Abraham Lincoln (1930)

This should have been have been a great film. This could have been have been a great film. With famed director D. W. Griffith at the helm, and such superb acting talent as Walter Huston, Una Merkel and Jason Robards, Sr. to work with, the 'Wonder Film of the Century' became, in Griffith's own words, "a nightmare of the mind and nerves."

Walter Huston is an outstanding actor, and it is very apparent that he is trying his best to at least give a credible interpretation of this great American president, but there was simply too much going against him to make it work.

First and foremost was the costumes he was forced to wear. A silly stovepipe at least 40 cm (16 inches) tall topped his head, and, for some strange and unknown reason, he was constantly pulling things out of it. This effect was very suited to Captain Kangaroo and his famed pockets in his later television years, but, for Lincoln, it was rediculous, and audiences were forever awaiting the appearance of a magic rabbit. Furthermore, to add even more height, Huston's shoes were fitted with stilts, giving Lincoln a 'Herman Munster' gait. Huston obviously had trouble walking in them and did nothing more than to give the impression that Lincoln was crippled.

Ann Rutledge was played by Una Merkel, and, although historians now recognize that her romance with Abraham Lincoln is purely myth, her perfomance was such that audible sighs of relief from the audiences were often heard when Ann died. No-one could possibly have believed that Lincoln could have fallen in love with such a woman. Fortunately for the audience, Ann's death comes only minutes after she first appears on the screen.

D. W. Griffith was one of the greatest silent film directors in history. His earlier Civil War epic, The Birth of a Nation, although lacking in historical accuracies, still remains a masterpiece in film-making. For his 'talkie' directorial debut, Griffith wanted to return to the Civil War period by making a screen version of John Brown's Body, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poem by Stephen Vincent Benét. Griffith's producer, Joseph Schenk, however, felt that a story about Abraham Lincoln would surely be a bigger box-office hit.

Novelist Carl Sandburg was approached to write a screenplay, but Schenk felt his price was to high and declined. Griffith then approached Benét, who agreed with the condition that he would work exclusively with Griffith. A screenplay was completed without Schenk's interference, but the producer quickly took over, discarded much of Benét's work and revised the rest... at times, rewriting history itself. Already in ailing health, Griffith did not have the strength or will to fight Schenk and the project moved forward.

Considering the material he had to work with and the budget he was given, credit must be given to Griffith for the fact that Abraham Lincoln did not turn out to be an even worse film than it did. None-the-less, Schenk was a very brave man for taking such liberties to rewrite history. Lincoln's immortal line "A house divided against itself cannot stand" became "A house divided against itself must fall". When Lincoln arrives at Ford's Theater, the audience stands, applauds, and shouts "Speech! Speech!" Lincoln obliges by offering them a portion of his inaugural address. John Wilkes Booth, played by Ian Keith, waits in the wings and more resembles Snidely Whiplash than a would-be assassin.

When filming and editing were finished, Griffith spent some time recouperating in Texas. Meanwhile, Abraham Lincoln actually turned a modest profit for the studio, but the most surprising thing is that, despite all the historical inaccuracies, the film was released in 16 mm format for educational purposes for America's school children.

Griffith was fully aware that he had created a deplorable 'bomb' and insisted on taking full responsibility for it. The credits read: "PERSONALLY DIRECTED BY D. W. GRIFFITH".