Main Cast: Raymond Massey, Ruth Gordon, Gene Lockhart, Mary Howard, Dorothy Tree
Release Year: 1940
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
Raymond Massey plays Abe Lincoln in this moving adaptation of Robert Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Expanded a bit for cinematic purposes, the film traces Lincoln's progress from his days of scrambling for a living as a woodsman, to his courtship of the tragic Ann Rutledge (Mary Howard) and then the mercurial Mary Todd (Ruth Gordon), to the formative years of his law practice, to his debates with Stephen Douglas (Gene Lockhart), and finally to his election as President of the soon-to-be-divided United States in 1860. Latter-day critics have complained about Massey's stolidity in his signature role, but even the most stone-hearted viewer will be moved by such scenes as Lincoln riding through the ruins of what once was the village of Salem; Abe's heated election-eve quarrel with his spiteful wife Mary; and his climactic speech from the observation car of the train that will carry him to Washington...and immortality. Abe Lincoln at Illinois turned out to be a succes d'estime for its producer Max Gordon and its studio (RKO), taking a bath to the tune of $750,000. Its failure moved one Hollywood wise-guy to collar Gordon at a party and say, "I can't understand it, Max. Lincoln was so kind to everybody but you." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Abe Lincoln in Illinois is a very worthy film, with an exceptional performance by Raymond Massey in the title role. It's a very fine film and well worth watching -- and yet, it somehow falls just a trifle short of being the great film that it should be. It's hard to say exactly why this is so. Certainly there are some problems with the screenplay, notably in the manner in which many of the supporting characters are given short shrift. Everyone aside from Lincoln is fairly one-dimensional, although the incredible Ruth Gordon as Mary Todd Lincoln and the very good Gene Lockhart as Stephen Douglas don't let that get in their way. But this by itself shouldn't really matter so much under the circumstances. The bigger problem seems to be more intangible; the bits and pieces of the story are all there, and they're put together in a logical and involving manner, but the whole somehow comes up lacking a bit. Of course, highlights like the Lincoln-Douglas debate sequence make up for this lack, and Massey's nuanced portrayal -- capturing both the exuberance and the melancholy, the simplicity and the complexity of the man -- is worth the price of admission by itself. James Wong Howe's expert cinematography also is a bonus, and John Cromwell's direction is very smooth, if occasionally a bit short on inspiration. Despite its little flaws, it's an engaging, often very moving and exciting tribute to a great American hero. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
The film stars Raymond Massey and Howard Da Silva revived their roles from the original Broadway production of Abe Lincoln in Illinois playing Abe Lincoln and Jack Armstrong respectively. Herbert Rudley, who had portrayed Seth Gale in the play, was another one of the actors to repeat his role in the film version. This film was the screen acting debut of Ruth Gordon as Mary Todd Lincoln.[1]
Abe Lincoln in Illinois was dramatized as an hour-long radio play on the April 22, 1940 broadcast of Lux Radio Theater, again starring Raymond Massey as Lincoln. It was also adapted to the February 8, 1948 broadcast of the Ford Theatre.
References
^Higham, Charles; Greenberg, Joel (1968). Hollywood in the Forties. London: A. Zwemmer Limited. p. 108. ISBNNot Given.
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