For more information on Mark Twain, check out:
Mark Twain in Hartford, CT
This site has been established by the HARTFORD COURANT and contains great information about Twain and his days in that town.
http://interact.courant.com/special/twain/

Samuel Langhorne Clemens' life was connected with great events. His birth coincided with the arrival of Haley's Comet in 1835 and with the comet's return in 1910, his death coincided just the same. In his 75 years, he took on the pen name Mark Twain and became an American icon. His classic novels Tom Sawyer and The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn have been read by just about everyone in their youth.

Writer/director Stephen Low asserts that he was inspired to bring echoes of the nineteenth century to the screen, and show these phantoms of the past in the present. Low was familiar with an outstanding collection of historic stills and negatives that existed at the University of California-Riverside/California Museum of Photography. While doing research at the museum for his last 3D/2D large format film, "ACROSS THE SEA OF TIME," Low encountered a large quantity of fascinating photos of Mark Twain and an idea was born. With Sony Pictures Classics 1995 release of "ACROSS THE SEA OF TIME," Low realized the immense potential of taking postcard-size 3-D photos from the museum, blowing them up into giant 3-D stills and transferring them into a 3-D/2D motion picture.

Low saw a perfect example of the human experience in Mark Twain. Twain was a man who began his life in poverty, worked hard, became rich and famous, lost his family before his death, and died in debt. He was a man who whose life was connected with great events and became a legend in his own time.

The amazing period during which Twain lived still has great meaning. There is an emotional connection between his day and ours that is very much alive. As the film unfolds, we will visit with living historians for whom the Civil War was the greatest episode in America history -- it was the event which connected the country, made America whole, and we will see many others who similarly revere the past. Whether these people are admirers of a more simple time, of the golden age of invention, or of an era that provided excitement in the form of an unknown and uncharted frontier, they all have one thing in common with Twain -- passion for the wonders of the 19th century. Twain said it best himself when he said "The 20th century is a stranger to me. I wish it well, but my heart is all for my own century."

Narrated by Anne Bancroft, "MARK TWAIN'S AMERICA" highlights this incredible period in history. Larger-than-life photographs presented in 3D/2D in large format show how Twain lived and what he experienced. Twain volunteered in the Civil War, piloted steamboats, traversed the untamed American frontier, mined silver and gold in the Nevada Territory and California, and during the industrial revolution, rode the then "new" steamtrains across the west, saw the creation of flight and the invention of the automobile.

To relive Mark Twain's vision of America during his time, Low uses an extensive collection of 19th century images, both 3D photos from the California Museum of Photography at Riverside and 2D photos from Mark Twain research centers in Berkeley and Hartford. The 2D images are digitally converted into 3D in such a way that seemingly brings history alive! Shot over a 3-month period in 40 days, "MARK TWAIN'S AMERICA" also features present day people celebrating former ways of life and uses footage of recreations of historic events to show that the past is still alive with us today.

The filmmakers shot in a variety of Mark Twain's haunts, not only in Hannibal, Missouri; Virginia City, Nevada; Hartford, Connecticut; Elmira, New York; Montreal, Canada and Antietam, Maryland but on the Mississippi River as well! On location in Montreal, gospel singers are shown performing in a church choir. In an astonishing connection to the past, these singers are direct descendants from slaves who escaped to Canada by way of the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Mark Twain loved the sounds of gospel music; he knew a lot of gospel songs by heart and sang them too. "It is utterly beautiful to me and it moves me infinitely more than any other music can," he proclaimed. The Canadian singers sing authentic gospel songs from the 19th century era in addition to contemporary African folk songs that have their roots in the Civil War era.

Seen on the Fourth of July, Hannibal, Missouri celebrates one of it's most famous denizens with Tom Sawyer Days. The people of Hannibal get together and celebrate Mark Twain and some of his extraordinary cast of characters, including Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. As children participate in a fence whitewashing contest, a marching band trumpets through town past several landmarks that Twain himself visited in his time. The film also takes haunting looks into Mark Twain's boyhood home in Hannibal and his mansion in Hartford, Connecticut. Keeping history alive in mind, these homes have been completely restored.

"MARK TWAIN'S AMERICA" is a sentimental presentation told in Mark Twain's own words, demonstrating that many are caught up in reliving the past. Modern-day steamtrain enthusiast Mike Tackett, who spent most of his own life running and repairing trains, is shown instructing his son Jay on the value of these Industrial Revolution inventions as they head across the Sierra Nevada mountains on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. He affectionately calls the tourists foamers as they foam at the mouth in awe of the majestic train steaming across the West. Tackett and his trainload of wide-eyed tourists travel along the same route that Twain himself took as he traveled across the west.

The film shows the stately riverboats that sailed the Mississippi that fascinated Twain since he was a young boy growing up in Missouri. At age twenty-one, he fulfilled his dream of becoming a steamboatman when he apprenticed himself as a riverboat pilot for 18 months and then spent the next three years on the river. The tragedy of life on the river is also shown. After four boilers exploded on The Pennsylvania in a fiery crash, Twain lost his younger brother Henry when he became badly burned and later died.

Another enthusiast in the film who has with one foot in the past is Wisconsin steamboat enthusiast Captain Denis Trone. Captain Trone is shown with a replica of a mid-nineteenth century riverboat that he built, named the Julia Belle Swain. Trone was a small boy when steamboats were last seen on the Mississippi; it took him a half-century to bring them back in his own recreation. The Julia Belle is an authentic replica of the grand steamers that once sailed the rivers of America. Captain Trone ensures to keep the age of steam alive by instilling his knowledge navigating the Mississippi in a young "cub pilot."

The advent of the Civil War closed all boat traffic on the Mississippi River in 1861. It was then that Twain took to volunteering in the Confederate Army. He was part of the Marion Rangers, a volunteer militia in Missouri. "I was a soldier two weeks and was hunted like a rat the whole time," quips Twain, "I knew more about retreating than the man who invented retreating." Stirring images of the remains of soldiers who lost their lives are seen strewn across battlefields in the aftermath of the Civil War. "There has never been a just war, or an honorable one, I can see a million years ahead and this rule will never change," Twain narrates.

Every year, thousands of Americans across the country replay some of the most infamous battles of the Civil War. In a Civil War re-enactment at Antietam, Maryland, soldiers are shown charging across the battlefield as guns and cannons fire. More than 15,000 men and women participate as they are brought together in a moment that authentically recreates a time when our nation was torn in two.

Since Twain was not a fan of war, he decided to give up the hazards of war for the spirit of the West. He asserted that "There is a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure." Audiences will follow Twain's career as the filmmakers visit several of the sites where Twain worked. The film takes a pictorial look at the old West that Twain saw as he headed out with hopes of striking it rich. He worked the silver mines in Nevada until he ran out of funds after he struck nothing but dust. Twain was determined to find his fortune in Virginia City but he was looking in the wrong place. After having to find another means of living, eventually he found his calling as a reporter at the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. The film revisits Virginia City as it exists today as modern cowboys enjoy a bar room band playing on authentic 19th century instruments.

Most of Twains's early writings were based on his travels as many newspapers hired him as a roving reporter. He was literally moved by the steamtrains and the people and places he encountered as he traveled across the western frontier. The filmmakers also show the men that Twain encountered in the old west. He said they always had their finger on the trigger and would kill each other with the slightest provocation. Seen in aged black and white photographs, they had colorful names such as Sugarfoot Mike or Finger Pete. Twain described these men and their lives in the west as filled with "gold, whiskey, fights and fandango, and unspeakably happy."

The men of yesteryear were not always rough around the edges. The film also presents a heart-warming moment of old-fashioned love between young men and women. A modern couple is seen adorn in 19th century attire embracing each other in a ballroom dance reminiscent of the stately dances that Twain and his wife Olivia attended. Twain had romanced Olivia for two years until she agreed to marry him. The film virtually reveals a photo album of Twain's family history. Olivia and Mark had one son who died at the age of two and three daughters, Olivia Susan (Susy) Clemens; Clara Clemens; and Jean Clemens. Twain tragically lost his wife and his daughters Susy and Jean all before his own death.

The loss of family was not the only loss Twain suffered. Besides examining his successes, the film also focuses on his failures. Not only did he lose his family but he lost much of his fortune due to many investments he made in frivolous inventions. He had opportunities to invest in many new innovative products, including the automobile. However, he had given up hope of becoming a successful inventor after his contraptions encumbered him in a mountain of debt.

A number of odd inventions of the 19th century are exhibited in the film, including a sheep driven butter churn. Ironically, Twain turned down the last person to come to him with an idea to invest in--Alexander Graham Bell. Shown together with Bell and an early version of his telephone, Twain was one of the first people in the country to have a telephone.

The film highlights the great inventions of the 19th century, and Twain wanted one to call his own. He remarked that it was "an age of progress and ours was a progressive land--a great and glorious land." His wealth enabled him to travel in many social circles. Shown pictured with Edison, Eastman, Tesla, Carnegie and Rockefeller, Twain was well acquainted and fascinated with the inventors and industrialists of his time.

Mark Twain's humor and his writings were derived from his experiences and quaint observations of life during the 19th century. The filmmakers of "MARK TWAIN'S AMERICA" demonstrate that this period was a time of great change that still shapes the lives of people today.