In the 1941 western "Santa Fe Trail" and the 1955 historical drama "Seven Angry Men", Raymond Massey played abolitionist John Brown, a role played on several occasions by the equally gaunt looking John Carradine who had played Lincoln just several years earlier in the MGM drama "Of Human Hearts" which interestingly enough starred the very first actor to play Abraham Lincoln in a leading role in a sound film, the 1930 D.W. Griffith epic. Take away his long, scraggly beard and add a shorter black beard and a stove top hat, and you have Abraham Lincoln. They were both two men who had different ideals on how to end slavery. Interestingly enough, Carradine never played John Brown, even though he would have been ideally cast while Massey immediately followed up his role of Lincoln with the chance to play Brown. Here, the role of John Brown is played by the film's own director, John Cromwell, in a very moving cameo that has him about to be arrested for his crimes against the military, facing his hanging knowing that the evils he left behind regarding slavery would come to destroy the union and shake it to its core.
Over the past century, Abraham Lincoln has been played on screen by many great tall actors: everybody from Walter Houston, John Carradine and Raymond Massey to Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, and Daniel Day Lewis. Usually, he is presented as a simplistic, noble figure, almost saintly, but this play (and the later Daniel Day Lewis film) explore the darker sides of his character, proving that no man is perfect nor should be expected to be perfect. Certainly, he's noble, and Massey gives him a grace and humor that you come to expect in any portrayal of our 16th president, but conflicted over many issues. A great opening scene has his beloved stepmother (Elisabeth Risdon) predicting that Abe is marked for greatness which seemingly leaves a cold taste in Abe's father's (Charles Middleton) mind out of pure envy. Middleton's Tom Lincoln resents the fact that his son has gotten an education and reads Shakespeare which he belittles as not being very masculine. But once out on his own, Abe keeps the words of his stepmother in his heart, and the honor she has taught him is what guides him to his future greatness.
An encounter with local bully Howard da Silva gains the Kentucky native the respect of all of the residents after Abe defends the beautiful Anne Ruthledge (Mary Howard) from the creepy da Silva, resulting in Abe beating him in a fight and making a lifelong friend out of him as a result. Da Silva remains close by Abe's side as he rises in politics, and in one scene, is basically shown bullying all of the (male only) voters into ensuring that they vote for Abe. It's a bit of a disturbing scene, knowing that in future elections how even less severe tactics would call into question the legality of a declared victory. Da Silva's character certainly would not get the approval of da Silva's most famous stage and screen real life hero, "1776's" Benjamin Franklin.
Other than Massey, the two best performances in this film (much deserving of Oscar consideration) are Ruth Gordon as Mary Todd Lincoln and Gene Lockhart as Stephen Douglas, an early political confidante of Abe's who would later have an embittered campaign against him when they both ran for president. Once you get past Lockhart's silly wig, you really begin to see the various elements of his basically decent but very patriarchal politician who has a great final moment of atonement when Abe prepares to move to his greatest life challenge. Gordon starts off as a lovely, if plain looking woman, who changes slowly as she realizes the impact of her husband entering politics, reminding me of Yvonne de Carlo's scene with Anne Baxter in "The Ten Commandments" where she told her rival, "You lost him when he went to go find his God. I lost him when he found his God." In a sense, Moses and Lincoln are two men of the same kind, dealing with the evils of slavery in different times, but becoming so consumed with that fight that their own personal lives have to take a far back seat to that mission. Gordon is very powerful in the scene where she reveals all of her bitterness to her husband, later admonishing him for the undisciplined way he interacts with his sons while they try having a formal picture taken of them. Dorothy Tree, playing Gordon's prissy sister, completely overacts in every moment when she tries to prevent Mary and Abe from getting married.
The way Massey delivers his speeches is so eloquent it gives the impression that Lincoln himself had taken a brief control of Massey's body, style of speech and personality as if a way of reminding audiences of what they had fought for decades before and would go onto fight for within the next few years. This film version of the smash hit Broadway play came out at the best possible time as America looked onto Europe for a start of a war that once again threatened freedom. In a year of such classic movies as "Rebecca", "The Grapes of Wrath", "His Girl Friday" and "Our Town", "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" had severe competition at the Oscars, and only Massey and the cinematography were honored with nominations. Massey in any other year might have been declared an automatic winner, but fate wasn't with him or the real deserving nominee (Henry Fonda) that the victory of James Stewart in basically a supporting role in "The Philadelphia Story" seems a true shame.
Over the past century, Abraham Lincoln has been played on screen by many great tall actors: everybody from Walter Houston, John Carradine and Raymond Massey to Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, and Daniel Day Lewis. Usually, he is presented as a simplistic, noble figure, almost saintly, but this play (and the later Daniel Day Lewis film) explore the darker sides of his character, proving that no man is perfect nor should be expected to be perfect. Certainly, he's noble, and Massey gives him a grace and humor that you come to expect in any portrayal of our 16th president, but conflicted over many issues. A great opening scene has his beloved stepmother (Elisabeth Risdon) predicting that Abe is marked for greatness which seemingly leaves a cold taste in Abe's father's (Charles Middleton) mind out of pure envy. Middleton's Tom Lincoln resents the fact that his son has gotten an education and reads Shakespeare which he belittles as not being very masculine. But once out on his own, Abe keeps the words of his stepmother in his heart, and the honor she has taught him is what guides him to his future greatness.
An encounter with local bully Howard da Silva gains the Kentucky native the respect of all of the residents after Abe defends the beautiful Anne Ruthledge (Mary Howard) from the creepy da Silva, resulting in Abe beating him in a fight and making a lifelong friend out of him as a result. Da Silva remains close by Abe's side as he rises in politics, and in one scene, is basically shown bullying all of the (male only) voters into ensuring that they vote for Abe. It's a bit of a disturbing scene, knowing that in future elections how even less severe tactics would call into question the legality of a declared victory. Da Silva's character certainly would not get the approval of da Silva's most famous stage and screen real life hero, "1776's" Benjamin Franklin.
Other than Massey, the two best performances in this film (much deserving of Oscar consideration) are Ruth Gordon as Mary Todd Lincoln and Gene Lockhart as Stephen Douglas, an early political confidante of Abe's who would later have an embittered campaign against him when they both ran for president. Once you get past Lockhart's silly wig, you really begin to see the various elements of his basically decent but very patriarchal politician who has a great final moment of atonement when Abe prepares to move to his greatest life challenge. Gordon starts off as a lovely, if plain looking woman, who changes slowly as she realizes the impact of her husband entering politics, reminding me of Yvonne de Carlo's scene with Anne Baxter in "The Ten Commandments" where she told her rival, "You lost him when he went to go find his God. I lost him when he found his God." In a sense, Moses and Lincoln are two men of the same kind, dealing with the evils of slavery in different times, but becoming so consumed with that fight that their own personal lives have to take a far back seat to that mission. Gordon is very powerful in the scene where she reveals all of her bitterness to her husband, later admonishing him for the undisciplined way he interacts with his sons while they try having a formal picture taken of them. Dorothy Tree, playing Gordon's prissy sister, completely overacts in every moment when she tries to prevent Mary and Abe from getting married.
The way Massey delivers his speeches is so eloquent it gives the impression that Lincoln himself had taken a brief control of Massey's body, style of speech and personality as if a way of reminding audiences of what they had fought for decades before and would go onto fight for within the next few years. This film version of the smash hit Broadway play came out at the best possible time as America looked onto Europe for a start of a war that once again threatened freedom. In a year of such classic movies as "Rebecca", "The Grapes of Wrath", "His Girl Friday" and "Our Town", "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" had severe competition at the Oscars, and only Massey and the cinematography were honored with nominations. Massey in any other year might have been declared an automatic winner, but fate wasn't with him or the real deserving nominee (Henry Fonda) that the victory of James Stewart in basically a supporting role in "The Philadelphia Story" seems a true shame.