Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) User Reviews

The Lincoln Standard

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 11 February 2008]

Besides Raymond Massey, a whole flock of actors have been known for playing America's sixteenth president, Henry Fonda, Walter Huston, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook, Dennis Weaver, Gregory Peck, John Carradine. Character actor Frank McGlyn practically made a career of playing The Great Emancipator whenever Honest Abe was a character in a film. But the standard has been set by Raymond Massey who did Lincoln in Robert Sherwood's play for 472 performances on Broadway during the 1938-1939 season and he repeats the title role in Abe Lincoln in Illinois for this film version.

I've no doubt that Sherwood used as source material for his play a lot of information based on Carl Sandburg's biography, Lincoln the Prarie Years. At that time Sandburg was considered the unofficial custodian of the Lincoln legend and mythology. Of course he based a lot of his work on the biography of Lincoln written by his law partner William Herndon played here by Alan Baxter. Herndon's well known antipathy for Mary Todd Lincoln as the shrewish wife of his good friend comes through her in Ruth Gordon's portrayal. It should be said that Mary Lincoln regarded Herndon as an opportunist drunk and he certainly did have a substance abuse problem.

Gene Lockhart as Lincoln's rival Stephen A. Douglas is well done also, though Lockhart was a bit tall for the part. Had Douglas ever been elected president he would have been our shortest president, he was barely over five feet tall. The rivalry between these two was kind of like the Yankees and Red Sox with the Yankees always coming out on top until recent years. Lincoln is still our tallest president at 6'4" so the contrast on the speaking platform at the Lincoln-Douglas debates was really something to see.

The only other actor to recreate his stage role besides Massey was Howard DaSilva who played Jack Armstrong. Not the All American hero, but the leader of the local gang of roughnecks who Lincoln beat in a wrestling match and who becomes his lifelong friend. All part of the Lincoln legend carefully preserved by Sandburg and Sherwood. It was one of DaSilva's earliest screen roles.

Raymond Massey got an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in 1940 and he was up against a strong field that included Henry Fonda for The Grapes of Wrath, Charles Chaplin for The Great Dictator, and Laurence Olivier in Rebecca. The winner however was a long-shot, James Stewart for The Philadelphia Story. There was a lot of sentiment that year that Stewart should have received the Oscar the year before for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. So the good Academy voters made up for it this year. It goes that way with Oscar every so often.

Abe Lincoln in Illinois still holds up very well although today's historical Lincoln specialists might have different interpretations placed on some of the events you see.

While not "gospel", it sure sticks much closer to the truth than other Lincoln films of the era

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 21 December 2008]

Abe Lincoln is one of the most misunderstood figures in American history--perhaps THE most misunderstood. So much of what we assume are facts are actually myths and misrepresentations--some of which were promoted by writers and some by films of the 30s and 40s. While ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS is far from perfect, it is light-years ahead of the other contemporary works in giving a balanced account of Lincoln's life. While heroic in many ways, Lincoln is more of a man in this film and the facts are generally true--and that's a lot more than can be said of such sentimental hogwash as D.W. Griffith's 1930 fiasco ABRAHAM LINCOLN--which is basically one myth after another strung together!! I can say all this because I am well educated about the man and am an American history teacher--so my opinion should mean something.

One of the common myths that has abounded was the Ann Rutledge romance. While it's uncertain exactly how much they were in love (was it just a passing romance or something deeper), it's obvious that they were NOT as they were portrayed in ABRAHAM LINCOLN with all of its syrupy sweetness. Read up on the controversy yourself--opinions vary and there's no concrete evidence to prove either extreme. Here in ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS, they seem to take the position that the love between them was just beginning to blossom when she died and that that was about it.

Another myth is that Lincoln was 100% against slavery and that he personally freed the slaves (that was actually done by Congress and the 13th amendment). The real life Lincoln, though opposed to slavery, was more concerned with unity and preserving the nation. Fortunately, ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS gets this right--they show Lincoln as being torn by these two divergent interests. Most books and films portray him as "the Great Emancipator"--though Lincoln would have allowed slavery to keep the country from war and he did see class distinctions between the races.

The other big myth is that Lincoln was sort of a "dumb hillbilly" and that he stumbled into greatness. While in this film he is a simple man, of sorts, he also is amazingly clever and has a great way with dealing with people. And, occasionally, he was a bit devious. While the film doesn't have a chance to show his political savvy and willingness to "forget" the Constitution during the war in order to keep the country together, he is relatively shrewd in this film.

As for Mary Todd, in the film as in real life, she was a conniver and a very unstable woman. While her mental instability was only briefly shown in this film (as in reality--her mental condition greatly deteriorated after her husband was President as well as his death) but at least it was mentioned. Plus, her intense drive was a major focus of the film--as it was in Lincoln's own real life. She was a hard-driving and rather nasty woman if you read more about her (and rather mentally unstable in her later years).

As a long-winded teacher, I could go on, but probably should wrap it up now. The film is reasonably accurate and tends to show Lincoln, warts and all--something films up until then neglected. Additionally, Raymond Massey's performance was superb and the film was both entertaining and inspiring. Interestingly enough, Massey was a Canadian and did a much better job than the Americans who have tackled this role.

Excellent.

[rmax304823 · 8/10 · 15 May 2011]

If you compare John Cromwell's "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" with John Ford's "Young Mister Lincoln" -- and how can you NOT -- you immediately notice both similarities and differences. Ford's movie appeared a year earlier but Sherwood's play had been around for a while and can probably be considered earlier.

Some isomorphisms are so conspicuous that it's likely that the craftsmen for Ford's movie lifted them from the play. Example: It just can't be coincidental that both movie have celebrants doing a polka to the same tune, which, we learn in "Young Mister Lincoln," is "Lovely Susan Brown." Even individual lines of dialog were shamelessly ripped off. If, in "Abe Lincoln in Illnois," Howard Da Silva boasts, "I'm the big buck of this lick," in "Young Mister Lincoln" the line is given to Jack Pennick.

Those similarities are superficial and in fact the differences turn them into two almost entirely different movies about the same subject. "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" is more of a biographical sketch that gives us far more of Lincoln's political rise, as well as his romances with Ann Rutledge and, later, Mary Todd. Ford's movie mostly sketches the character of Lincoln and then turns into a courtroom drama leavened with comic incidents.

Comparing the two leads, it can be said that Raymond Massey is a more convincing Lincoln than Henry Fonda. Massey simply looks more like the gangling Lincoln, even without Fonda's false nose. Also, for whatever reason, in this instance Massey gives a better performance. Some viewers might wince at Massey's quivering oratory during his debate with Stephen Douglas, but that was the custom at the time. (The film prunes this "house divided against itself" speech.)

But -- I'll try to keep this short -- aside from Cromwell's movie covering Lincoln's maturation from a slow youth to his departure with his new whiskers for Washington, while Ford's movie covers a much shorter time span and includes virtually no politics -- Ford's movie is helped immensely by Alfred Newman's multivaried musical score. The Anne Rutledge theme is simple, nostalgic, innocent, and elegant. There's nothing like it in "Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

On top of that, Sherwood's narrative (he did the screenplay too) has more serious drama in it, including the conflict between the compliant and peaceable Lincoln and his fiery and ambitious wife, who was later to spend time in an insane asylum. We get far more than an occasional domestic squabble. Sherwood isn't afraid to hit us over the head with reality.

Ford, on the other hand, throws history out the window in favor of sentiment and even an attempt at art in some of the incidents and certainly in the photography and lighting. There are two instants of melancholy, both connected with Ann Rutledge's death, and one dramatic incident involving a possible lynching but, that aside, it's more comic than dramatic. Even the murder trial has several amusing moments. (Francis Ford, called for voir dire, puts aside his jug, stumbles to the bench, and pleads, "Guilty.") Massey may be the better performer but Ford is the more subtle director. During moments of gravitas, Cromwell's camera dollies in for a close up of Massey's face, obviously and unnecessarily drawing our attention to the fact that something important is going on, as Massey's voice hesitates before launching some impassioned pronouncement. Ford does it once, when a woman asks, "Who are you?" and Fonda replies, "I'm your lawyer, Ma'am." I'm not counting the end of Ford's movie when Fonda wanders off to the top of a distant hill under an El Greco sky full of menace. Cromwell spells it all out in a final farewell address to the people of Springfield, while Ford keeps it symbolic. (Kids: It's symbolic of the immanent Civil War, fought over slavery and state's rights, between the North and the South. A lot of people got hurt and the South was wrecked. The thunderstorm is a "symbol" because it "stands for" all that impending tumult.)

In the end, it's just about impossible to argue that one movie is generally better than the other because they're so different in their intent and execution. Let's call them "unordered variables."

I suppose, historically, the movie is kind to Mary Lincoln and her shopping sprees and family background. A TV movie starring Sam Waterston fills in some of the blanks.

The Real Mr. Lincoln

[Mike Sh. · 19 October 1999]

With all due respect to Henry Fonda, Walter Huston, and a myriad of other cinematic Lincolns, Raymond Massey is the Abe to end all Abes. His moving and mesmerizing performance gives us the real Mr. Lincoln in all his complexity. Alongside the warmth, compassion and humor for which we love and revere Mr. Lincoln, we see in Massey the dark side as well: the doubts, fears, indecision and deep melancholia with which Abraham Lincoln struggled his whole life, and which clashed with his fierce ambition. Ruth Gordon is superb as Lincoln's equally ambitious wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. No hagiography, this movie lets us see the Lincolns as human beings with real "issues", rather than mere heroes of history.

Besides all this, we have Massey's astonishing physical resemblance to Lincoln.

What's most amazing is that the spirit of this most quintessentially American of our American heroes should be so wonderfully captured and portrayed by.... a Canadian!

Abe's Wilderness Years

[Lejink · 6/10 · 1 April 2021]

Hollywood's adaptation of Robert E Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play is suitably serious and respectful of its subject matter. It has a slow methodical pace befitting Lincoln's manner of speaking and while interesting as a history lesson, struggles a little presented on the big screen.

Dubbed "the man from the wilderness", the viewer is presented with Honest Abe's back story as we see his rise from the backwoods culminating in his winning the election of 1860 as the presidential train takes him to Washington to begin his presidency. Being ignorant of his previous life-story, I was interested to learn of his love for another young woman before his eventual marriage or that he originally broke his later engagement to his wife Mary as he wrestled with accommodating her political ambitions for him to his own goals.

Naturally, there are speeches a-plenty as everyone around him, besides Mary, with their different motivations, identify in the slow-talking, easy-going Illinois lawyer a man who could make it to the White House. To the man and woman in the street, his popular appeal comes from his couching his radical policy of emancipation in relatable but memorable words, while to the political machinery of backroom politics, he is thought a pliable rube who will do the party's bidding. Although the film ends before he actually assumes the presidency, we're left in little doubt that in the end, Abe is his own man, as much from the way he rebukes his wife for dressing him down in public as from the set-piece debate with rival candidate Stephen Douglas.

I love my history, especially regarding the American presidency but must admit I found this biopic somewhat flat and laboured in its presentation of events even as I appreciated the re-statement of equal rights and the abolition of slavery at such a precipitous time in then present-day America, in the wake of the Great Depression and with the spectre of World War ahead where the contribution of black Americans would prove essential to the war effort.

Raymond Massey well personifies the iconoclastic Lincoln and Ruth Gordon, here in her first film but much more familiar to me as her older self in 70's TV series like "MacMillan and Wife" and "Rhoda", is already cultivating her endearing waspishness as the forceful woman behind this great man.

All in all, while I appreciated the sober treatment of the serious subject matter, I nonetheless felt it could have done with some enlivening and even lightening to make it play better as a movie entertainment.

How Lincoln really sounded...

[jpowell180 · 9/10 · 22 February 2007]

If you've ever wanted to hear what Abe Lincoln sounded like, this is the film you'll want to see. Lincoln is portrayed by the late Canadian actor Raymond Massey - who, amongst many other roles, is also remembered from HG Welles' Things to Come, the screenplay of which was written by HG Welles himself. Early in Massey's career, Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, heard him perform and was struck by the similarity between Massey's speaking voice and that of his father. Since there are no recordings of Lincoln from that era shortly before Edison invented the Gramophone, we have to rely on descriptions of his voice. Some from that time state Lincoln's voice was high-pitched, and that Massey did not do the voice properly - however, I tend to give more credence to a living witness, Lincoln's own eldest son who, though he died 14 years prior to this film, still had the opportunity to see Massey on stage and hear his voice. Massey got it right, and this is one wonderful film - too bad I haven't found it on DVD - the next time it airs on TMC I'll have to record a DVD of it for myself.

Some Moments Really Shine

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 26 May 2023]

I thought much of this movie, especially the first half, was dry and a bit dull. Raymond Massey overdoes the country bumpkin thing in portraying Abraham Lincoln in the years before he jumped into the political fray, and his attempts to portray him as a regular Joe result in him coming off as a simpleton. But the movie, and Massey's performance, improves greatly when Lincoln becomes the reluctant hero, and there are a couple of stirring speeches, especially Lincoln's matter of fact debate against Steven Douglas, where Lincoln pretty much says he doesn't want to befriend black people but he thinks they deserve equality in the eyes of the law, that showcase why Massey received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance.

"Abe Lincoln in Illinois" was shown on TCM as part of a tribute to cinematographer James Wong Howe, who also received an Oscar nomination for this film. The dissection of his camera work was fascinating and made me appreciate things about it I wouldn't have otherwise. To be honest, without that, I probably would have thought the photography in this film was pretty pedestrian.

This was the first time I'd ever seen Ruth Gordon as a younger actress, and she's good as Mary Todd Lincoln. By accident, I had happened to watch "The Hurricane" right before this movie, which features Massey, and "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet" right after, which features Gordon, so I ended up creating a logical little flow to my classic movie viewing without even trying.

Grade: B+

Best ever portrayal of Lincoln on film.

[allvnev · 9/10 · 12 April 2006]

I have seen this film probably 15 times or more and have been a devotee of the Lincoln mythology (for lack of a better term) for nearly 20 years. I remember first seeing the film as a youngster on the same weekend as the death and funeral of President Kennedy in November of 1963. At that time, the two scenes that struck me as most memorable to my young mind was the one where the local woman tells Lincoln that he is the homeliest man in the county; and, the other scene where Lincoln is telling the slightly off-color joke to a crowd about the man fighting the bear. Also, another visual that sticks in my memory is the somewhat haunting scene where Lincoln revisits New Salem after the once thriving city has become a ghost-town.

There are several marvelous aspects of this movie. To begin with, is the near perfect physical and emotional representation of Lincoln by Raymond Massey. Given the photographs of the pre-president Lincoln, making Massey into sixteenth president seems nearly ordained from the beginning. The height, facial structure, and body type is nearly a perfect fit. Regarding how Lincoln spoke, it is hard to determine if that is an accurate representation or not. Historical accounts of Lincoln says that he had a rather high and not necessarily soothing voice. Since, it would be another 30 plus years before there is any kind of recording device, Massey's voice should seem appropriate enough.

Additionally, the cinematography is excellent. The on-location or natural shots are superior by black and white standards. Even though I am a devotee of black and white films, color films seem to have the upper hand when filming wide-open or rustic environments. The feel of the indoor scenes such as the ones within the Lincoln Springfield home is nearly perfect for the times. You can virtually smell the cigar smoke or the burning wood stove. Finally, the lighting during the campaign speech scenes are awesome.

But, the best part of the movie is how even with some artistic license the characters surrounding Lincoln are historically strong and represent in a film microcosm a very accurate historical reality of Lincoln's early years. For example, starting with Ruth Gordon's portrayal of Mary Linoln Todd. With her character, you can easily feel how much she effected Lincoln. Her persistent pressure on Lincoln to achieve political importance and her hard-nose, sometimes loving, sometimes bitter prescience is from my historical reading just about perfect. Since the film takes place before Lincoln is actually president, Mary Todd Lincoln's shenanigans within the White House or her emotional unraveling in her later years is not an issue here.

The romance demonstrated between Lincoln and Ann Rutledge, although later to be historically challenged, then even later to be considered historically (possibly) significant, is quite sadly moving. It is nicely juxtaposition-ed against the image of Mary Lincoln Todd.

Howard De Silva as New Salem's local ruffian is although somewhat embellished, still represents Lincoln's ability to relate to people from all walks of life. The film just seems to find the vital essence of young Lincoln before he became president.

The surreal, final scene of Lincoln leaving Springfield for Washington D.C. (again although actually happening during the day during a rainstorm)after giving one of his many great historical speeches ("this is where I have lived") catches the eerie but profound feel of how important his leadership is going to mean to the struggling republic. The playing of the "Battle Hymnn of the Republic" although premature, is still simple perfect.

Lincoln biopic

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 13 April 2024]

Abe Lincoln (Raymond Massey) is a young man studying books and living with his parents in rural Kentucky. He becomes a respected leader in New Salem, Illinois and falls for Ann Rutledge. Their relationship ends tragically. He is asked to run for political office. At a high society party, he meets Mary Todd (Ruth Gordon) from a wealthy family who declares that she will marry the backwoodsman.

I don't know much about the President's life before the presidency. I certainly cannot vouch for its accuracy. It is a lot of a sincere stories of him being good. It's rather plodding. I don't mind Ann Rutledge but she's a simplistic character. Ruth Gordon adds something to this. She's a little playful which gives this just enough energy at the right time. I can see the idea of a Lincoln biopic being important during that time. I don't think that it's inventive enough to entice a big audience.

The Man Who Would Be President

[lugonian · 10/10 · 12 October 2004]

ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS (RKO Radio, 1940), directed by John Cromwell, is not so much a biography of Abraham Lincoln, but the life Lincoln lived from his early years to a position that would lead him to politics, and against all odds, his winning the election for the United States presidency in 1860. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning 1938 play by Robert E. Sherwood, the screen adaptation, tracing Lincoln's thirty years starting in 1831 to his train ride leading to Washington, D.C., in 1861, stars Raymond Massey in a role he originated on stage, being the best performance of a great American ever enacted by an actor who wasn't. Massey, a Canadian by birth, is not only the perfect candidate for the title role, but an ideal choice. Massey's believability in his role earned him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Although he didn't win the election for that year, it is Massey who very well holds this movie together.

A follow-up of sorts to John Ford's most recent YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (20th Century-Fox, 1939), starring Henry Fonda, focusing on Lincoln's early years as a young lawyer in Springfield, Ill., and a retelling in parts to D.W. Griffith's ABRAHAM LINCOLN (United Artists, 1930), starring Walter Huston, ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS starts off on a rainy afternoon in 1831 with an introduction to the character of Abraham Lincoln (Raymond Massey), age 22, sitting on the floor in a log cabin reading a book by Shakespeare, accompanied by his father (Charles B. Middleton) and a stepmother (Elisabeth Risdon). With the Lincoln family background briefly depicted, the next scene follows Abe, who had left home to accept a $30 a month job as part of the crew rowing a flatboat hauling hogs down the Sangamon River to New Orleans. Along the way he encounters a very beautiful girl named Ann Rutledge (Mary Howard), with whom he decides to settle down in her native town of New Salem where he becomes in charge of a general store, a position offered him by his employer, Denton Offut (Harlan Briggs). When he finds Jack Armstrong (Howard Da Silva), the greatest fighter who cannot be beat, a little drunk and annoying Ann, who, along with his other friends, having invaded her tavern, Abe, a stranger in town, comes to the young lady's defense and publicly wrestles Jack to the end, defeating his advisory and winning the admiration from all, especially the respect and loyal-ship of Jack Armstrong. The year 1832 profiles Lincoln acting as leader in command of his soldiers, with Armstrong being among them, during the Blackhawk War period; 1835 now finds Lincoln in a new position as postmaster general. He is visited by Joshua Speed (Minor Watson) and Ninian Edwards (Harvey Stephens) who introduce Abe to politics by choosing him to serve in the legislature, which he would serve four terms. As for Ann, having been engaged to John McNeil (Maurice Murphy), now living in New York for two years, finds that after receiving a letter from him that he has no intentions of returning to her. To stop gossip from circulating around Ann's good name, Abe admits his love for her from the moment he first saw her, and asks her to become his steady. The relationship between them is cut short when she is stricken with an illness and dies. Lincoln quits the legislation to work in the law office with John Stuart in Springfield, forming a partnership of Stuart & Lincoln, Counselors-at-Law. Slowly improving his social position, Lincoln is introduced to Mary Todd (Ruth Gordon) at a function given by her sister and Ninian's wife, Elizabeth Edwards (Dorothy Tree). Elizabeth wants Mary to marry an aristocrat, someone like Stephen A. Douglas (Gene Lockhart), but her interest rests on Mr. Lincoln, whom she eventually marries on November 4, 1842. The marriage produces four sons (the movie indicates three, eliminating one who died in his fourth year), and shows Mary's fight in having her hayseed husband fulfill his destiny, to become president of the United States.

Ruth Gordon (1896-1985), a prominent stage actress and playwright, in her movie debut, gives a remarkable performance in one of the best carnations of Mary Todd Lincoln ever portrayed on screen. Gene Lockhart (1892-1957), a veteran character actor in many feature film roles, goes unnoticed as a very satisfying Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861). Lockhart's best moment finds his Stephen Douglas sincerely congratulating his opponent Abraham Lincoln in winning the U.S. election, something that should become a prime example with modern-day candidates.

As mentioned before, ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS is very much a retread to D.W. Griffith's 1930 presentation of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, with differences being the elimination of Lincoln's birth, his trying years in the White House during the Civil War and assassination in April 1865. In many ways, ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS is an excellent movie with excellent portrayals. Being a screen adaptation to a stage play, John Cromwell's direction, makes no indication as such. Minus Technicolor, it's full of outdoor scenery and historical detail ranging from costumes to reproductions of small towns. Highlights include the well staged Lincoln-Douglas debate, and one where Lincoln finally losing his temper towards his wife, Mary, after embarrassing him in front of his committee, by ordering her, twice, "You're not/never to do that again!"

ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS, formerly shown on commercial television annually either on or around Lincoln's birthday, February 12, later presented on video cassette finally on cable television's American Movie Classics prior to 2000, and Turner Classic Movies. Quite enjoyable as a motion picture, and quite informative on a historical point of view, this production, at 110 minutes, succeeds on both counts. "Glory, Glory Hallelujah, his truth is marching on." (****)

Interesting, languid bio-pic

[jamesrupert2014 · 7/10 · 18 May 2020]

Young Abraham Lincoln (Raymond Massy) leaves his rustic Kentucky home for the first time, ultimately settling in Illinois where he reluctantly gets involved in politics. The film ends with his election as President and his departure for Washington. Based on the eponymous play, the film is a bit stagy but Massy (who had starred in the play) is excellent as the slow-talking, homespun 'rail-splitter'. The tall, lean Canadian actor bears a strong resemblance to Lincoln and played the president a number of times. Interestingly, Charles Middleton (perhaps best known as Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon serials), who plays Lincoln's father also had played the president a number of times (Lincoln's distinctive appearance is thought to due to Marfan's syndrome or some similar genetic anomaly). Although some dramatic liberties are taken (such as the timing of the famous 'house divided' speech) the film is supposed to be reasonably accurate. Released only one year after John Ford's 'Young Mr. Lincoln' (starring Henry Fonda), the film was a major money-loser for RKO. The film is a bit slow-moving and theatrical but the interesting story (admittedly I was unfamiliar Lincoln's early life) and Massy's Oscar-nominated performance make it well worth watching.

Execellent beyond belief!!

[technicallyhere92 · 10/10 · 17 February 2006]

I absolutely loved this movie! maybe it is because I am a history buff but I thought it was wonderful!. I am currently doing a project on Abraham Lincoln where my friends and I on working on a student directed film about Abraham Lincoln and you can not imagine how much this movie has helped me. This movie tells the tale of one of the greatest man in history and how he evolved along the way to become even greater. I can only hope that this movie will help someone see the wonders of his life as it helped me and as Honest Abe helped so many other people. I loved it when they showed his debate with Stephen Douglas. That was really the highlight of the movie because it showed him giving his real opinion and it caught my attention. His speech was amazing!! 10 thumbs up!!!! :D

The good old Abe's heartwarming story before he became President of the US.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 7/10 · 5 February 2023]

Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) : Brief Review -

The good old Abe's heartwarming story before he became President of the US. John Cromwell has a theory of his own that connects well with human emotions. There have been many biopics on many legendary persons in the 30s (including Lincoln's ones) that have given us a chance to look at their personal lives on the big screen. Emile Zola, Louise Pasteur, Dr. Ehrlich, Daniel Webster, Madame Curie, and many more films on sports-we have been through many biographical dramas in the World War II period. Cromwell brought Abraham Lincoln's story to light, if only in part, by removing politics, the civil war, and other controversies. The film takes us through Lincoln's early life in Illinois, his love affairs, law practice, political career, marriage, and democratic speeches before he was elected as the 16th President of the United States. It's such a delight to see such inspiring and lovable stories. No crime, noir touch, heavy dialogue, no kisses or illicit affairs, no gun, bullets, or revenge-nothing at all, but just a simple human drama based on true events. I prefer watching films like these instead of a classic crime saga that does nothing but glorify gangsters, their dame, and whatnot. Abe In Illinois is a sweet film, but it's a very nostalgic experience (me saying that as a non-American). I wonder how politely Lincoln walked away even after winning the election in that pre-climax scene when he admits playing dirty political tricks for the sake of votes. Raymond Massey as Abe is phenomenal. Watch those tears in that farewell speech, and those whiskers. I can't imagine any other actress playing Mary other than Ruth Gordon. The supporting cast, the cinematography, the screenplay, and the production design all fit well. The more I say, it's not enough: Well done, Mr. CromWell...

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This movie was very incomplete

[Greatornot · 4/10 · 2 October 2008]

Although very watchable this movie seemed to be very incomplete. No problem with the acting or stage set and well directed and choreographed but there were significant historical events missed. Lincoln only had 1 surviving son out of 4. This was not explored in the movie. One would need to see how Mr. Lincoln handled each of his sons deaths. I know this is not pleasant but a bio need not be pleasant .. it needs to be real. This was a rose colored movie much in the vein of PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, from that same era. We need to see some ugly sides . That is another thing speaking of ugly sides. We never got to see Abe Lincoln being human in the sense of doing something bad. Even in the one scene when he supposedly lost his temper to Mary Todd he was just talking normally like in a debate mode. Lincoln was portrayed as too perfect and I know this is not the case. The movie was overly politically correct and I somehow get the feeling if Oliver Stone were around than the movie would be more realistic. From completely ignoring Lincolns 3 sons deaths to showing Mr. Lincoln as a perfect person , this movie lacked big time. The movie was at least watchable thus the 4 instead of 1 .

Holds up pretty well

[nosoapradio · 1 January 2003]

Episodic recounting of Lincoln's life up to the Presidency. Written by Robert Sherwood, one of FDR's speechwriters. Good performances by Ruth Gordon, Alan Baxter, Howard DaSilva, Clem Bevans.

Massey is the definitive movie Lincoln. Excellent work, emotional range and depth. Much better than Henry Fonda, whose Lincoln was apparently in some kind of trance.

May seem a little dated to modern audiences; occasionally strives for emotional poignancy that now comes across as somewhat corny.

Lots of little details, good depictions of frontier life, political campaigns in the 1800's. Includes two of Lincoln's best speeches from that period, with Massey's performance very close to Lincoln's 19th century oratorical style.

Highly recommended to students of American history and fans of old movies.

The definitive Lincoln hasn't been done yet

[t_k_matthews · 7/10 · 9 February 2012]

I disagree that this is the definitive Lincoln. Massey is like one of Disney's Audioanimatrons. I agree with one corespondent that Henry Fonda's performance as Lincoln tended to lapse into a trance. Same with other Fonda roles, which is one reason he's not my favorite actor. Both actors seem to have been overwhelmed by history and thus Lincoln comes out as an icon, not as a human. There was a miniseries with Hal Holbrook some years ago that gave us a more human Lincoln.

Whatever actor or studio manages the perfect Lincoln ought to do us a favor and have him deliver both the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural, even if it doesn't fit into the movie. Send the clips around to schools. Would love to see the greatness of those speeches matched to a great performance.

A beautiful movie about a great American

[wmattifo · 10/10 · 23 February 2003]

This movie is breathtaking. It takes us back to a simpler time when America was still a "blank canvas" ready to be filled. Everyone must see this movie and remember the sacrifices that Abe Lincoln made for his beliefs. He gave his life for his country and this movie shows his humble beginnings and the humility of the man. This is what historical film-making is all about. Watch and enjoy!

a legitimate shot at presenting the real Abe

[RanchoTuVu · 9/10 · 15 May 2011]

This film portrays Abe Lincoln's political rise as a man of the people, from his wrestling brawl with town bully Howard da Silva to his failure as a general store owner and his humble beginning in politics as a town postmaster. The film portrays the women in Lincoln's life and the influence they had on him. Perhaps the most influential woman is the one not shown, his mother, but he shares a moving scene with his step mother as he's leaving home, and then with Ann Rutledge, and finally with Mary Todd played in an unusually interesting way by Ruth Gordon. It's perhaps the influence of these women and their uncertain fates that more than balanced Lincoln's well developed humor with a dark and secret melancholy. That aspect is captured through some of the scenes of Massey's Lincoln shot by legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe. Between him, Massey, and Ruth Gordon, this film seems to carry some serious cinematically induced psychological influences.

This is a MUST See - Raymond Massey Does Some of the Best Acting of All Time

[peter-czegledi · 10/10 · 5 April 2005]

Raymond Massey's portrayal of Abraham Lincoln during his rebuttal of Stephen A Douglas towards the end of the movie is the most fantastic combination of great content and great acting I have ever seen. His farewell speech at the very end of the movie is wonderful too. The rest of the movie is also top quality.

On www.answers.com I read: Early in Massey's career, Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926), heard Massey perform and was struck by the close similarity of Massey's speaking voice to that of his father.

In the end it's hard to separate Mr. Massey from Abraham Lincoln. Isn't that what great acting is all about? Moreover, even if you appreciated our 16th president before, this movie will make you feel that your appreciation was severely lacking. My hope is that these fine gentlemen are now in a place where they can both be proud to be associated with the other.

Some irony, though. Both Raymond Massey (who played Abraham Lincoln) and Gene Lockhart (who played Stephen A Douglas and was the father of June Lockhart) were born in Canada. A small price to pay in the name of American patriotism.

Old Abe was saluting Raymond Massey from his great Log Cabin in the sky.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 2 December 2019]

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.

Abe Lincoln would've made a great Raymond Massey...

[rsterr · 27 May 2003]

If only we could've cloned Mr. Massey back in 1940, and then waited for a scriptwriter who could take a more controlled hand with historical accuracy than was fashionable in those days, and released the movie today...this remains my favorite treatment of one of my favorite historical figures; Massey seems born to have played Lincoln, from the obvious physical resemblance to the supposed mannerisms, and in doing so far outshines other Lincoln performances (Fonda's and Peck's come to mind). My peeve with the film is with historical detail, and I realize that Hollywood willingly sacrifices accuracy for dramatic artifice without so much as a blush...

The Best Movie Version of a Stage Play

[JohnHowardReid · 10/10 · 5 July 2015]

At the beginning of April 1940, Frank S. Nugent resigned as chief film critic of The New York Times in order to pursue a career as a Hollywood screenwriter. (His last review, Rebecca, was published on 29 March.) His deputy, B.R. Crisler, took over for less than a month before Bosley Crowther, the paper's Hollywood correspondent, began his long reign in New York. This wrecked Abe Lincoln in Illinois's certainty of a place in the Times Ten Best. While agreeing that the film was "the best Lincoln picture the screen has ever had", Crowther felt it did not elevate screen biography to new heights, although it was certainly "fine and interesting". These comments fall a long way short of Nugent's endorsement which declared: "Although the Pulitzer committee may smile skeptically, we have no hesitation in calling the film the play's superior, in calling Raymond Massey's screen Lincoln better than his play's Lincoln, in finding it not only a more complete record of the man and his times, but a far more dramatic and a far more significant biography than the Pulitzer committee saw."

Other critics across the nation were equally enthusiastic: With 221 votes, the film placed 6th in the annual Film Daily poll.

COMMENT: One of the best films ever made, this movie features a brilliant performance from Raymond Massey in the title role. It's unbelievable that Massey missed out on Hollywood's most prestigious award. His Lincoln (repeated from the Broadway stage) is easily the most moving portrait of his entire screen career. It's true, as a few over-finicky critics have complained, his acting tends to be stagey and that the director occasionally seems to be forcing him to pose in carefully-wrought tableaux, but Massey brilliantly, forcefully overcomes all obstacles to make his Lincoln totally sincere, totally convincing (he may be too old for the early scenes, but no matter) and overwhelmingly sympathetic.

If you're in a fault-finding mood and you want to pick at a mannered performance, go no further than Ruth Gordon. Odd, quixotic, stagey she certainly is, but she's always an interesting player — and I like her!

More conventional but equally fascinating portrayals are etched by Gene Lockhart (an ever-reliable actor) and Roger Imhoff (a player who is not usually cast in such prominent roles — more's the pity). Also to be warmly commended are Aldrich Bowker, Mary Howard, Harlan Briggs and the unlisted actor (actually director Cromwell himself) who plays John Brown. All told, it's a grand cast, with many capable faces filling in the background.

Abe Lincoln has been most lavishly produced. It's anything but a photographed stage play. Grover Jones opened out the action of the play so that it's truly a colorful movie, and then Sherwood came back and filled in the dialogue. A perfect combination of writing talent which has resulted in a screenplay that is both full of incident and excitement, yet has dialogue effectively fired with humor, drama, even poetry and romance.

The make-up and costumes look incredibly realistic, while the sets and their appointments have a sparse, unHollywood lack of glamour and ornamentation which seems totally authentic. Not that the film looks bare — it is often crowded with people and is always appealingly and most attractively lit by James Wong Howe.

Cromwell's direction is most assured. It also has been criticized for being too stagey and too static, but a recent viewing of the film makes nonsense of these claims. True, Cromwell does effectively employ stage compositions — even tableaux — at times. But not only are these moving and dramatic in themselves (who could forget the picture's final scenes, or indeed the final shot of all as the train pulls out, carrying Lincoln to Washington? This is real emotion), but they are skillfully contrasted with scenes of vigorous action in which both camera and players move with a speed that is only possible in the cinema.

Roy Webb has provided a rousingly familiar, nonetheless stirring music score. Other technical credits are as proficient as unbounded Hollywood largess can make them.

Abe Lincoln in Illinois is not the dry bones of history, but a living, moving portrait that is as vital and relevantly dramatic in 2015 as it was 75 years ago. Sherwood has not penned a museum piece, but a convincing, fascinating, well-rounded and, above all, deeply sympathetic picture that will live for all time. In fact, the more times I see the movie, the more I enjoy it. After viewing the superb Warner Brothers DVD, I regard it as one of the best movies Hollywood ever made. Certainly Raymond Massey rendered one of the all-time great performances of the cinema.

Despite its great entertainment qualities and the plaudits of most critics, the film was not overly popular on first release. RKO's initial domestic loss was nearly $750,000 and it seemed the film would in no way duplicate the success of the play which opened on Broadway on 15 October 1938 for a highly profitable run of no less than 472 performances. Oddly enough, the picture proved more popular overseas, playing with great success in England and Australia. For example, it was aired at least 30 times on Oz television, making it one of the most frequently-seen RKO releases of the 1940's.

"Abe Lincoln in Illinois" Cinema Masterpiece ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 9 March 2006]

Raymond Massey earned his only Oscar nomination for "Abe Lincoln in Illinois." Where was the academy fifteen years later when "East of Eden" debuted? Massey was robbed of a supporting nomination but that's another story.

Massey was Abe Lincoln. There is no doubt about that. His voice, his actions, his torment, his successes, tragedies et al-they were all so memorably delivered in a positively brilliant performance.

We see Abe as a young man. Sadness pursues him with the early loss of his mother and later his wife-to-be Ann Rutledge.

As a young lawyer, he meets the politically ambitious and cunning Mary Todd Lincoln. Ruth Gordon portrayed her in an absolutely brilliant performance. Look at your encyclopedia pictures of Mary Todd Lincoln. Her resemblance to Ruth Gordon is phenomenal. Todd, who at one time courted Lincoln's rival, Stephen Douglas, was a scheming, difficult woman. Gordon was sensational as she showed those traits. Who can forget the tantrum she threw when it appeared that Lincoln was losing the 1860 election when the first returns came in?

"Go home and tell your mother that I have been elected," the memorable words spoken by Lincoln to his son when he became president-elect.

A wonderful early biography of our nation's 16th president. Heartwarming and poignant, a tale for all the ages.

Old Abe Lincoln Came out of the Wilderness

[nelliebell-1 · 10/10 · 20 February 2005]

I think it be a foolhardy endeavor to look to this motion picture for an answer about Abraham Lincoln and the life thereof.This film does not provide an answer but more or less an idea about the times which immediately preceded Abraham Lincoln into office.It is nonetheless a very fine film about a truly great man in Abraham Lincoln.I think if there is one thing about these Hollywood films they due tend to mix things up a bit and this particular film is no exception,however that being said,Raymond Massey was as close to the real thing as I have ever seen.A truly remarkable rendition is made by the casting of Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln.In so far as his performance,it is equal to his likeness to Abraham Lincoln,unmistakable.The attempt to place certain events as having occurred in Abraham Lincolns life is not without peril because there is next to no information about Ann Rutledge.This seems to be very much the way that these films like to mix things up,I don't think there was such and historically there is no real evidence of any such relation.However it is not unattractive and it is more to the credit of this medium than to Abraham Lincoln.The addition of these false attributes are of another sort and provide only a glance at an underlying problem associated with Hollywood and its film making proclivities,however it is well maintained that this is a top rate motion picture.Perhaps one of the most stirring moments in this picture was the depiction of the Lincoln-Douglas debates and here it,this film and its star,Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln shine as the star in the sky.It is perhaps one of the defining moments in this film and indeed it drew much attention in its time as well.Abraham Lincoln did provide for a dramatic farewell however the placing of the Battle Hymm of the Republic was poorly timed,however some of the speeches were stirring then and even now,perhaps Abraham Lincoln does walk at midnight.Mary Todd Lincoln was played by Ruth Gordon and though it can be difficult to judge what life can provide for in the proposal and the subsequent life that Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln had,here we have almost an ill suited pairing that provide for a wealth of humor and pathos in both the performances by Ruth Gordon and Raymond Massey.There is such a genuine appeal of this backwoodsman in Abraham Lincoln that pleasure in his life and times proceed beyond our ability to judge.It is a film that has the uncanny ability to keep your attention through character development rather than special effects.The performance of Ruth Gordon as Mary Todd Lincoln is as well worthy of the man and his times.It is very dutiful and devoted though no less engaging to watch these two bare three children as time passes.Abe and Mary were to lose there youngest while Abraham Lincoln was in office.The loss had a devastating effect on both parents with special mention in particular to Mary Todd.However,this film does not start here but ends up here and perhaps some mention about the earlier time in the film is worth consideration.It seems that Abraham Lincoln was very much self taught and possessed a desire to know more through his efforts and others efforts in his behalf.It is a little bit confusing as to why they would wish to suggest that Abraham Lincoln did'nt know Shakespeare from one of his plays or sonnets for that matter.I think that is Hollywood and such are there proclivities to a particular kind of thinking.This illusion may in fact suggest something of a racial nature which is not necessarily black but does court influence.The influence here like then was of an arrogant nature and it promised only ridicule and a unreasoning demand.This is one of the sorrows that this film hides in its colloquial attempt to include all in its nature.It is worthy of note that there was cause as to the Civil War and indeed this film showed some of that.The highlighting as to the flint of the fire being the story of John Brown is only the beginning and even more so this film was not so much an attempt to know the causes as to the conflict but was an attempt more so to present the life leading up to that point in time of Abraham Lincoln.This time in history has that about it,it is a flint by which the fires of everlasting virtue are brought upon the life of our greatest president.This film provides in its own right a category which I refer to as Americana.Though indeed we are looking at a motion picture and further we may suggest that there is nothing like the real thing it remains a film as popular and as worth enjoying as any the likes that have come from Hollywood,USA.It has been graded a 10 because it rates great Americana story telling.The only suggestion that I wish to conclude this comment with is that when I saw this film as coincidence would have it,I was in a class entitled "Civil War History" in an institution of higher learning and it made this all the more enjoyable.If you wish to know more about this very dramatic time you might be well served to purchase,"The Civil War,A film by Ken Burns"or maybe become a historian like Bruce Catton because there is more drama in this time period then Hollywood can produce.This comment is being submitted in honor of Presidents Day-Feb.21,2005.

"I was scared they'd kill me."

[utgard14 · 8/10 · 9 April 2014]

Engrossing and entertaining Lincoln biopic from Old Hollywood. The movie follows Abraham Lincoln (Raymond Massey) from his early days in Kentucky up until his election as President. Lincoln is portrayed here as a melancholy and complex man, reluctant to accept his destiny. Mary Todd (Ruth Gordon) is portrayed as a demanding, ambitious, somewhat unstable woman. Both representations have some basis in fact, although we can never truly paint a clear portrait of people who lived so long before our time. Biographical pictures are never 100% accurate but that doesn't stop them from being enjoyable and informative. This movie gets a lot more right than it gets wrong but that will never stop the nitpickers from trying to tear a good film down. It's a dramatization of a man's life, not a documentary. If you want to learn more details about Lincoln's life, I'm sure your local librarian would fall over his or herself to recommend some good books for you to read.

Surprisingly, the movie was a huge flop for RKO at the time. I'm not sure why but perhaps it's because the John Ford classic Young Mr. Lincoln had come out just the year before. The direction and overall production of the Ford film is probably superior to this one. But the script and more accurate casting (Massey was just born to play Abe) probably leans in favor of this film. Both are great films and I recommend you see each one.