Review of The Adventures of Mark Twain

Fredric March was one of the best and most prolific actors of his era but this pompous and stately treatment of the life of the celebrated writer Mark Twain too often suffocates his efforts. The tone shifts back and forth interminably between solemnity and frenzy. March's lines are more like aphorisms than real dialogue and he delivers them accordingly. The supporting cast includes Alexis Smith, who provides prettiness as his devoted wife; Alan Hale as a good-naturedly raucous companion in some of the early steamboat and mining town scenes before he vanishes from the scenario; Donald Crisp as a conveyor of plot points in the last two-thirds; and toward the end an affecting C. Aubrey Smith summing up Twain's life and legacy at an Oxford University event. Scenes tend to be long and drawn out, particularly those involving the young Twain's daredevil riverboat navigation and a very elaborate frog jumping contest that was the basis for one of Twain's first literary successes. Several scenes depict Twain uttering mildly amusing quips followed by extended guffawing from rapt audiences. What was funny in the 19th century may have still been funny in 1944 but not now.