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The Internet Time Travel Database

Mark Twain

writer

A Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

by Mark Twain
A clonk on the head transports Hank Morgan from the 19th century back to the time of Camelot. We classify Yankee as science fiction not because of its clonk-on-the-head method of time travel, but rather for Hank’s dogged desire to bring modern technology to the Middle Ages.
— Michael Main
You know about transmigration of souls; do you know about transportation of epochs—and bodies?
A Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain (Charles L. Webster, 1889).

The Connecticut Yankee

[writer and director unknown]
We have not found any definitive information about a possible 1910 version of Twain’s classic, although we presume (based on the year) that it was a short film. The earliest mention we’ve seen was in William V. Mong’s 1940 obituary in the New York Times, which ran under the headline “William V. Mong; Ex-Actor Made Screen Debut in ‘Connecticut Yankee’ in 1910.” The text stated that Mong entered the movies in 1910 in “The Connecticut Yankee.” Coincidentally, Mong played Merlin in Emmett J. Flynn’s 1921 version of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

In any case, we don’t know whether the 1910 film used the just-a-dream ending—or perhaps the film itself was just a dream of a 1940 obituary writer.

— Michael Main
The Connecticut Yankee [writer and director unknown] (at movie theaters, USA, 1910).

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

by Bernard McConville, directed by Emmett J. Flynn
We may never see this first movie adaptation of Twain’s story, since only three of the eight silent reels are known to still exist. The Yankee in this version is Martin Cavendish, who after reading Twain’s book, is knocked on the head by a burglar and slips into the time of Camelot. The result is high comedy coupled with a romantic interest and replete with motorcycles, explosions, Model T Fords, telephones, indoor plumbing, and lassos at a jousting tournament. As we did for Twain’s original, we classify the story as science fiction for the Yankee’s attempts at bringing modern technology to the distant past. And yes, the hero predicts a solar eclipse to save his life.

One review at Silent Hollywood indicates that the ending has Martin awakening from a dream and there is no explicit mention of actual time travel. With this in mind, we’re marking the time travel as debatable. Oh, and Mark Twain himself appears in the film, played by Karl Formes.

— Michael Main
All this nobility stuff is bunk.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Bernard McConville, directed by Emmett J. Flynn (at movie theaters, USA, 14 March 1921).

A Connecticut Yankee

by William M. Conselman, Owen Davis, and Jack Moffitt, directed by David Butler
This version of Twain’s story borrows some sf tropes from Shelley’s Frankenstein (a mad scientist) and Kipling’s “Wireless” (recovering sound from the past), although all that is small potatoes next to Will Rogers’ folksy wit. His character—Hank “Martin—is tossed back to Camelot when a bolt of lightning and a suit of armor knock him over at the mad scientist’s lab, and at the end, he returns via a similar timeslip. In between, we get one-liners, tommy guns, tanks, cars, characters that are eerily familiar from Martin’s present-day life—and a lot of time to debate whether this version has a real timeslip or is just a dream.
— Michael Main
Think! Think of hearing Lincoln’s own voice delivering the Gettysburg address!
A Connecticut Yankee by William M. Conselman, Owen Davis, and Jack Moffitt, directed by David Butler (at movie theaters, USA, 6 April 1931).

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

by Edmund Beloin, directed by Tay Garnett
Bing Cosby’s delightful portrayal of the Yankee Hank Martin (why not Morgan?!) begins in 1912 after he’s already returned from Camelot. He’s just traveled to England and sought out the very castle of his 6th-century musical adventures, where he proceeds to tell his story to the master of the castle.

Based on Hank’s knowledge of the castle and its displays, the time travel definitely occurred in this version, with both the travel back and travel forward caused by clonks on the head. And based on the ending, Hank might not have been the only traveler through time.

— Michael Main
Docent: Kindly notice the round hole in the breastplate, undoubtedly caused by an iron-tipped arrow of the period.
Hank Martin: [shakes head and grunts] . . . I mean, well, that happens to be a bullet hole.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Edmund Beloin, directed by Tay Garnett (premiered at an unknown movie theater, New York City, 7 April 1949).

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

by Billy Friedberg et al. , directed by Bill Hoban and Max Liebman
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Billy Friedberg et al. , directed by Bill Hoban and Max Liebman (NBC-TV, USA, 12 March 1955).

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

by Michael Robinson, directed by Zoran Janjic
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Michael Robinson, directed by Zoran Janjic (CBS-TV, USA, 26 November 1970).

Bugs Bunny

A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur’s Court

written and directed by Chuck Jones
This half-hour Warner Brother’s cartoon was shown on TV a few times and then released on VHS as Bugs Bunny in King Arthur’s Court. With the help of Way Bwadbuwy, Bugs finds himself in Camelot, whereupon he brings about a dragon-powered steampunk age.
— Michael Main
Never again—never, never again—do I take travel hints from Ray Bradbury! Huh! Him and his short cuts!
A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur’s Court written and directed by Chuck Jones (CBS-TV, USA, 23 February 1978).

Unidentified Flying Oddball

by Don Tait, directed by Russ Mayberry
A NASA spacecraft proves Einstein right when, travelling faster than light, it ends up near King Arthur's Camelot. On board are big-hearted Tom Trimble and Hermes, the look-alike robot he built. Tom immediately makes friends with pretty Alisande and enemies with the awful knight Sir Nordred. It seems Nordred is out to oust Arthur, while Alisande's father is not the goose she believes him to be but is also a victim of Nordred's schemes. It's as well the Americans have arrived.
— from publicity material
Unidentified Flying Oddball by Don Tait, directed by Russ Mayberry (premiered at an unknown movie theater, London, 19 July 1979).

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

by Paul Zindel, directed by Mel Damski
Young Karen Jones finds herself in sixth-century Camelot after she falls from a horse. Using her modern-day “magic,” she fights the evil Merlin (none other than René Auberjonois) and Mordrid to restore peace to King Arthur’s court.
— from publicity material
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Paul Zindel, directed by Mel Damski (NBC-TV, USA, 18 December 1989).

A Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

by Frank Encarnacao and Ralph L. Thomas, directed by Ralph L. Thomas
Michael York plays Merlin to teenage rock-and-roll hopeful Hank Morgan, who has been zapped back to the round table Mark-Twain-style by a wonky speaker.
— Michael Main
Lancelot? This is awesome.
Movida en la corte del Rey Arturo by Frank Encarnacao and Ralph L. Thomas, directed by Ralph L. Thomas (Antena 3 TV, Spain, 27 May 1995).

A Kid in King Arthur’s Court

by Michael Part and Robert L. Levy, directed by Michael Gottlieb
This time around, the Yankee is failed little-leaguer Calvin Fuller who’s pulled back to Camelot where we see him with a flashlight, a Walkman, roller blades, superglue, a mountain bike with training wheels, bubble gum, karate, a candy bar, a Swiss Army knife, an aging Arthur, and a young princess.
— Michael Main
Swiss Army knife! The very name conjurs up greatness!
A Kid in King Arthur’s Court by Michael Part and Robert L. Levy, directed by Michael Gottlieb (at movie theaters, USA, 11 August 1995).

The Wonderful World of Disney [s4:3e6]

A Knight in Camelot

by Joe Wiesenfeld, directed by Roger Young
Not even Whoopi (as Vivien Morgan, Ph.D., the Connecticut Yankee) or Michael York (King Arthur) could save this adaptation, even though it did bring many of the basic ideas and characters of Twain’s original. But it fell down on poor dialogue, forced melodrama, and strained moralizing.
— Michael Main
This evilness of yours must be avenged, so I’m gonna blot out the sun.
A Knight in Camelot by Joe Wiesenfeld, directed by Roger Young (ABC-TV, USA, 8 November 1998).

Black Knight

by Darryl Quarles, Peter Gaulke, and Gerry Swallow, directed by Gil Junger
When janitor Jamal Walker falls into the moat at Medieval World, he wakes up in Camelot and carries out a weak impersonation of a Connecticut Yankee.
— Michael Main
Your Majesty, starting at small forward from Englewood High, two-time all-county conference player of the year, the messenger from Normandie—Jamal “Skyyyyyy” Walker!
Black Knight by Darryl Quarles, Peter Gaulke, and Gerry Swallow, directed by Gil Junger (premiered at an unknown movie theater, Los Angeles, 15 November 2001).
as of 8:53 p.m. MDT, 5 May 2024
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