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.
Review of Abe Lincoln in Illinois
