THE LINCOLN IMAGE ON SCREEN
by Mark Reinhart
Lincoln Herald, Volume 96, Number 2 (SUMMER 1994), pp. 56-62.
The image of Abraham Lincoln is so deeply ingrained in our national consciousness that physical manifestations of that image can be found practically everywhere. In a sense, Lincoln is inescapable - he is the subject of countless books ranging from grade school coloring pages to massive historical volumes by renowned scholars. His likeness is often the subject of collectors' sculptures, paintings, posters, dolls, masks, and decorative plates. His face is displayed prominently on the money that we use. There are statues of Lincoln on public display in many cities across the country, and there are thousands of roads, parks, buildings and businesses named after him.
And historical sites where Lincoln himself once stood are preserved - you can visit his home in Springfield, Illinois, or the spot where he delivered his address in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, or Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., where he was assassinated. There are many museums at these and other sites which display artifacts that tell the story of his life.
That story has been told so many times and in so many different ways that one would think there cannot possibly be much left to say that would be of great historical use. It seems that Lincoln has been examined from every conceivable angle, with some biographers stressing one particular aspect of his life, others stressing something entirely different. These many different portrayals continue to vie with one another for the honor of being the closest approximation to the "real" Lincoln. Consequently, when it comes to the subject of Lincoln's life there is much to be examined but not much more that is new to say.
However, there is still much to say about how people have demonstrated their feelings for Lincoln since his death, about the many different ways that people have tried to keep his memory alive. Some of these ways, such as books, statues, and paintings are all widely recognized methods used to relate history to others. But there is another method that has been used for many years that has been used to tell Lincoln's life story and represent his image, a method which many people regard solely as entertainment and not as an historical reference tool - the movies and television.
According to the 1980 book Movie Facts and Feats - A Guiness Record Book by Patrick Robertson, Lincoln is the most portrayed American historical figure on film, the role having been featured in 128 movies. This figure is now 14 years out of date and does not take into account any television portrayals, so it is probably safe to assume that the actual number is well over 200. Screen portrayals of Lincoln began almost immediately after the birth of the motion picture medium in the late 1890s - the first being a version of Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1903 - and they continue up until the present day. There are several major factors that have caused the film and television industry's ongoing fascination of Lincoln.
Photography was invented in 1836, and photographic technology improved with great rapidity in the years directly proceeding the Civil War. It became much easier to take and copy photos, the result being that more images could be distributed to more people. Lincoln likely realized that photographs could be an effective political tool - if voters could recognize his face, their recognition might help him in elections. There is also reason to believe that Lincoln simply enjoyed having his picture taken, even though he constantly joked about his homely appearance - he visited photographic studios somewhat regularly, and would often inscribe pictures of himself to give to friends. In any event, he was the first widely photographed president, and as a result, his face became known to millions. He was a natural subject for "moving pictures" since he had been such a memorable subject for "still pictures."
The same could be said for the Civil War itself. It was the first war to be documented so completely in photographs, and filmakers could use them to stage their films with some degree of historical accuracy. And because the Civil War was such a dramatic period in American history, coupled with the fact that it had taken place only several decades before, it was perfect subject matter for the new entertainment industry.
As the years passed and the industry grew, the tragedy and heroism of the period continued to fascinate people, their fascination, in part, fueled by great films such as Gone With The Wind, made in 1939. The public's appetite for Civil War stories was still strong when television entered people's homes in the early 1950s - consequently, many television programs had stories that dealt with the Civil War period. Obviously, a great number of film and television productions about the Civil War featured a Lincoln portrayal in them, even if only as a cameo role.
While a number of films feature Lincoln as the main subject matter, the majority of films with Lincoln portrayals are historical dramas, and his appearance only serves to enhance the flavor of the period. Often there are several scenes which feature Lincoln in these films, showing him in fictioonal interaction with fictional characters, or at important moments in history such as the delivery of his address at Gettysburg. And as one might guess, at times it can be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction in these historical dramas. This is one of the biggest problems with the marriage of historical events and film and television productions - many filmakers have changed historical facts in their productions for the sake of "dramatic effect," and this has led to many people believing certain things about historical figures and events that simply weren't true. As we shall see, Lincoln was often a casualty in this war between fact and fiction when his image was brought to the screen.
Because the number of Lincoln screen portrayals is so large, this survey is limited to some of the most well known ones. The portrayals are divided into three categories - film dramatizations, television dramatizations, and documentaries. Most of the works feature Lincoln as the central character, but several are of the "period flavor" variety. No attempt is made to give an indepth review of each production. Rather each work will be discussed with regard to how accurately it portrays Lincoln in the context of what we know about him as a person, and how accurately it portrays historical events involving him.
FILM DRAMATIZATIONS
The 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation was produced and directed by D. W. Griffith, and was based on the play The Clansman by Thomas Dixon. It is primarily about the friendship between the members of two families, one Northern and one Southern. This film is considered to be one of the most important motion pictures ever made, because it was among the first to skillfully employ all of the cinematic techniques that we noe take for granted, such as editing and the use of close-up shots for dramatic effect. It has also long been a source of controversy because of its pro-Southern, racist storyline about the formation of the Ku Klux Klan as a way to bring honor back to the war-ravaged South. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating film to watch, considering that it was made over seventy-five years ago, which was only fifty years after the Civil War had ended - it could be said that The Birth of a Nation captures the image of the Civil War better than many films of its genre because it was actuall made closer to the war period in the first place. Many scenes in the film look as if Matthew Brady's photos had suddenly been set in motion.
Joseph Henebery as Lincoln in The Birth of a Nation
The character of Lincoln is played by Joseph Henabery, and he really does "look the part" to a large extent - practically all that was required of him, considering that this was a silent film. He is featured in three short segments in the film - a Union cabinet meeting at the outset of the war, a meeting with a fictional character who wants a pardon for her son, and the night of his assassination. His scenes serve as a good example of the potential that these "moving pictures" had to relate historical events to people, both factually and fictionally.
The first scene of Lincoln and his cabinet is a good example of history being related in a fictional manner - as the news comes that the South has fired on Fort Sumter, Lincoln gets down on his knees and begins to pray with his eyes soulfully turned toward Heaven. No such incident ever took place, and it is totally out of character for Lincoln. This scene reinforces the myth that in life he was a pious, saint-like man.
The assassination scene at Ford's Theatre is quite the opposite of the cabinet scene - it is historically accurate, remarkable piece of film. The theater set looks remarkably like the original, and all of the people who played a part in the tragedy are faithfully recreated. The age of the film itself, combined with the great realism of the scene produces a startlung effect - as you watch the flickering image of Booth stepping into the presidential box and shooting Lincoln in the back of the head, you almost feel as if you are in Ford's Theatre that night in April 1865. It is as if somehow a movie camera was transported back in time to capture the assassination as it happened. Watching this scene is like watching a newsreel that you know cannot exist.
Griffith did not fare nearly as well with his 1930 film Abraham Lincoln. This was his first since the advent of sound movies in the late 1920s, and everyone was anxious to see (and hear) what kind of masterpiece he would produce using the new technology, As it turned out, the film was not much of a masterpiece at all. Like so many silent filmmakers who were somewhat forced into the sound era, Griffith seemed rather confused by this new dimension - the dialogue and overall pacing of the film is woefully slow. To be fair, he was not the only filmaker who had these transitional problems, but since he had produced such remarkable work before, more was expected of him.
Also, the addition of sound in motion pictures made attempts to portray Lincoln realistically considerably more difficult. People assumed that in life, the great martyred president must have had a rich, deep, booming voice in order to read all of his famous speeches to the masses. By all contemporary accounts, the opposite was true - Lincoln had a high, somewhat squeaky voice with a pronounced western accent. But in Griffith's Abraham Lincoln, actor Walter Huston in the title role delivered his lines just like people expected to hear them - in deep, resonant tones. Also, his mannerisms and movement seemed somewhat stilted, as if Lincoln was already posing in life for all the statues that would eventually be made of him.
This film's plot has little relation to any historical facts regarding Lincoln and the Civil War. It features the Lincoln-Ann Rutledge romance prominently, a romance that until recently many historians regarded as largely fiction. Details of the Civil War are almost completely eliminated - as the story in the film goes, the union is losing all its battles, Lincoln has a premonitory dream, the Union starts to win battles and then the war. There is little mention made of any of the particular battles in the entire film. A great number of the scenes of Lincoln as president involve his cabinet trying to get him to do some work while he sits around smiling to himself. Because of both the sound and story problems, Abraham Lincoln barely gives us a glimpse into the life and substance of its title character.
The 1939 film Young Mr. Lincoln directed by John Ford, is a fine fictional drama about fledgling lawyer Lincoln taking on his first big case in Springfield, a murder trial in which he defends two brothers who are falsely accused. But in the historical sense, it has little basis in fact at all. The Ann Rutledge saga is employed once again, and the murder trial has nothing to do with Lincoln's real courtroom experiences. Mostly, the courtroom scenes are played either for melodrama or for big laughs - such as the accused mother being forced on the stand to tell which of her boys committed the crime, or Lincoln spinning funny yarns while he cross-examines witnesses. Also, important people in Lincoln's life, such as Mary Todd and Stephen Douglas are reduced to simple background characters.
Under Construction - Check Back Later
