Mark Twain at Stormfield, 1909 (Edison film)

[HargroveFilms1]

A true America Icon & hero.

[ICEPEDITION]

@HargroveFilms1 ...and philanderer

[MisterVDO]

Google brought me here ...

[yamialan1]

Happy Birthday Mark Twain! I always thought you where a brilliant man.

[ICEPEDITION]

@yamialan1 if not a philanderer

[MadlibIsBlunted]

Thumbs up if google brought you here!!

[sdenkasp]

He is the true American that I love and admire

[ICEPEDITION]

@sdenkasp ... and philanderer

[62636263c]

Thank goodness Edison invented the motion picture in time to make this film of Mark Twain. Very few are around today that would have been able to see him alive. Like so many before him, we might have only been able to see a photo or painting. Instead, we have this great bit of film in which to get a glimpse of the man alive and in motion. Awesome!

[mrwolfhound]

Too bad this is the only video of the 'great one'. I would love to have heard him speak!

Edison made this motion picture in 1909...by December his daugher Jean would be gone... & by the next spring Twain died too. With today's restoration technology, you'd hope they could restore this better. But thanks for posting this.

[ILikeTurtles645]

I like turtles.

[kamillianne]

wow:\! thanku

[mikecronis]

He wasn't that quick. Film-rate was different in 1909. You'll see old footage of silly-fast walkers due to the frames-per-second transfer rate.

[MrVander80]

@mikecronis It was a joke about the film loop, lol.

[CadillacL]

How awesome to see Mark Twain himself. What a piece of history.

[lifecloud2]

What I loved most was seeing the wind moving through his hair. Brought him to life. Really cool video. I wonder if it'll be restored.

[annea1b]

@pompom11; Jean died on Christmas Eve 1909, after an epileptic seizure. I think Clara had at least one child.

[aaronpierce167]

@Naumkeag01

I had no idea this footage existed.

The man himself.

It's not every day you get to see one of your heroes in the flesh.

Smoking like a chimney but still dapper as hell.

Thanks.

[xanto97]

i bet he got laid all the time...

[jbslayer175]

Why aint this on Failblog yet?

[peppathebutt]

@jbslayer175 its not a fail dumbfuck, its an april fools day prank by youtube

[pompom11]

did Clara or Jean have children?

.

wonder if there are any family around now?

[mikenoike]

Finally a video the 1911 button is good for.

[aba2185]

@mikenoike your forgot about biebers

[Jimmyjumpnjive]

alien dog in the house!

[theindianwhospeaks]

yes this bitch was in connecticut!

[dOpzmaister]

teaparty is like houseparty with hoes and beers today

[hamlaupr]

was porn that quiet in 1909?

[ingersollturok]

I bet Mark Twain was good at Black Ops!

[lifeworthliving2010]

look how formal they are dressed...

[AnHeroDesu]

dat was a gewd film, Huck~!

[AnalogAurora]

April Fools.

[stoneman1231]

what no closed captioning?! I am appalled!

[Desertjxj]

This is incredible! Thank you for posting.

[SidNightWalker]

Absolutely amazing, you people who upload this historical film footage, I thank you so much.

[csadler]

My favorite atheist....

[SimplyToontastic]

Mark Twain: so awesome that he can walk around his huge-looking house only under three seconds. Not even Chuck Norris could outwalk him at that speed.

[Odonus2]

@SimplyToontastic That's nothing compared to his ability to conjure a butler out of thin air at 1:24!!!

[Ruubikon]

Mark Twain was a vegetarian. Animal rights activist. Civil rights activist. Labor rights activist. Woman's rights activist. He loved Australia and became an Ozzie citizen. Born at Haley's comet closest approach, died at Haley's closest approach.

And I guess he also wrote some books.

[typingnow]

Truly the greatest American writer that ever lived. Period. This film is eerie, though. Sort of like watching the Titanic with all it's passengers sail out of port for the last time. This film was taken in 1909, Mark Twain died in 1910. His daughter Jean, also shown in the film, died in December 1909 by drowning in a bathtub due to her epilepsy. (Clara lived until 1962, well into her eighties). The house pictured here called Stormfield burned to the ground in July 1923. Incredible film footage

[williwo]

@typingnow Actually it was Susy who died in the bathtub in 1896

[typingnow]

@williwo No, actually Susy didn't die in a bathtub, Jean did during an epileptic episode in 1909. My description is correct.

[williwo]

@typingnow Yeah you're right my bad. Susy died of another type of disease

[typingnow]

@williwo Susy supposedly died of "spinal meningitis", but given the extreme limitations of medical diagnosis in the 1890's, it could have been something else that killed her, we'll never know for sure. Jean's death of complications from epilepsy was probably pretty accurate, though.

[violetichigo1999]

There walks the dead man that taught me more than a living man.

[thanksforthemusic]

Mark Twain, His fame was so great, World Wide, that before TV, Radio, Mass Movies, he was the Most Recognizable, Famous Man in the World. In Egypt, Germany, Australia-didn't matter, people stopped him on the streets. On his 1st trip to Europe, he even shaved his trademark hair & mustache off, because of the stir he created walking the streets of Berlin, but found he enjoyed the attention more, and missed the interaction and never did that again of course.

[GabrielBacon]

was mark twain not the coolest motherfucker to walk the earth?

[ceepatton]

@GabrielBacon

why yes, yes he was

[southport97]

@GabrielBacon Mark Twain is the original Charlie Sheen.

[ICEPEDITION]

@southport97 - a philanderer

[ICEPEDITION]

@GabrielBacon if you call a philanderer cool

[TheTexas10Titan]

idk where the hell you got this footage

[manucalrad]

the american.

[ThePretzelHead]

no golf to ruin that walk



[gretiesmom]

Fascinating... now over 100 years old. What an interesting and entertaining man, and what a life he lived!

[uslines]

Thanks for the film clip. A very sad man at the end of his life surviving his wife, and, except one, of his children.

[SpectralSpiral]

0:35 He's being stalked by his time-traveling self from the future!

[PedoLouie]

The fucking video quality on this sucks man. Upload some shit that aint all fucked up!

[yugiohrulesd00d]

@PedoLouie You're an idiot

[ceepatton]

@yugiohrulesd00d

I believe you're more of an idiot to take it to heart and reply 

[Sarasotan]

@PedoLouie I assume your comment is supposed to be funny. It isn't

[ceepatton]

@Sarasotan

You're a comedian

[Zeanu]

Amazing! Also laughed at the guy randomly popping in to bring the hat.

[DavidHanceQuotivate]

Thank you Mr. Edison for giving us some great film footage of this often quoted great American! (David Hance, Founder, Quotivate)

[boyhey1]

what an excellent work, edison!!!!

[highlandsh]

I've read that, too, that Edison recorded many notable people but Clemens voice was one of those lost in a fire. Good thing he wrote a line or two to reveal his thoughts.

[jennifer23ish]

East is east and West is West and never the twain shall meet ,

[793willieb]

I used to sneak out of Hartford High school (circa 1970) at noon and with brown bag lunch in hand, wonder over to the Twain house and sit on the porch and dream a little before going back into school.

[IWuzBored19]

Nice!

[TheLastBrainLeft]

More interesting than Avarar, for sure.

[TheBronagh]

Thank you for posting this rare video. Do you know which daughter it is in the center of the table scene? I'm curious, as she appears left-handed in the video as is her father . I suspect the daughter on the right of the video is not left-handed. Only Clara outlived her dad. Is Clara the one in the center do you know? Thanks.

[wheatonna]

The blocking and pixellation are from video compression. The flickering is introduced during the transfer from film to video. If you could see the film in a projector the image wouldn't be terrific, but you'd eliminate both of those problems. But I'm so glad this film exists!

[sinhog]

Mark Twain ,,,, God's own social critic !!

( BTW , for you youngsters out there,,, the reason people move so fast in old timey films , is they HAD to ,, in order to get things done ,,,,, they only had 5 hours of daylight back then )

[joemama142]

his daughter was hot

[DoughyBiscuits1994]

No HD?

[StarIessNight]

"sad that 101 years later, we can only see a video that's worse than the film it was made from."

[eagleapex]

Horrible quality, and I mean pixels

[Soloflexforever]

Very cool find. Thanks for posting this.

[UltraBibendum]

twain ownage hell yeas

[jitiroke]

"ENHANCE".... (dammit)

[homunculus777]

sad that 101 years later, we can only see a video that's worse than the film it was made from. Can't you upload a better transfer?

[dodisman]

he walked around that house quick.

[TomatoMultiMedia]

wow !! amazing historical document ! thanks for posting.

[TheManRaptor]

@PenultimateRun Hat?

[pjehyun]

its very strange seeing him on video. i wasn't ever able to picture him moving until now. thnx!

[delsantos]

Walt Mossberg is old.

[shadowwolf2k1]

HD + 3D or bust

[PIII550]

He had an enormous head. Now I don't feel so bad about my enormous head.

And I think it was RFK jr. that brought the hat to the table. What a historical film.

Weird that RFK was there too.

[konshuss]

in 1909 people walked much faster

[r0ssel0203113]

thx for uploading....

[winterwound]

so annoying how pixelated things were back then. All they neede was a fly swatter over the lens.

[shiftypossum]

His daughters are smoking hot, bro!

[sunnyallthetime]

Too bad the film ran out before the epic gun battle. . .

[Elumas2]

Twain on the original Cribs

[orielsy]

The man really liked wearing white.

[animes25]

they should use all the high tech for film and video restauration to fix the film

[MGSmainthemeBACK]

when someone is framed on a film, he can become inmortal! this is the true essence of cinematography!

[romevi]

S.L. Clemens video? Instant masterpiece.

[b1gg5y]

Over 100 years to process and it's still not HD, come on youtube, sort it out !!!!!!!!!!

[Indyjonesfan]

you can tell hes CGI. haha They didn't know about photoreal back then.

[heroineworshipper]

It was actually HD in 1909, before it was converted to a 1Mbit mpg file & then a 257kbit flv file.

[illustriouschin]

yeah i was just thinking how many formats this video has been through, and the digital encoding seems to have had the worst effect on it, but this will probably end up being the only version to exist eventually.  who ever has the original, get a better encoder and do it again, so you won't have regrets later.

[metaslugx]

...dude...

We're talking about an ancient, degraded piece of film. The original camera that took this was one of the earliest film cameras made. There's only so much you can do.

[illustriouschin]

@metaslugx that original camera you are talking about had nothing to do with the terrible compression used that left huge squares all over it.

[metaslugx]

The compression is from the old limits on Youtube videos and the subtle gradients in the film being downgraded. This video was more then likely converted from a lossless format for upload.

[illustriouschin]

@metaslugx yeah like i said, it wasnt great before but who ever did the compressing made it  much worse.

[ReikaiDemon]

Does the Library of Congress have the "HD" footage? I remember they use a lossless format of mpeg.

[coolethanyou]

I am not quite sure that I understand your comment. May you please explain it to me? I also think that you should change your username.

[coatihook666]

Not watching until there's an HD upload. Sort it out Edison. :(

[coolethanyou]

You are very rude for insulting such a great inventor. People like you should be ashamed of themselves. I gave your comment a thumbs down..

[overhere2000]

could be fake.......

[BoardOfRandomosity]

@overhere2000

Last i checked, the "old timey" effect in windows movie maker wasn't that good

[BelindaKyle]

So good to see Mr. Clemens before tragedy took his beloved daughters from him. I hope that film is being processed and preserved. And, for the ignorant, there was no audio on film in 1909.

[mayatatyana1]

This was wonderful to see. Thank you for posting.

[MadMarlowe7]

This is so cool. Thanks for posting. Best, Louis Marlowe

[ChuckyJesus666]

LOL... at 1:26, was that the "hat waiter?"

[TheSanityInspector]

The butler.

[dominictemple]

Thanks for uploading this.

[5Cincinnatus]

twains ablilty to watch society as an outside observer is what set him apart .

[kissed61]

He may waddle like a duck, but damn that man could write!

[majesticlarge]

" My books are like water, those of the great geniuses are like wine. Everybody drinks water "

[TheSanityInspector]

100 year old clip, wow...

[freedomland11]

101 Now! lol

[boyhey1]

1909 hasn't yet a subtitle.

it established on 1930s

[beaverteeth92]

He had the best moustache of all time.

[yeahithasahemi]

no sound!

[joe4ska]

People didn't need audio in 1909 because they didn't have ears.

[ChuckyJesus666]

@joe4ska ROFL

[westman34]

A monday warrior's mean mean drive

Today's tom sawyer's mean mean

[maximum512]

rip i [eace he died 1 year after this

[NEEDCARS]

Tesla shuld be the 1

[miaoster]

The original rock star!

[aroundtheworlda]

Mark Twain thought he was so clever but the man was completely insane and just a wierdo.

[DickAtkins]

How old are you 12? Mark Twain was perhaps one of our greatest authors, proof lies in the adaptation of his book "A conneticut yankee in king arthur's court" by american master actor Martin Lawrence in the film "Black Knight"

[frostwav]

im 13

[westman34]

I'd love to see exactly what YOU would write that would show off that gray ball of goo you think so highly of.

[frostwav]

Mark Twain's real name is Samuel Clemens and if he was still alive then he would STILL be my great great great great great uncle

[maximum512]

complete crap

[frostwav]

im not lying if i was then i wouldnt bee looking at vids and reading his books every now and then. so if you dont believe me then thats your problem idc what you say. but you better not say anything bout him becuz he was a great author i just wish i couldve met him like my great great great grandpa has.

[maximum512]

yea ok

[deathray393]

Go away

[aranzoltan]

Tom Sawyer forever!!!

[captainscott2]

I certainly agree that technology has come a long way, but in the words of Richard Nelson Bolles, who wrote " What Color Is My Parachute?"--"We now have more and more wonderful ways to say things, but fewer and fewer wonderful things to say." Actually sound like something Twain would say, doesn't it.....

[dalton9931]

probably one of the most intelligent people to ever to grace this earth.

[GoldenSilents]

100 years ago. Think how far technology has come in what is really just a blip on the time map.

[789trebor]

Great!

[lambsylettuce]

this is nice, thanks---dang- wish I could see him in a video with Tesla :(

[Losrandiro]

yes.

[pianoboomer]

Ooh, who's the handsome dude who brought the hat?

[hunterfoster]

he walks like a duck

[dantakli]

fuck dat ho

[Nationsnotregimes]

Sam knew many truths, and he fully understood the Enemy Aliens of Western Man, but as soon as he died they went after his daughter for many rea$on$ and they married her.

Getting to go over some of his papers and removing opinions not likeds would have been easy.

[lordiisawsome23]

he is my great great great uncle

[muladar10]

hey mark waz up bud¡¡¡¡ how u doin, i hope ur keeping my place at the other side , my friend

[hartnell114]

was that really him?

[CajonDS]

Yes, that is/was Samuel Clemens, AKA "Mark Twain"

[ePhilosopher]

Flickering memory of a moving Light, Time capsule Picture Magazine 2008 abacus subtraction 1909 = 1001001 sos, crimson misty hazy glimpse, wind tunnel Katrina Stormfield. hello i must be going?

[oggendoggen2]

i cannot stay i came to say i must be going...

[riqzster]

You're either a junkie or a college graduate.

[riqzster]

I was replying to ePhilosopher.

[lillykun]

Mark Twain was a genius.

[Piscesamethyst]

Mark Twain is awesome. A truly unique individual with a good sense of humor. I honestly think he was a gift to this world.

[danbit5]

came in with haleys comet and left with it , i luv that quote almost the best but he has a few others

[MacJaxonManOfAction]

"Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it hundreds of times" is one of my favourites. And as this footage proves, he eventually quit quitting - and died a year later, as he predicted...

[bartholomewfargo]

I'd love to see someone clean this up and re-master it. These clips should be preserved.

[gmdinformation]

"I'd love to see someone clean this up and re-master it."

I doubt anything can be done. You have to have something to work with. You can take an otherwise nice piece of film and remove scratches etc., but when the whole thing is this bad you can't do much.

[happyhappy85]

can't polish a turd

[Hartford06105]

The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford has the very beginning of it in our orientation film, flicker free!

[TheMikester307]

Oh, Lord! Twain's daughter Jean died around Christmas a year or so after this was made. It broke him. He died not long after. (I assume they are happily having tea and cigars somewhere....)

[Waldenpunk]

Twain thought that human beings were/are the greatest jackasses ever created; and satchelluc and gnolti have proven it!

[ponybobreno]

Twain had many roots in Nevada, where he was first paid for his writing. His brother Orion was the first secretary for the Nevada Territorial Governor, and lived in a house on Division St. in Carson...Twain wrote for teh Virginia City paper, and wrote a scathing letter to the editor, where he condemned the

owner of a funeral home for ripping his brother off when Twain's niece

suddenly died. The funeral home's sign is now

in the Nevada State Museum..

[satchelluc]

He was a good man but near the end, which was not long after this, he wasted away; and he was a misanthrope, which isn't cool.

[tetekofa]

Mark Twain is very cool...

You are not cool...you suck.