Abraham Lincoln
About Abraham Lincoln
Walter Huston plays Lincoln from the courtship of Ann Rutledge, played by Una Merkel, through his years as a country lawyer, his marriage to Mary Todd, the debates with Stephen A. Douglas, the election of 1860, the Civil War and emancipation, and the shooting at Ford's Theatre in 1865. The picture is a chain of those chapters rather than one continuous case.
Cast & crew
More about Abraham Lincoln
D. W. Griffith directed and produced with Joseph M. Schenck. Stephen Vincent Benét adapted the screen story. Benét and Gerrit Lloyd wrote the continuity and dialogue. John W. Considine Jr. is credited with the story and as production adviser. Karl Struss photographed it. James Smith edited, with Hal C. Kern as editorial adviser. Hugo Riesenfeld arranged the music. United Artists released it on 25 August 1930. Wikipedia times it at 94 minutes. It was the first of Griffith's two sound films. The copyright was not renewed, and the film entered the public domain in 1958.
Themes
Making
Griffith's first talkie uses Benét's dialogue for a life told in set pieces, ending at Ford's Theatre. The sound is part of the production, not a later track.
Look
Karl Struss shot Huston as Lincoln, including the theatre scene.
Music
Hugo Riesenfeld arranged the music for Griffith's first sound film.
Preservation
The copyright was not renewed. The film entered the public domain in 1958. Copies are on the Internet Archive and Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- It also went out as D. W. Griffith's "Abraham Lincoln.
- Merkel's Ann Rutledge was her second speaking role.
- Benét had published the Civil War poem John Brown's Body in 1928.
- Wikidata times a copy at 97 minutes. The Wikipedia infobox says 94.
- An Internet Archive identifier is abraham_lincoln.
- A Commons file names Griffith and the year.
Scenes
- Lincoln's romance with Ann Rutledge, played by Una Merkel.
- The debates with Douglas.
- The assassination at Ford's Theatre.
Influenced by
- Stephen Vincent Benét's John Brown's Body (1928), by the writer of the dialogue
Also available
- Internet Archive (abraham_lincoln)
- Wikimedia Commons (Abraham Lincoln (D. W. Griffith, 1930).webm)
