The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)

The story of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was imprisoned after innocently treating President Lincoln's assassin in 1865.

Director:

John Ford

Writer:

Nunnally Johnson (screenplay)

Stars:

Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart, Claude Gillingwater

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Warner Baxter	...	Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd
Gloria Stuart	...	Mrs. Peggy Mudd
Claude Gillingwater	...	Col. Jeremiah Milford Dyer
Arthur Byron	...	Mr. Erickson
O.P. Heggie	...	Dr. MacIntyre
Harry Carey	...	Commandant of Fort Jefferson
Francis Ford	...	Cpl. O'Toole
John McGuire	...	Lt. Lovett
Francis McDonald	...	John Wilkes Booth
Douglas Wood	...	Gen. Ewing
John Carradine	...	Sgt. Rankin
Joyce Kay	...	Martha Mudd
Fred Kohler Jr.	...	Sgt. Cooper
Ernest Whitman	...	'Buck' Milford
Paul Fix	...	David Herold

Storyline

A few short hours after President Lincoln has been assassinated, Dr. Samuel Mudd gives medical treatment to a wounded man who shows up at his door. Mudd has no idea that the president is dead and that he is treating his murderer, John Wilkes Booth. But that doesn't save him when the army posse searching for Booth finds evidence that Booth has been to the doctor's house. Dr. Mudd is arrested for complicity and sentenced to life imprisonment, to be served in the infamous pestilence-ridden Dry Tortugas.

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Plot Keywords:

john wilkes booth | doctor | maryland | epidemic | yellow fever | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Je n'ai pas tué Lincoln

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Darryl F. Zanuck Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Booth stops and asks for the nearest doctor, and the bystander suggests Dr. Mudd, and gives Booth directions to the Doctor's house. In reality, Booth knew Dr. Mudd quite well, and knew just where to go for medical aid the night of the assassination (he had even stayed at Dr. Mudd's once, and so had no need to ask for directions). Also, in the film, Booth and Herold stay only a few minutes in Dr. Mudd's house, and then leave. In reality, Booth and Herold stayed the night at Dr. Mudd's, and were even served breakfast the following morning.

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Quotes

Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd: Once before I was a doctor. I'm still a doctor.

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Connections

Featured in Directed by John Ford (1971)

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Soundtracks

"Battle Hymn of the Republic"
(uncredited)
Music by William Steffe (circa 1856)
Lyrics by Julia Ward Howe (1861)
Played as background when Lincoln is shot

User Reviews

Before Guantanamo, there was Dry Tortugas

This moving story does have some actuality. One of the interesting details is some legal argument about the place of residence of doctor Mudd. The lawyers argue that if he could be transported from Shark Island, the prison on Dry Tortugas, to a place where normal US legislation is applied, then a writ of habeas corpus could be served and he would go free. Therefore Mudd's supporters launch a failed rescue attempt to that effect. On Dry Tortugas, an island off the Floridy Keys, the prisoner has no chance to appeal for territorial reasons. In my understanding (I am no lawyer, however) this pretty much reflects the Guantanamo situation of today and one just hopes that no doctor Mudds are holed up there and that all open legal questions in that context can be resolved satisfactorily.

I am always amazed how outspoken movies of the great Hollywood Studios could be on political issues or social or legal injustice. This movie is an important product of this tradition. The Prisoner of Shark Island is almost an Anti Yankee-movie. The soldiers are uncouth and brutal, the carpet baggers sleazy double talkers. The authorities panic after President Lincoln's assassination. Somebody, anybody has to hang for the crime. And fast. One of the memorable moments of the movie has one of the military judges in charge say something like „we owe it to the people", clearly meaning the enraged mob in the square below. Thinking of who else claimed to fulfill the wishes of „the people" around 1936 this could also be an appeal to legal authorities to serve the written law and not give in to those who shout the loudest.

Director John Ford certainly knew how to stir up emotions, some of the pathos might be regarded as slightly overwrought by contemporary viewers. However, The Prisoner of Shark Island certainly is one of the most beautiful and memorable movies of his.