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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Come meet Mark Twain. OK, true, the humorist has been dead for more years than we care to remember, and not many of us around today were alive to hear what he sounded like. But Hal Holbrook is so spectacular in his one-man performance that you could swear you were listening to Twain himself. The gravelly voice, the lined face, the slow shuffle, and cigar-induced throat clearings seem so natural that you'll have difficulty recognizing Holbrook beneath the white suit, the gray hair, and the handlebar mustache.
Mark Twain Tonight! began as a Broadway show in the 1960s and was filmed as a CBS special in 1967. Yet you'd never know it, because the humor, which is more than a century old, is still laugh-out-loud funny today. Twain--I mean, Holbrook--gives a monologue that is rambling, intelligent, and humorous as he culls together commentary from a variety of Twain sources. From dachshund hounds, politics, and patriotism to cigar smoking, memory loss, and religion, this 90-minute video leaps from subject to subject as we're entertained by material that's as fresh today as it was when it was written in the 1800s. --Jenny Brown
Product Description
Hal Holbrook's classic performance captures the flamboyant humor and irreverence of Mark Twain, in this remarkable 90 minute, one man show.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
86 of 86 people found the following review helpful
By Mark Marcus
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having seen Hal Holbrook perform live in Mark Twain Tonight, I was delighted to aquire the DVD of his 1967 television broadcast performance. I have long believed, and this DVD confirms that Mark Twain Tonight is easily one of the greatest treasures of the American stage in the last half of the 20th Century. That Mr. Holbrook has performed Mark Twain every year since 1954, in over 2000 shows, is nothing short of miraculous. This 90 minute performance brings the wisdom, humor and humanity of one of the most morally insightful men of the 19th century to life. His words continue to be as hilarious, poignant and relevent in the 21st century as they were in his own time.
48 of 49 people found the following review helpful
By Fred Halwe
Format:VHS Tape
In 1967, I was a twenty-ish high school English teacher who sat down one evening, out of a sense of professional obligation, to watch a TV production of some guy named Hal Holbrook doing a one-man show called MARK TWAIN TONIGHT. It blew me away (though we didn't talk like that in 1967). Ever since, I've had a blank videotape sitting atop my TV, waiting to pirate a copy of the certain re-broadcast, whenever the industry moguls ran out of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND reruns. Of course, it never happened! Instead, I paid cash money for the 33-rpm record, and scratched my way to this or that band for partly appreciative teen English students. As always, the trick to life is to keep living. Today I blew the dust off my 30 year-old videotape and set it aside. My review is thirty years in the making. All you young English teachers, take note: on a scale of one-to-five stars, this performance of Mr. Holbrook is a six. Maybe seven!
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
If there has ever been a polished performance, this is it! I've been fortunate to see Holbrook do this show live on three occasions. He really catches the essence of Twain's marvellous story- telling, which sets the tone for later artists such as Gene Shepard and Garrison Keillor. Hal Holbrook changed his show at every performance, and this video features him at the peak of his craft. From ghost stories to humorous anecdotes to shaggy dog yarns and tall tales, this video has them all. You'll want to watch it many times.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was introduced to Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain Tonight in a high school English class in 1962 and have been fascinated with Holbrook and his Twain presentation ever since. As the story goes, Holbrook took up cigar smoking to get the timber in his voice, spends three hours in make-up preparing, and has even listened to Edison recording tubes of Twain to get the voice and inflection just right. Sit back and enjoy tales from a hundred years ago that are just as germaine today. You'll soon be convinced that the man in front of you is actually Mark Twain!
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
my only regret about MARK TWAIN TONIGHT is that it's only 90 minutes. holbrook apparently has about 12 hours worth of material that his life shows alternate among. these 90 minutes include his views on man (the only animal that blushes), his mississippi adventures as seen through tom's eyes, and jim blaine's story of the ram and old man wheeler. the ram story alone is enough to be twice worth the cost of the dvd. buy the disk. holbrook is now at just the age where his twain would be even more sublime. let's hope the sales of this dvd inspire him to do another all these years after this 1967 performance. the sound and video are good (for broadcast tv) -- mainly though, holbrook is outstanding and twain is -- twain IS twain. buy it. watch it.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This DVD welcomes us into Mark Twain's parlor for an evening of stories and anecdotes that the viewer is not likely to soon forget. Hal Holbrook researched this role by looking up old newspaper accounts, letters and film of Twain to get his characterization of Twain as accurate as possible. The illusion is complete. We don't credit Holbrook because he's not there- but Mark Twain is and we are thankful. Holbrook so masterfully weaves Twain's tales together that we don't want him to stop and we want to return to his parlor as often as possible. This DVD is a tribute to two national treasures- Mark Twain and Hal Holbrook. A must for any lover of literature or the stage.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
What a great gift for anyone to receive. First, you receive a piece of history. Second, you receive entertainment. This tape never grows old. Fantanstic when Hal Holbrook portrayed Mark Twain over 30 years ago and fantastic today. Good material never grows old.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
if you have not heard the recordings or saw the television special 'mark twain tonight' starring hal holbrook, you are in for a real treat. my aunt took me to see the one man show many years ago in toronto. when he came a second time, years later, i took her.
i have listened to the two recordings of mark twain and mark twain tonight at least once a week for over twenty years. hal holbrook is not talente, he is gifted. listening to 'jim and huck on a raft' is so touching to me it defies description. if hou have ever trusted anyone on anything trust me. this is not to be missed. i have never heard or seen anything quite like it.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's similar to a walk with a friend.
Hal Holbrook is great in this. He honors the irresistable Mark Twain with his portrayal, Twain was extremely likeable and popular. Read more
Published 22 hours ago by Dorothy Douglas
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Real Mark Twain comes alive
It's easily possible to visualize Mark Twain himself striding the stage, cigar in mouth, telling his truly original stories about times in the Gold Rush and beyond.
Published 21 days ago by Allen J
2.0 out of 5 stars
boring
Hal Holbrook has no sense of comic timing. All the richness of Mark Twain's writings were lost in a nasal monotone.
Published 22 days ago by auntbenito
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hal Holbrook tonight
Me and my wife, God rest her soul, saw this performance life in Louisville, Ky many years ago. We were very pleased and loved Hal Holbrook. Read more
Published 24 days ago by Robert A. Hofmann
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular acting!
This program was videotaped in the late 1960s, right around the time that I actually saw Hal Holbrook as 'Mark Twain Tonight!' live at the University of New Mexico. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael J. Jones
4.0 out of 5 stars
Early "Mark Twain/Town Hall Tonight"
A little "grainy." (Camera shots off of TV monitor?) A little slow in spots; perhaps this intentionally duplicates Twain's style/delivery. Read more
Published 1 month ago by e s fishman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny Documentry
This is a good documentary of Mark Twain, portrayed by Hal Holbrook. He did an excellent job in costume and speech. It makes you feel you are actually talking with Mark Twain.
Published 1 month ago by Michael Small
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holbrook plays the role to perfection
I recently saw Hal Holbrook, now 88, I believe, give a live performance of Mark Twain. So entertaining that I thought this DVD should be part of my library. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Coomanthemite
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful Performance of Material from Mark Twain
I purchased the cassette version some years ago, but this DVD version with the video is vastly superior. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Twice Retired
5.0 out of 5 stars
I remember this
It's been a long time since the TV production of 'Mark Twain Tonight',
but I remember it was a 1 man show, starred Hal Holbrook, who did an excellent job, and the fact that it... Read more
but I remember it was a 1 man show, starred Hal Holbrook, who did an excellent job, and the fact that it... Read more
Published 3 months ago by RAY LINCOLN
