The Presidents in Movies: Lincoln (1988 Miniseries)
On April 15, 1865 (148 years ago) Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m after being in a coma for about nine hours, following his being shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater.
Three doctors and some soldiers who had been in the audience carried the President out the front entrance of Ford's Theatre. Across the street, a man named Henry Safford was holding a lantern and calling "Bring him in here! Bring him in here!" The "here" was William Petersen's boarding house. The men carried Lincoln into the boarding house and into the first-floor bedroom, where they laid him diagonally on the bed because his tall frame would not fit normally on the smaller bed. A vigil began at the Petersen House. Robert Lincoln arrived at the Petersen House after being told of the shooting at about midnight. Tad Lincoln was not allowed to go to the Petersen House. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and United States Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton came and took charge of the scene. Mary Lincoln became very distraught and Stanton shouted "Take that woman out of here and do not let her in here again!" Stanton set up shop in the rear parlor, effectively running the United States government for several hours, sending and receiving telegrams, taking reports from witnesses, and issuing orders for the pursuit of Booth.
Lincoln died from the bullet wound to his brain at 7:22am on April 15, 1865. He was 56 years old. The crowd around the bed knelt for a prayer. When they were finished, Stanton made a statement, though there is some disagreement among historians as to what exactly the statement was. All agree that he began "Now he belongs to the ..." with some stating he finished with "ages" while others believe he finished with "angels."
On March 27, 1988, the television movie Lincoln aired on NBC. It starred Sam Waterston as Abraham Lincoln and Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln. Other cast members included Richard Mulligan as William H. Seward, Deborah Adair as Kate Chase, Gregory Cooke as Robert Lincoln, Steven Culp as John Hay, Jeffrey DeMunn as William Herndon, Jon DeVries as Edwin Stanton, John Houseman on Winfield Scott and James Gammon as Ulysses S. Grant. It was directed by Lamont Johnson and was based on Gore Vidal’s novel Lincoln: A Novel. The 188 minute film covered the time period running from Lincoln’s election as President of the United States to the time of his assassination. Lamont Johnson won an Emmy for directing Lincoln. The film was shot almost entirely in Richmond, Virginia and it cost $8 million to produce.
To prepare for his portrayal of Lincoln, Sam Waterston borrowed several biographies from his local Connecticut library. He said "I went into this looking for a hollow shell, or at least for a fabulous public-relations man who invented Lincoln. But there wasn't any. I found you can turn Lincoln inside out and stand him on his head. You can play him human or play him flawed. But he still comes out bigger than all of us. You can't mess him up." Waterston said that he did not watch any of the portrayals of Lincoln by his predecessors: Walter Huston, Raymond Massey, Henry Fonda, Hal Holbrook or Gregory Peck.
Following is an excerpt from the film, showing Waterston as Lincoln and Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln:
Three doctors and some soldiers who had been in the audience carried the President out the front entrance of Ford's Theatre. Across the street, a man named Henry Safford was holding a lantern and calling "Bring him in here! Bring him in here!" The "here" was William Petersen's boarding house. The men carried Lincoln into the boarding house and into the first-floor bedroom, where they laid him diagonally on the bed because his tall frame would not fit normally on the smaller bed. A vigil began at the Petersen House. Robert Lincoln arrived at the Petersen House after being told of the shooting at about midnight. Tad Lincoln was not allowed to go to the Petersen House. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and United States Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton came and took charge of the scene. Mary Lincoln became very distraught and Stanton shouted "Take that woman out of here and do not let her in here again!" Stanton set up shop in the rear parlor, effectively running the United States government for several hours, sending and receiving telegrams, taking reports from witnesses, and issuing orders for the pursuit of Booth.
Lincoln died from the bullet wound to his brain at 7:22am on April 15, 1865. He was 56 years old. The crowd around the bed knelt for a prayer. When they were finished, Stanton made a statement, though there is some disagreement among historians as to what exactly the statement was. All agree that he began "Now he belongs to the ..." with some stating he finished with "ages" while others believe he finished with "angels."
On March 27, 1988, the television movie Lincoln aired on NBC. It starred Sam Waterston as Abraham Lincoln and Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln. Other cast members included Richard Mulligan as William H. Seward, Deborah Adair as Kate Chase, Gregory Cooke as Robert Lincoln, Steven Culp as John Hay, Jeffrey DeMunn as William Herndon, Jon DeVries as Edwin Stanton, John Houseman on Winfield Scott and James Gammon as Ulysses S. Grant. It was directed by Lamont Johnson and was based on Gore Vidal’s novel Lincoln: A Novel. The 188 minute film covered the time period running from Lincoln’s election as President of the United States to the time of his assassination. Lamont Johnson won an Emmy for directing Lincoln. The film was shot almost entirely in Richmond, Virginia and it cost $8 million to produce.
To prepare for his portrayal of Lincoln, Sam Waterston borrowed several biographies from his local Connecticut library. He said "I went into this looking for a hollow shell, or at least for a fabulous public-relations man who invented Lincoln. But there wasn't any. I found you can turn Lincoln inside out and stand him on his head. You can play him human or play him flawed. But he still comes out bigger than all of us. You can't mess him up." Waterston said that he did not watch any of the portrayals of Lincoln by his predecessors: Walter Huston, Raymond Massey, Henry Fonda, Hal Holbrook or Gregory Peck.
Following is an excerpt from the film, showing Waterston as Lincoln and Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln: