Elmira New York

Elmira New YorkJarvis/Clemens Family Plot – Elmira, New York

I hope to add more material over the next few weeks. It has been a while, yet I never stop thinking about the project.

Moving Forward with Twain

Twain vs 45 President

No contest. He would have shredded him for his lies and hypocrisy.

Twain arrived 108 years ago on June 18th

Road to Stormfield October 2015

This road was on the Clemens property. In 1908 you would have seen Stormfield from this road. The open filed to the left is all that Twain would recognized. Trees have replaced the open space. Stormfield 1908 would have looked much different. 

More to come on Edison’s Prince and the Pauper film with Twain in his first and last screen appearance…

West Redding to Stormfield test Sequence

Twain arrives at the old Redding station on June 18th 1908, about 6pm. He had never seen the new home he had built in Redding Connecticut for summer’s away from the city. He loved it and stayed here permanently. Well 22 months anyway. He died at Stormfield on April 21 1910 as the sun set. I’ve begun to write the script…finally after these many years.

Introduction

There is little that I can add to the lore of Mark Twain. I only offer, and carefully, some of the events of the last few years of his life.

The Prince and The Pauper theatrical premier

click to enlarge       

On August 3, 1909 “The Prince and The Pauper” had it’s theatrical premier. It had been released to the public complete with a brief cameo by it’s author, Mark Twain. Most films at this time had a very limited run, maybe one or two days in any one theater. Twain is said to have seen the film and his brief roll in it (a walk around his home Stormfield -Redding Connecticut- and tea with his daughters). This may have been the worlds first trailer! It was however one of the first productions to use a work that was adapted for the screen. This is the only known footage of Twain. Had he lived another few years we would have seen more of him on the big screen, he loved being the center of attention. He was said to have made audio recordings using Edison’s wax cylinders. It was thought he experimented with dictation as a way of writing his autobiography. He loved technology. None of the wax cylinders have ever been found. (See July 8th post for background)

Updated Notes (Sept 26, 2014)

Twain would greet people in bed. He loved to be the center of attention. This photograph was probably taken in New York 1907-8 at his leased home on 5th Ave. He moved to Redding, CT in June 1908.