can you criticize a film when, at the beginning of the story, the leadcharacter threatens, in writing, to ’shoot you’ if you look for a highermoral? As the camera pans back while a hand signs a name to the documentwith a flourish, we are ‘introduced’ to the spirit of Samuel LanghorneClemens, himself, the living embodiment of the white-haired rascal we’ve allseen in his many ‘turn of the century’ photographs, with a twinkle in hiseye and his tongue firmly ‘in cheek’. Fredric March bears an astonishingresemblance to the author (thanks, in large measure, to Perc Westmore’sextraordinary make up), and, more importantly, portrays him with a sense ofirreverence and fun. His Twain is a man who loves the ‘Mighty Mississippi’,writes from his heart, and observes life with the eye of a born humorist,seeing all of Man’s foibles as part of a giant Cosmic joke he is privyto.

In the fanciful biography, Clemens is delivered as Haley’s Comet streaksoverhead, as scores of black slaves listen to his father call the celestialevent a "jubilation in Heaven". As a child, he plays with Huck Finn, TomSawyer, and the slave, Jim, then escapes to the river after writing afar-fetched tale, which gets his older brother, a printer, in hot water.Despite the boy’s total ineptitude, a riverboat pilot swears to teach himhis profession, and in a few years, the adult Clemens masters theMississippi, successfully guiding his riverboat through the dangerous watersat night, until the cry of "Mark Twain…Safe Water" is heard. Whiledazzling naive passengers with tales of how alligators ‘hitch rides’ on thepaddlewheel, Clemens sees a cameo with the image of young Libby Langdon(Alexis Smith), and announces to her brother that she would be the girl he’dmarry.

Heading west with friend Steve Gillis (the always wonderful Alan Hale) tostrike it rich where the "gold is on the ground waiting to be picked up", hefails spectacularly, and ends up a reporter at a frontier newspaper. Hewrites an account of a leaping frog competition, and the sad fate ofnovelist Bret Harte (John Carradine, perfectly cast!) and his prize jumper.Not thinking the story very good, he signs ‘Mark Twain’ as the author’sname…then decides to throw the manuscript away. Fortunately, his editorretrieves it from the garbage, and sends the story back east, where, to apublic overwhelmed by Civil War news, it provides welcome relief, creating asensation. Mark Twain becomes a national celebrity! When finally trackeddown, Clemens sees a way to win his ladylove, and plays both himself andTwain at a packed New York lecture. Libby is dazzled by him, he goescourting and ‘moves in’ to her home (much to the bemusement of her father),and, with her inspiration, his fabulous career as ‘America’s Voice’begins.

Chronicling Clemens’ eventful life with unforgettable scenes of spectacularsuccess as well as tragedy and failure, THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN is thetale of a legendary man, told in ‘larger than life’ terms. While most of thestory is fictitious (the real Clemens’ biography would require a Ken Burnsdocumentary to do it justice), the film is never less than entertaining.Fredric March is superb in the lead, and, as Haley’s Comet returns, endinghis time on earth, you may find it hard to hold back a tear, especially whenhis spirit says to his grieving daughter, "The reports of my death have beenGREATLY exaggerated…"

He was absolutely correct…Mark Twain will never really die!

3) If you love Mark Twain, then you will adore this great biographicalfilm. The movie is not just the run of the mill biography made in the1930’s and 40’s, but an amusing comedy, drama, and romance as one canimagine. Frederic March is so marvelous as Mark Twain, if Mark Twain wasalive to have seen this movie…he would have definitely had said, "Itseemsthat the news of my death has been greatly over exaggerated".

You will find that the art of movie making, great acting, and a superbstory is, The Adventures of Mark Twain.

4) He's now been physically dead all of 95 years, but Samuel LanghorneClemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) is still the most popular novelist andwriter in American history, and one of the few great American writersto merit his own film biography. There is no film (at the very least noremembered films) about Charles Brockden Brown (our first majornovelist), Washington Irving, Fenimore Cooper (whom Twain hatedreading), Hawthorne, Melville, Howells, James, Crane, Dreiser, Wharton,Alcott, Cather, Fitzgerald, Lewis, Hemingway, Faulkner, Steinbeck,Wouk, Salinger, Vonnegut, or Bellow. You have to go back to Edgar AllenPoe (the subject of several films, including a silent one (THE AVENGINGCONSCIENCE) by D.W. Griffith) to find another major American writer whois a subject of biography. There is also a film on the life of JackLondon made in the 1940s. But the key is that Poe, London, and Twainhad interesting lives meriting filming.

The film is true in its outline but the fleshing out is questionable.For example, Twain did go into the mining fields of California andNevada in the late 1860s, but he probably did not win the jumping frogcontest that was the basis of his first literary success, "The JumpingFrog of Calaveras County". Nor was his literary rival, Francis BretHarte (John Carridine), the man who lost that contest. But there was acontest he apparently witnessed in 1865, and he expanded on it for hisclassic short story.

Some aspects of the story I am surprised to find in the film. Theinfamous Whittier Birthday Speech fiasco (although still debated) didoccur in 1876, and somehow hurt his acceptance by the eastern literatiwhose "gods" (Emerson, Holmes, and Longfellow) were somewhat laughed atin it. Also there is the frightening story of the Paige Typesetter thathelped bankrupt Twain (forcing him to go lecturing and writing aroundthe world in the 1890s.

The fact is, the film is actually better in presenting Twain's literaryand private life than the average movie biography of that period oreven now. March looks like his subject (and his make-up ages himproperly). He knows how to do the delivery of the comic lecturesperfectly. Note how at one point when he says to the audience, "Thelast time I went south….", March points quietly but prolongeddownward, so the audience realizes he means "the last time I went toHell…." We are used today to Hal Holbrook's "MARK TWAIN TONIGHT"performances, with his southern delivery, but March is just aseffective in his way.

The other performances are good, with Walter Hampden lecturing Marchabout what gentlemen of his class consider REAL literature, or withPercy Kilbride as a typesetter who trains Twain, and who later claimshe helped make Clemens Mark Twain. Alexis Smith manages to portray Livy(Olivia) Twain as the perfect love match she was. The film does nothesitate to show Twain's career had as many missteps as successfulpeaks. It does avoid his attack on American Imperialism, and it doesnot detail the series of family deaths that plagued his last decade(two daughters and a nephew followed Livy to the grave before Samfollowed her in 1910). But for getting the general outline correct, andfor casting the film correctly and producing it very well I can say itdeserves a "10" out of "10".

5) Frederic March has a wonderful time playing the great author with all his humor and wisdom. This film is often overlooked, but it is one of the great bio-flicks. The settings, cast, Max Steiner score, and magic of the adventures add up to a funny and touching movie.

With a film like this available, I can report that the rumors of Mark Twain’s death are indeed exaggerated.

6) Like Samuel Clemens, himself, this film is a great illustration of theArt of Exaggeration. The rough outline of Twain's life is retained as afoundation for greater elaboration. The Calaveras County episode is aperfect example. Would it have had the same impact on us if Twain(Fredric March) had been a mere bystander? Absolutely not! We have astake in its outcome because HE has a stake in it. Would it have beenas funny if Twain's partner, Steve Gillis (Alan Hale) hadn't beenresponsible for filling the opposing frog full of buckshot? No way;Gillis' responsibility involves us. That Twain has bet on the frog ofthe opponent, Bret Harte (John Carradine), and lost all their moneyserves the interests of justice. More importantly, however, it is onemore example of the ironic failings of Twain's early life. Having BretHarte be the owner of the opposing frog is pure genius – a cleverhomage to another great American author, who was Twain's contemporary.He is played with aplomb by John Carradine, a wonderfully versatileperformer, whose earlier career as a character actor is sadlyovershadowed by his later career as a stereotypical ghoul.

As other commentators have noted, March is phenomenal in capturing thelegendary Mark Twain. March is one of the greatest actors in Americanfilm history. His performance here is typically nuanced, capturing thedry wit of Twain with understated charisma, and also the pathos of theman in his private life. Brilliant!

Alexis Smith is wonderful, too. She had the ability to capture loving,devoted women with a realistic warmth that is never over-sentimental.Besides, she is very easy to look at. (At a similar age, Jody Fosterbears an uncanny resemblance to Alexis Smith in this movie. The cameocould easily have been of Foster.)

The very personification of the Art of Exaggeration is Alan Hale, hereportraying Steve Gillis, Twain's sidekick out west. Somehow in rolessuch as Gillis he is capable of the greatest of acting paradoxes -delivering exaggerated performances that NEVER seem overacted or hammy.His characters always appear natural, yet larger than life. Offhand itis difficult to think of another actor who accomplished this incrediblebalance. I would watch ANY movie in which Hale appears.

Likewise, comedies of this era seem to be able to strike that samebalance – natural, yet larger than life. That is what sets them apart.Later films don't seem to be able to capture the same balance. Inattempting to do so, actors just come across as hammy. The Art ofExaggeration in American film, got lost some time in the late 40's.What a shame. Movies like this are the quintessence of that fine art.

7) Irving Rapper directs this biopic of the beloved American author SamClemens, better known as Mark Twain. Fredrick March is excellent in hisportrayal of Clemens from his early 20’s to his death at age 75. Thestory goes that Sam’s birth was ushered by Halley’s Comet. Thisentertaining tale may not be accurate enough to be a serious biography,but is good enough to sustain Twain’s legacy. Alexis Smith playsTwain’s wife Olivia, who understands that her husband may always be aboy at heart. His tales of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn remainenduring as the day he introduced them. The prolific writer had a majorfinancial reversal due to bad investments and his struggle to publishthe memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. Twain would go on a world widespeaking tour to pay off his debts before his death. Most memorable isthe film’s finale with spirits of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn urging thespirit of Twain to join them in heaven…just at the time Halley’sComet streaks the sky. In supporting roles are: Donald Crisp, JohnCarradine, Percy Kilbride, Alan Hale and William Henry.

Mark Twain has always been my favorite author since I was a boy. I readvoraciously but I always return to Mark Twain and if I was stranded onthe proverbial deserted island and had to choose to take only books byone author, those books would be by Mark Twain.

This movie is wonderful although it takes great liberties with Twain'sreal life story. I have seen it several times over the years and, infact, I am writing this review now because I just saw the last 20minutes of it on a classic movie channel. The ending has to be thecorniest tear-jerker of all times but it is also wonderful. Being abig, tough male, I have a total aversion to touchy-feely things and Iam not one to cry even at funerals but the ending of this movie alwaysmakes me cry like a baby. It is shamelessly emotional but it is gets tome every time. If you haven't seen this movie, do so. The only problemis that I believe it is out-of-print on VHS and I don't think it hasbeen released on DVD. Perhaps your local video store or your libraryhas it. Don't confuse it with two more recent movies of the same name.One of those stars James Whitmore and I have not seen that one so Icannot comment on it. The other one is a claymation movie, presumablyfor kids.

Like another reviewer of this movie, Mark Twain changed my life. Infact, in many ways, he shaped my personality. That reminds me that Ihave not read any Twain works in a couple years so when I finish thisreview, I am going to start reading one again from my library. Thosewho only think of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn when they think ofMark Twain are missing so much. Many consider Twain to be the greatestAmerican author of all time. I agree with those people. The world is abetter place because of Twain.

9) In spite of the discrepancies it was a fine movie. I have read most ofthebiographical works and this gives a wonderful picture of who Mark Twainreally is. It captures his love of his wife & family very nicely. Irecommend it to all that enjoy Mark Twain. The acting was better thanaverage for that period in movie making.

10) In the Adventures of Mark Twain, Frederick March portrays the author asSamClemmons himself would approve. This film is the most true to lifeaccountof Clemmons life as any film I have seen on the author. It not only letsthe viewer see the humorous side of Twain, but shows the desperate anddarksides as well. This is a film that every Twain "buff" shouldview!

• ‘John Cromwell’ began directing on June 15th, 1937 but soon left the project after just five days of shooting, due to “differences of opinion on story treatment,” according to a press release. The film’s producer Samuel Goldwyn then attempted to rope in William Wyler for the job.
• This marked the screen debut of Goldwyn’s protg Sigrid Gurie, whom he publicly labeled, “the Norwegian Garbo.”
• Lana Turner later recalled in a Gary Cooper biography that her “fancy black oriental wig” had been glued around her face with spirit gum, while she felt extremely uncomfortable in her costumes, and worse yet, had her eyebrows shaved off, at the insistence of Goldwyn himself, and replaced them with false slanting black ones.
• The film was received poorly at the box-office, becoming the biggest flop to date for both Cooper and for Goldwyn; it was estimated that the picture lost close to $700,000.
• Mrs. Ng as “Chen Tsu’s Mother” is in studio records/casting call lists, but the character did not appear in the movie. Because of period and location makeup, some of the other actors are difficult to recognize.

In no time at all, we are in the mysterious realm of Cathay, where thestreets are exotic, but seemingly made of cardboard as well. Marco isattracted by a strange voice – these medieval Chinese (or Mongols?)speakwith impeccable Oxbridge accents. And this one, oddly enough, is reading tohis children on some sort of verandah facing the street. This publicrecitation is from the New Testament, and Marco immediately completes thephrase, as it were. The placid mandarin figure takes this in his stride,andhappens to mention that he is treating his son to a crash course in botheastern and western wisdom – which is not bad for a place that has not yetbeen visited by a European.

Soon our Gary (er, Marco) is served a mysterious oriental dish called’spaghet’, which he thinks he will introduce to Venice when hereturns.

At the royal palace (made of a superior form of cardboard), he is soonimmersed in the intrigues of the court of Kublai Khan. After someswashbuckling and some overacting, he falls for a beautiful princess. Alas,she is pledged to another, but our hero is given the task of escorting herto her intended.

And so they sail away into the sunset on a large sea-going junk (!), andhe states that he will at least have her to himself for the year longvoyage. The film ends on this morally dubious note, and the implication isthat he eventually returned with his spaghetti to Venice and opened arestaurant.

2) Archie Mayo's 1938 "The Adventures of Marco Polo" is an odd film towatch. Even giving it the benefit of the doubt, this misguided attemptto bring the legendary figure to the screen doesn't quite make it. Noteven by a stretch of the imagination can we believe that the Chineseinhabitants of Cathay could look like these actors on the screen.

John Cromwell and John Ford are not credited, but they must have beencalled as consultants to a losing enterprise that even these talenteddirectors couldn't help fix. Robert Sherwood, a distinguished writer ofbetter films, is responsible for writing the screen treatment, butfrankly, his imprint is lacking in the finished product.

Of course, times have changed and no Hollywood producer would dare togive this type of "entertainment" to today's audiences because theywould be seen as ridiculous, at best. The film came out at a time whenaudiences were less sophisticated and more willing to accept storiessuch as this one. Even for a film produced by Samuel Goldwyn, thisproduction looks tacky. It's obvious the people behind this film eitherhad budget problems, or they didn't get the right art directors toimprove the film.

Gary Cooper, as Marco Polo, appears to be lost. The beautiful SigridGurie is made out to look oriental to resemble this Princess Kukachinshe is supposed to be. The only one that escapes the debacle is BasilRathbone. His Ahmed is a villain, and he plays it with relish. GeorgeTruex, Alan Hale, H.B. Warner, are seen in minor roles.

Watch this film as a curiosity, but don't expect too much.

3) THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO take him from his home in Venice, acrossthe wide expanse of Asia, to the palace of the great Kublai Khan.

Lavish and at times exciting, this adventure film never rises far abovethe level of a comic book and should not be relied on for muchhistorical accuracy. Even so, it is nonetheless entertaining, with asturdy hero and a villain worthy of scorn & hisses.

To his credit, Gary Cooper plays the title role with good grace and astraight face, doubtless well aware that a fat paycheck would be hisreward for spending so much time running about in 13th centurygarments. His Marco is a perpetual student, always excited aboutfinding something new and interesting. His romance with princess SigridGurie is refreshingly low-key and charming, even if wholly implausible.

Basil Rathbone is the evil Saracen who controls the Khan’s court, hislust for ultimate power having made him as rapacious as the vultures &lions he keeps in his private apartments to feed upon his enemies.Suave & sophisticated, Rathbone’s soothing voice and sinister goodlooks made him the perfect intelligent villain.

A bevy of fine character actors keeps the fast paced story moving:little Ernest Truex as Marco’s bookkeeper with bad feet – he spendsmuch of the film perched on Cooper’s back; H. B. Warner as thesoft-spoken Chinese inventor who befriends Marco; chubby, ditheringGeorge Barbier as a less-than-awesome Khan; rotund Robert Greig,sporting enormous fingernails, as the Khan’s majordomo, and diminutiveFerdinand Gottschalk as a most unfortunate emissary from the Khan ofPersia.

Jolly Alan Hale appears as a rebel leader who blithely sends hisprisoners off to be boiled in oil, but secretly lives in fear of histermagant wife, Binnie Barnes, while he secretly ogles slave girl LanaTurner.

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Some of the true facts concerning Marco Polo (1254-1324) and omitted bythe film should perhaps be relayed. Marco’s father Niccolò and uncleMaffeo had already made the long trip to China and met the great KublaiKhan. They left Venice in 1260 and returned in 1269 with the Khan’srequest that they come back with Christian missionaries and teachers.The Polo brothers took 21-year old Marco when they began their returntrip in 1271, with the blessings of the Doge, who secretly hoped forVenice’s power to expand, and the new Pope, who assigned two priests totravel with them. Afraid of what might lie ahead, the priests abandonedthe Polos in Muslim territory. The Polos would not reach the Khan’scourt until 1275. Marco immediately became a tremendous favorite of themonarch, who used and trusted him during his entire stay in China.Marco was able to travel and record many strange & wonderful sights,and for awhile was even made governor of the important city ofYangchow. Finally, in 1292, Marco was able to get the Khan’s permissionto return his elderly relatives to Venice, after escorting a Chineseprincess and her immense entourage to the Persian Khan. (There was noromance between Marco and the princess; to attempt one would have beenmore than his life was worth.) Eventually, after seemingly endlesstravel, the three Polos arrived home in Venice, having been gone for 24years. In 1298, while captaining a Venetian ship, Marco was capturedand placed for a short time in a Genoese prison. While there, hedictated the story of his marvelous travels to a fellow inmate. Wheneventually published, it became one of the most famous books of themillennium.

4) This is the sort of film that usually makes history teacherscringe–after all, this film bears about as much of a resemblance tothe life of Marco Polo as it does to Ferdinand Marcos! Part of this isbecause there is a very limited amount that we actually know about this13th century adventurer and part of it is because Sam Goldwyn must haverealized what we DID know wasn't all that exciting–so, in trueHollywood fashion, the story is almost complete hogwash! Who, otherthan Hollywood, can make Kublai Khan seem cuddly and sweet–allowing acommoner like Polo to make out with his favorite daughter? The bottomline is after the first 10 minutes of the film, the movie diverges sofar from reality it is impossible to believe any of the movie. However,from a purely entertainment point of view, this movie is prettygood–albeit a bit hokey. The story has lots of action, adventure,suspense, White-American people playing Asian roles and a lavishbudget. So, provided, of course, you completely suspend disbelief, thisis a watchable and entertaining flick.

5) In itself corny and uneven, this is typical 30s entertainment done on agrand scale; the look of the film is artificial but undeniably lavish.Being a Samuel Goldwyn production, the film is the very antithesis of ahistory lesson; still, it's more interesting when dealing with thetitle character's various discoveries in the Orient than his romanticconquests!

Goldwyn, however, could surely afford to employ a reliable cast – mostof whom, though, one would be hard-pressed to accept as Chinese -including Gary Cooper (likeable as always in the lead, if not exactlybelievable), Basil Rathbone (a typically sly villain), Sigrid Gurie(Kublai Khan's daughter and, naturally, an object of contention betweenCooper and Rathbone), Ernext Truex (funny as Cooper's flusteredsidekick), Alan Hale (a jovial rebel leader) and H.B. Warner (whobasically replicates his dignified Chang from LOST HORIZON [1937]).Action is sparse but nicely handled (particularly the climax) and,surprisingly, the montage sequences (a feature of many films of theera) utilize some interesting optical effects.

The IMDb lists the uncredited contribution of two other directors -John Cromwell and John Ford; since the latter's frequentcinematographer Archie Stout does feature in the credits, I'm inclinedto believe Ford was involved at some point…though it doesn't reallyshow in the finished product (the subject was hardly up his street, tobegin with)! Back in the day, I had watched both the 1965 internationalepic MARCO THE MAGNIFICENT and the 1982 TV mini-series MARCO POLO; I'llbe following this with an Italian low-brow variation made in 1961 (seereview below) and might even rent the recent 1998 version, THEINCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO (shortened to MARCO POLO for theU.S.) – if only because it features Jack Palance and Oliver Reed, andwas written by Harry Alan Towers!

6) You either get it or you don't. Like most studio films, this movie wasintended to make money by providing one thing – entertainment. Not ahistory lesson, not social commentary. Entertainment. Like the betterrealized but equally fake-medieval "Adventures of Robin Hood," releasedthe same year (1938), "The Adventures of Marco Polo" (note the similartitle) provides plenty of entertainment in the comedy-adventure genrethat eventually led to "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Evaluating either"Raiders" or "Marco Polo" on its historical accuracy misses the point.It's like asking how Marco is able to speak what must be flawlessMandarin, plus the language of Alan Hale's presumably Turkic people. Ifyou gotta ask, the movie just isn't your style.

Cooper looks a little less comfortable in this role than in someothers, but he's adequately wry and intrepid, never taking the role ofMarco too seriously. The rarely-seen Sigrid Gurie, whose face remindsone of Garbo, even through the Asian makeup, is beautiful and etherealas the daughter of Kublai, played with Midwestern folksiness by theaffable George Barbier. (Remember, it's not supposed to be real.) AsKublai's evil vizier, Basil Rathbone emanates the same elegant menaceas he did in the role of Sir Guy in "Robin Hood." The ubiquitous AlanHale, Sr., plays his usual self, and if you look carefully you'll seeteenybopper Lana Turner in a small but fully credited role.

Why aren't there any Chinese here in leading roles? Because first, thestudio had big-name actors on contract and meant to use theirbox-office appeal to make a bundle. Second, despite the potentiallyimpressive Asian-American talent pool in California no greed-drivenexecutive would have counted on white audiences in 1938 to shell outDepression-era cash to watch Asian unknowns acting the leads infor-profit motion picture. "The Adventures of Marco Polo" is not "TheLast Emperor," and it doesn't pretend to be. Nor is it a misconceivedturkey like John Wayne's Mongol epic "The Conqueror" (1961). Insteadit's only a great "family film" and simple adventurous fun in thepulp-magazine tradition.

7) Gary Cooper had a most interesting relationship with Sam Goldwyn. Hedid seven films with Goldwyn and a cursory glance at the titles showsthat Goldwyn was constantly giving him better and more suitablematerial for him. With The Adventures of Marco Polo he could hardlyhave done worse.

How can I say it, Gary Cooper just does not suggest a renaissanceItalian Man. Unless they all had that Montana drawl. Contrast hisperformance here with Tyrone Power in Prince of Foxes or in The BlackRose where he plays an Englishman in the China of Kublai Khan. Power inthis part would have made it believable. But Darryl Zanuck wasn'tgiving Ty Power's services away.

To complete the film, cowboy Cooper is given a Smiley Burnette likesidekick in Ernest Truex. The two of them as the history books tell us,go off to the court of Kublai Khan to negotiate a trade agreement forVenetian merchants, particularly the House of Polo.

There the real history stops as Cooper gets involved in all kinds ofpalace intrigue.

Here's some of where Sam Goldwyn's casting gets positively zany. GeorgeBarbier is Kublai Khan and Goldwyn must have seen Cecil B. DeMille'sThe Crusades where Barbier played King Sancho. Worked for C.B. it'llwork for me. Sigrid Gurie was another Scandinavian import, another onetrying to be another Greta Garbo. If Anna Sten didn't work, we'll makeSigrid a Scandinavian Mongol Princess.

Best of all is Basil Rathbone as Ahmed, his Saracen adviser who playsthe part just as if he was playing Guy of Gisborne. Rathbone carried itthrough however, he must have seen how all around him looked so hecould hide in the crowd.

H.B. Warner had the year before played the High Lama Chang in LostHorizon. Here he's a clever fellow who shows Marco Polo this latestthing the Chinese have invented called gunpowder. Actually they'd hadit for some time and the west had had it also, a fellow named RogerBacon had written extensively and experimented even more extensivelywith the stuff a couple of centuries before. Never mind it took GaryCooper to see its possibilities.

Sam Goldwyn's sets were lavish and the battle scenes at the end verywell staged. That it has nothing to do with any history is only a minorcriticism, it does not succeed because of the unbelievable plot andincredible casting.

Stunned, surprised, confused, amazed. All adjectives that ran throughmy mind while watching this trash.

Gary Cooper was one of the best actors Hollywood has ever had. Whathappened here is beyond comprehension. I am amazed that he not onlychose to do this script, but put in the lack of effort he did.Sleepwalk is to pay him a compliment.

As for Alan Hale, one of the great character actors in movie history,was so miscast that its laughable. Imagine an actor with a slight Irishaccent playing a Chinese war lord. To say it didn't work is tocompliment the effort.

If you get a chance to see this movie, consider a bad book instead. Ithink you will be spending your time more wisely.

9) I didn't know how to take this movie. There are times when one thinksthat its going to be a serious historic drama, and the next, there aremoments of laughter…where I suppose they were not meant to be. SigridGurie was indeed exquisite and sensual…with all that makeup..whichbrings up the point that I noticed that there were at least 5'hangover' actors from the far superior "Algiers"…There was AlanHale, Robert Grieg ( Hedy's fiancée from Algiers ) Sigrid, the actor (name escapes me ) but for Algier fans, he was the one that alwaysconfronted Chas. Boyer with "OK,OK!", and the informer, whose name alsoescapes me. They were both made in 1938, the same release studio"United Artist", but this was a personal one because of Samuel Goldwyn,the other was Walter Wanger. Ten years later this movie would ofstarred Maria Montez, Sabu and Jon Hall and in Technicolor. Thats all Ican say for this movie.

10) This is the film that cost LANA TURNER (in a bit role) her eyebrowswhich never grew back. Other than that, it has no distinctionwhatsoever except that it provides a nice comic book excursion into thepast with lavish sets of Oriental splendor but little else forcompensation.

Still, it's watchable enough thanks to the low-key and quietly humorousperformance of GARY COOPER (an unlikely choice for the role of theItalian adventurer from Venice). It's also interesting to watch SIGRIDGURIE, fascinating in close-ups with Hollywood's brand of Orientalmake-up–but an actress who never managed to be more than a passingfancy.

BASIL RATHBONE adds the right touch of menace as Ahmed, the villain ofthe piece, and ALAN HALE brings his boisterous presence to the role ofa man who was afraid of his lecherous wife (BINNIE BARNES) but notafraid to dispose of his enemies in boiling oil.

It gets more laughable as it goes on, but reaches new heights ofincredibility with an ending that has Polo making use of explosives tobring down the enemy camp. His final fight to the death with Rathbone,near an open trap door with hungry lions waiting below and vulturesoverhead, is the stuff of comic book suspense.

If you can suspend all disbelief long enough to enjoy it, it passes thetime quickly and entertainingly. A history lesson, it's not.

In the opening segment, a man (Lawrence Aberwood) appears and introuces this movie that has a "cast of thousands" and is a "pinnacle of acheivement" when two orderlies appear and drag him off in to his room which is in a psycho ward. In one office, a young Frenchman named Pierre (Billy Falbo) is seen talking to his psychiatrist. The psychiastrist is a woman, and Pierre sees her as quite nude. Pierre reveals all about his infatuation with women in which he sees all women in the nude. He reveals his adventures in minute detail when a series of segments begin which are Pierre’s so-called "adventures" with his ability to see women in the nude.

In "Pardon My Pigment", Pierre is in a part painting two ladies which to him are fully bare-assed and the ignorance that he sees them naked.

In "The Plumber’s Friend", Pierre calls over his plumber friend (Bill Kerwin) to fix his bathroom plumbing when the plumber’s wife also shows up, and Pierre finds himself infatuated with the plumber’s wife who also shows up. Pierre desperately tries to eradicate his problem, but spends more time watching the lady shower then take care of his leaky plumbing.

In "For the Birds", Pierre is back in the local park "chic watching" with a pair of binoculars a pair of the same ladies he painted earlier, but another woman, for whom he longs for, continues to elude him. He gets tired of watching the other nude ladies and goes after the other one, who evades him to him giving up trying to use his ability to see her in the nude. But after Pierre, defeated and dejected, leaves the park, the women shows all to the viewers.

In "The Photographer’s Apprentice", Pierre is photographing a bevy of attractive ladies for his own personal gain and to view them more as they are.

In "Drive-In Me Crazy", Pierre visits a Chicago nudist colony where he pays his admission to a nude female ticket taker, parks his car, and begins watching a nudie-short film at the colony’s open-air theater. Pierre orders a box of popcorn and one by one all of the female staff brings him a box and he buys every one of them.

2) Townley Hotel telephone operator Kitty O’Day (Jean Parker) and travel bureau clerk Johnny Jones (Peter Cookson), become involved in a murder when Kitty hears shots over the telephone. They investigate, find the body of a man and call the police. But when Inspector Clancy (Tim Ryan) and police sergeant Mike (Ralph Sanford) arrive, the body has disappeared. As Kitty and Johnny have shown up before as somewhat bothersome amateur detectives on other cases, Clancy is inclined to believe there has been no murder. Jewel robberies of the hotel safe have occurred recently, and insurance investigator Tracey (William Ruhl) has been sent to investigate. More killing occurs and finally the body of businessman Williams, the first one killed, is found again. Carla Williams (Jan Wiley), the widow, and Nick Joel (Hugh Prosser)are suspected as Carla had claimed her husband was in Chicago. Kitty suspects hotel manager Sauter (William Forrest) and goes to his room looking for clues.

2) Watched this film on TV and found this film one big COMEDY with alsomurder, steam rooms, message parlors, dead bodies appearing in almostevery room of a hotel. Jean Parker,(Kitty O'Day)," Dead Man's Eyes" ranaround and sounded like Lucille Ball and always had a hat on her headno matter where she was; in elevators where a man was electrocuted.Kitty also ran around in circles with Peter Cookson,( JohnnyJones),"Detective Kitty O'Day", who was trying to keep Kitty safe andout of his way so he could solve a crime and at the same time try tokeep her safe. This film was so way out in left field, I could hardlybelieve that anyone would find this film entertaining. I love old timefilms from way back when, but this particular film I really could haveavoided watching.