Viewers can tell that "Prisoner" is the work of a great director, and some of the performances are indeed fine; but this film is a lie, and it did a great disservice to the understanding of US history. Samuel Mudd knew John Wilkes Booth and almost certainly was aware of the identity of the patient he treated on the morning of April 15, 1865. Mudd got caught up in his own lie, and he later tried to change his story - not once but twice. His role as a medical doctor is certainly important, but the reality is that the other two surviving defendants who had been sent to Ft. Jefferson were also pardoned by Andrew Johnson at the close of Johnson's term of office. The portrayal of blacks in this film is nothing less than disgusting - way beyond GWTW and into "Birth of a Nation" territory. Mudd remains a fascinating figure, and watch this film - but don't be fooled into thinking it is at all historical. (Also, couldn't the filmmakers have at least given Mrs. Mudd her real name? and stuck to the very real drama of the military commission voting by a margin of just one vote to preserve Mudd's life?)
Review of The Prisoner of Shark Island
