Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

Robert E. Sherwood (by)
Robert E. Sherwood (screen play)
(more)

Release Date:

19 April 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Plot:

Covers the period from Lincoln's early years as a Kentucky woodsman until his election to the Presidency in 1860...

Plot Keywords:

Election | Marriage | 1860s | Illinois | Woodsman

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Raymond Massey	...	Abe Lincoln
Gene Lockhart	...	Stephen Douglas
Ruth Gordon	...	Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Howard	...	Ann Rutledge
Minor Watson	...	Joshua Speed
Alan Baxter	...	Billy Herndon
Harvey Stephens	...	Ninian Edwards
Howard Da Silva	...	Jack Armstrong (as Howard da Silva)
Dorothy Tree	...	Elizabeth Edwards
Aldrich Bowker	...	Judge Bowling Green
Maurice Murphy	...	John McNeil
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Mentor Graham
Clem Bevans	...	Ben Mattling
Harlan Briggs	...	Denton Offut
Herbert Rudley	...	Seth Gale
Andy Clyde	...	Stage Driver
Roger Imhof	...	Mr. Crimmin
Edmund Elton	...	Mr. Rutledge
Leona Roberts	...	Mrs. Rutledge
Florence Roberts	...	Mrs. Bowling Green
George Rosener	...	Dr. Chandler
Trevor Bardette	...	John Hanks
Syd Saylor	...	John Johnston
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Sarah Lincoln
Charles Middleton	...	Tom Lincoln
Alec Craig	...	Trum Cogdall
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erville Alderson	...	Stonewall Jackson (uncredited)
Ted Billings	...	Onlooker at Debate (uncredited)
Henry Blair	...	Tad Lincoln (uncredited)
Ed Brady	...	Raft Steerer (uncredited)
Sonny Bupp	...	Willie Lincoln (uncredited)
George Chandler	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Tom Chatterton	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Dan Clark	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Wallis Clark	...	Politician (uncredited)
Jane Corcoran	...	Woman on Street (uncredited)
John Cromwell	...	John Brown (uncredited)
Cecil Cunningham	...	Undetermined Supporting Role (uncredited)
Esther Dale	...	Lincoln's Cook (uncredited)
Dick Elliott	...	Politician (uncredited)
Robert Elliott	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Fern Emmett	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Paul Everton	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Edward Fielding	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Byron Foulger	...	Politician (uncredited)
Peggy Ann Garner	...	Little Girl (uncredited)
Gus Glassmire	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Adda Gleason	...	Maid (uncredited)
Jesse Graves	...	Onlooker at Debate (uncredited)
George Guhl	...	Greeley's Secretary (uncredited)
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
C. Hayes	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Fay Helm	...	Mrs. Seth Gale (uncredited)
Dell Henderson	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Harry Humphries	...	Daniel Webster (uncredited)
George Irving	...	Colonel Robert E. Lee (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Abe's Friend (uncredited)
Victor Kilian	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Robert Middlemass	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Edwin Mills	...	Robert Lincoln (uncredited)
Emory Parnell	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Kathleen Proctor	...	Woman on Street (uncredited)
Lorin Raker	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
William Royle	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Florence Rutledge	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Kathryn Sheldon	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Napoleon Simpson	...	Gobey (uncredited)
John St. Polis	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Landers Stevens	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Guy Usher	...	Douglas's Crony (uncredited)
Edward Van Sloan	...	Dr. Barrett (uncredited)
Bryant Washburn	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Dorothea Wolbert	...	Woman in Store (uncredited)
Ian Wolfe	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
William Worthington	...	Minor Role (uncredited)

Directed by
John Cromwell

Writing credits
Robert E. Sherwood		(by)
Robert E. Sherwood		(screen play)
Grover Jones		(adaptation)

Produced by
Max Gordon	....	producer

Original Music by
Roy Webb		(musical score by)

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George Hively		(edited by)

Casting by
Charles Richards		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Set Decoration by
Casey Roberts		(set decorations)

Makeup Department
James R. Barker	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Don L. Cash	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Fred Frederick	....	wig designer (uncredited)
Doris Harris	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Norbert Miles	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Hazel Rogers	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Maurice Seiderman	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Harold Lewis	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dewey Starkey	....	assistant director
William Dorfman	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Harry Mancke	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Grayson Rogers	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Carroll Clark	....	associate art director
William Hartman	....	props (uncredited)
Charles Matthews	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Hugh McDowell Jr.	....	recordist
Dan Kellerber	....	sound stage manager (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	special effects
Horace L. Hulburd	....	special effects (uncredited)
W. Kimpton	....	special effects (uncredited)
D. Kohler	....	special effects (uncredited)
Kenny Koontz	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Emmett Bergholz	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
H.J. Brandon	....	grip (uncredited)
Stan Chandler	....	grip (uncredited)
James Daly	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Eugene Fribourge	....	grip (uncredited)
Earl Gilpin	....	grip (uncredited)
Ledge Haddow	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
William Handy	....	grip (uncredited)
Emil Harris	....	grip (uncredited)
Alexander Kahle	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Jack McCrackin	....	grip (uncredited)
William Monroe	....	electrician (uncredited)
Eddie Pyle	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
William Record	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Walter Plunkett	....	wardrobe
Frank Carr	....	second wardrobe man (uncredited)
Tommy Clark	....	first wardrobe man (uncredited)
Bert Hall	....	wardrobe: Raymond Massey (uncredited)
Ann Landers	....	wardrobe: ladies (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Douglas Travers	....	montage

Other crew
David Robel	....	dance director
Stafford Campbell	....	stand-in: Raymond Massey (uncredited)
Adele Cannon	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Lillian K. Deighton	....	technical director (uncredited)
Corynn Kiehl	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Charles Leonard	....	publicist (uncredited)
Louis Shapiro	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Max Gordon Plays & Pictures Corporation (presents) (as Max Gordon Plays & Pictures Corp.)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (as An RKO Radio Picture)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Home Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (USA) (DVD) (DVD-R)
• Státní Pujcovna Filmu (194?) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)
• Media Home Entertainment (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• RKO Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• The Playwrights' Company  based on the pulitzer prize play produced by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Spain:7 | USA:Approved (PCA #5619) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Eugene, Oregon, USA

Company:

Max Gordon Plays & Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

After his success playing Lincoln in the film and on Broadway, Raymond Massey began to assume the character in real life. He often appeared at social gatherings dressed in Lincoln-esque attire, assuming a Lincoln-like manner and speech. His friend, the playwright George S. Kaufman, observed, "Massey won't be satisfied until someone assassinates him."

Goofs:

Continuity: When the boat hits the dam, the front fence loses the bottom board through which a pig can be seen falling. The next shot shows the front fence completely gone.

Quotes:

Sarah Hanks Lincoln:Wherever you go, whatever you do, you remember what the Good Book Says: "The world passeth, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."
Abraham Lincoln:I'll remember, maw.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: Zelda, Get Off My Back (#2.17)" (1961)

Soundtrack:

When Johnny Comes Marching Home

The Lincoln Standard

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.