Movie and TV Presidents: Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is considered by many people to be the greatest President of the United States. The story of his life and of his tragic death is an interesting one and has formed the basis for many wonderful portrayals by many fine actors. Here are a five of them:
1. Abe Lincoln in Illinois: This is a 1940 biopic which tells the story of the life of Lincoln from the time he left Kentucky until his election as President of the United States. The film stars Raymond Massey as Lincoln and Howard Da Silva as his friend Jack Armstrong. The two revived their roles from the original Broadway production of Abe Lincoln in Illinois. This film was the screen acting debut of Ruth Gordon as Mary Todd Lincoln. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Raymond Massey) and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White). Here is a video clip from the film, portraying one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
2. Carl Sandburg's Lincoln (1974 miniseries): This six part series starred Hal Holbrook as Lincoln and it aired from November 1974 to January of 1975. It was nominated for five Emmys. Holbrook won the Emmy for best actor. It was based on Carl Sandburg's acclaimed biography of Lincoln. Other cast members included Sada Thompson as Mary Todd Lincoln, Norman Burton as Ulysses Grant and Burt Freed as Edwin Stanton. Produced by the famous David L. Wolper (who also produced the miniseries Roots), the miniseries follows Abraham Lincoln s life from his early years as a lawyer on the Illinois prairie to his rise in politics, highlighted by the election campaign that led him to the White House. Here is Hal Holbrook delivering part of Lincoln's first inaugural address. Note the interesting dialect he adapts, which is similar to how Lincoln's voice is described in many biographies.
3. Lincoln (1988 miniseries): Lincoln was the subject of another miniseries fourteen years later. This time he was portrayed by Law and Order's Sam Waterston. Mary Tyler Moore played the part of 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. Here is an except from this film.
4. Lincoln (2012 movie): This film was profiled in an earlier entry in this month's series. The film was film based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's 2006 best-selling book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, but since the book contained too much material for one movie, this film focused on the last four months of Lincoln's life.The film describes the President's efforts in January 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the United States House of Representatives. The film was directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. Daniel Day-Lewis starred in the title role as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field played the role of Mary Todd Lincoln. It received widespread critical acclaim, with most of the praise directed at Daniel Day-Lewis' performance. In December 2012, the film was nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director for Spielberg and winning Best Actor (Motion Picture – Drama) for Day-Lewis. At the 85th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for twelve Academy Awards including Best Picture; it won for Best Production Design and Best Actor for Day-Lewis. The film was also a commercial success, having grossed more than $263 million at the box office.
5. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter: This last film is a little off the beaten path (a long way off really) when it comes to films about the 16th President. But it is a favourite of mine, especially at Halloween. This film hit theatres on June 22, 2012. The movie is an action fantasy horror film based on the 2010 novel of the same name. The novel's author, Seth Grahame-Smith, also wrote the adapted screenplay. In the film and the novel, Lincoln is portrayed as having a secret identity as a vampire hunter. 30 year old American actor Benjamin Walker plays Lincoln in the movie. The story begins with Lincoln as a child who befriends a young African American boy, William Johnson, and intervenes when he sees Johnson being beaten by a slave master. When the slavemaster attacks Lincoln's mother later that night, Lincoln's father tells his son that the slavemaster, named Barts, poisoned Nancy. Nine years later, after his father's death, Lincoln plans revenge against Barts and attacks him, but Barts, who is actually a vampire, overpowers him. Before Barts can kill him, Lincoln is rescued by Henry Sturgess. Sturgess tells Lincoln that vampires exist, and offers to teach Lincoln how to become a vampire hunter. Lincoln accepts and, after a decade of training, travels to Springfield, Illinois in 1837, where he begins to slay vampires. In Springfield, Lincoln befriends shopkeeper Joshua Speed and meets Mary Todd (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who is also being courted by Stephen A. Douglas. Though he is warned by Sturgess not to form any close relationships, Lincoln eventually begins having romantic feelings for Mary. The film follows Lincoln's rise both as a vampire hunter and as a politician. The movie presents slavery as the means of providing sustenance for the vampires and when the civil war breaks out, the real enemies of the north are the vampires who are threatened by the prospect of emancipation. The film has a very interesting ending that won't be lost on potus_geeks. (A sequel with a different vampire hunter in the White House perhaps?)
Serious historians lacking a sense of humor will hate this film. Some of the rest of us will see it differently. Here's the trailer.
Other prominent portrayals of Lincoln include Henry Fonda in the 1939 film Young Mr. Lincoln, Tom Amandes in the 2013 film Saving Lincoln, and Gregory Peck in the 1982 miniseries The Blue and the Grey.
1. Abe Lincoln in Illinois: This is a 1940 biopic which tells the story of the life of Lincoln from the time he left Kentucky until his election as President of the United States. The film stars Raymond Massey as Lincoln and Howard Da Silva as his friend Jack Armstrong. The two revived their roles from the original Broadway production of Abe Lincoln in Illinois. This film was the screen acting debut of Ruth Gordon as Mary Todd Lincoln. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Raymond Massey) and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White). Here is a video clip from the film, portraying one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
2. Carl Sandburg's Lincoln (1974 miniseries): This six part series starred Hal Holbrook as Lincoln and it aired from November 1974 to January of 1975. It was nominated for five Emmys. Holbrook won the Emmy for best actor. It was based on Carl Sandburg's acclaimed biography of Lincoln. Other cast members included Sada Thompson as Mary Todd Lincoln, Norman Burton as Ulysses Grant and Burt Freed as Edwin Stanton. Produced by the famous David L. Wolper (who also produced the miniseries Roots), the miniseries follows Abraham Lincoln s life from his early years as a lawyer on the Illinois prairie to his rise in politics, highlighted by the election campaign that led him to the White House. Here is Hal Holbrook delivering part of Lincoln's first inaugural address. Note the interesting dialect he adapts, which is similar to how Lincoln's voice is described in many biographies.
3. Lincoln (1988 miniseries): Lincoln was the subject of another miniseries fourteen years later. This time he was portrayed by Law and Order's Sam Waterston. Mary Tyler Moore played the part of 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. Here is an except from this film.
4. Lincoln (2012 movie): This film was profiled in an earlier entry in this month's series. The film was film based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's 2006 best-selling book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, but since the book contained too much material for one movie, this film focused on the last four months of Lincoln's life.The film describes the President's efforts in January 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the United States House of Representatives. The film was directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. Daniel Day-Lewis starred in the title role as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field played the role of Mary Todd Lincoln. It received widespread critical acclaim, with most of the praise directed at Daniel Day-Lewis' performance. In December 2012, the film was nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director for Spielberg and winning Best Actor (Motion Picture – Drama) for Day-Lewis. At the 85th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for twelve Academy Awards including Best Picture; it won for Best Production Design and Best Actor for Day-Lewis. The film was also a commercial success, having grossed more than $263 million at the box office.
5. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter: This last film is a little off the beaten path (a long way off really) when it comes to films about the 16th President. But it is a favourite of mine, especially at Halloween. This film hit theatres on June 22, 2012. The movie is an action fantasy horror film based on the 2010 novel of the same name. The novel's author, Seth Grahame-Smith, also wrote the adapted screenplay. In the film and the novel, Lincoln is portrayed as having a secret identity as a vampire hunter. 30 year old American actor Benjamin Walker plays Lincoln in the movie. The story begins with Lincoln as a child who befriends a young African American boy, William Johnson, and intervenes when he sees Johnson being beaten by a slave master. When the slavemaster attacks Lincoln's mother later that night, Lincoln's father tells his son that the slavemaster, named Barts, poisoned Nancy. Nine years later, after his father's death, Lincoln plans revenge against Barts and attacks him, but Barts, who is actually a vampire, overpowers him. Before Barts can kill him, Lincoln is rescued by Henry Sturgess. Sturgess tells Lincoln that vampires exist, and offers to teach Lincoln how to become a vampire hunter. Lincoln accepts and, after a decade of training, travels to Springfield, Illinois in 1837, where he begins to slay vampires. In Springfield, Lincoln befriends shopkeeper Joshua Speed and meets Mary Todd (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who is also being courted by Stephen A. Douglas. Though he is warned by Sturgess not to form any close relationships, Lincoln eventually begins having romantic feelings for Mary. The film follows Lincoln's rise both as a vampire hunter and as a politician. The movie presents slavery as the means of providing sustenance for the vampires and when the civil war breaks out, the real enemies of the north are the vampires who are threatened by the prospect of emancipation. The film has a very interesting ending that won't be lost on potus_geeks. (A sequel with a different vampire hunter in the White House perhaps?)
Serious historians lacking a sense of humor will hate this film. Some of the rest of us will see it differently. Here's the trailer.
Other prominent portrayals of Lincoln include Henry Fonda in the 1939 film Young Mr. Lincoln, Tom Amandes in the 2013 film Saving Lincoln, and Gregory Peck in the 1982 miniseries The Blue and the Grey.