Little-seen but effective historical-based episode examines the reported psychic phenomena that occurred on that awful April day in 1865 that 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's theater watching a play. This episode recounts Mr. Lincoln's reputed dream he had earlier of seeing himself in a coffin while hearing the nation weeping. His wife Mary(played by Jeanne Bates) is deeply worried, and with good reason... Also recounts two other stories of psychic foreknowledge of the assassination involving a newspaper typesetter and a hotel guest bothered by unseen wailing. Fine acting and presentation for the brief time allotted.
One Step Beyond (TV Series)
The Day the World Wept-The Lincoln Story (1960)
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And Farmers Said That at 10:00 P.M. the Moon turned Red
theowinthrop18 September 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I mentioned this episode in passing in my general review of ONE STEP BEYOND. The death of Abraham Lincoln has bred an entire mythology of it's own, due to the reverence felt towards the 16th President, and even shared (ironically) by his killer John Wilkes Booth. A good place to start studying it is in JIM BISHOP'S THE DAY LINCOLN WAS SHOT, but also read Lloyd Lewis's MYTHS AFTER LINCOLN, Theodore Roscoe's WEB OF CONSPIRACY, and William Hanchett's THE LINCOLN MURDER CONSPIRACIES.
Like the odd story about Morgan Robertson's novella FUTILITY: THE WRECK OF THE TITAN which mirrored the 1912 Titanic Disaster but was written in 1898, there are verifiable stories regarding Lincoln's death that are matters of record. For example Lincoln's dreams. He had two in particular that several of his associates and friends knew of. During the course of the war, Lincoln had a dream in which he was on a ship that was crossing an ocean, and headed for some distant place. It usually reappeared (that is, Lincoln dreamed it) whenever a major battle or event of the war was about to occur. He dreamed it shortly after Lee's surrender, except he now saw the outline of a distant shore (he hadn't before). Everyone suspected it had to do with Lee's Surrender, not with Lincoln's possible death.
Better known was his dream of waking in the middle of the day, and walking from his bedroom, and going to the East Room where many people were walking and moaning and crying. Lincoln saw them surrounding an object, and asked what it was. Someone says, "It was the President. He was killed by an assassin." Again many people are on record as having heard this.
But there were other events - I alluded to one in the "Summary Line". Farmers in the Midwest claimed that the Moon turned blood red at 10:00 P.M. - the hour and moment Booth fired his bullet into Lincoln's head.
The episode was done very well. Newland handled it tactfully. I mentioned (in the general review of the series) that it begins with Newland looking at an antique pocket watch. He points out it is running. It has the initials of it's owners on it: "J.W.B." Newland adds that the owner is a murderer. And we know who owns the watch.
Lincoln always had a feeling of fatalism about his job, because he knew the passions that were directed towards him and his policies by half the country (sometimes more than half). His step-mother Sarah had always felt dread at his political success, and openly said that he'd never return to Springfield alive. Yet, to be fair to Lincoln, he did have post-Presidential plans. He hoped to travel with Mary and his sons abroad after his Presidency, and possibly see California as well. A fantasy novel, THE MISSING YEARS, showed what might have happened if Lincoln had been able to struggle with Booth instead of just getting shot. But his general fatalism, and his willingness to accept the risks (which included at least two other attempts on his life) put a downer on his existence - one that may have been shared by his wife and son Robert.
The episode is stiff at times, but it's inevitability enhances the tale. Again it is worth watching.
Like the odd story about Morgan Robertson's novella FUTILITY: THE WRECK OF THE TITAN which mirrored the 1912 Titanic Disaster but was written in 1898, there are verifiable stories regarding Lincoln's death that are matters of record. For example Lincoln's dreams. He had two in particular that several of his associates and friends knew of. During the course of the war, Lincoln had a dream in which he was on a ship that was crossing an ocean, and headed for some distant place. It usually reappeared (that is, Lincoln dreamed it) whenever a major battle or event of the war was about to occur. He dreamed it shortly after Lee's surrender, except he now saw the outline of a distant shore (he hadn't before). Everyone suspected it had to do with Lee's Surrender, not with Lincoln's possible death.
Better known was his dream of waking in the middle of the day, and walking from his bedroom, and going to the East Room where many people were walking and moaning and crying. Lincoln saw them surrounding an object, and asked what it was. Someone says, "It was the President. He was killed by an assassin." Again many people are on record as having heard this.
But there were other events - I alluded to one in the "Summary Line". Farmers in the Midwest claimed that the Moon turned blood red at 10:00 P.M. - the hour and moment Booth fired his bullet into Lincoln's head.
The episode was done very well. Newland handled it tactfully. I mentioned (in the general review of the series) that it begins with Newland looking at an antique pocket watch. He points out it is running. It has the initials of it's owners on it: "J.W.B." Newland adds that the owner is a murderer. And we know who owns the watch.
Lincoln always had a feeling of fatalism about his job, because he knew the passions that were directed towards him and his policies by half the country (sometimes more than half). His step-mother Sarah had always felt dread at his political success, and openly said that he'd never return to Springfield alive. Yet, to be fair to Lincoln, he did have post-Presidential plans. He hoped to travel with Mary and his sons abroad after his Presidency, and possibly see California as well. A fantasy novel, THE MISSING YEARS, showed what might have happened if Lincoln had been able to struggle with Booth instead of just getting shot. But his general fatalism, and his willingness to accept the risks (which included at least two other attempts on his life) put a downer on his existence - one that may have been shared by his wife and son Robert.
The episode is stiff at times, but it's inevitability enhances the tale. Again it is worth watching.
Did Lincoln see it coming?
Goingbegging1 July 2022
It's called Historiography - applying ruthless logic in the authenticating of so-called history, and evaluating the methods by which it has been reported and assembled.
Two of our critics on this page give conflicting verdicts about the well-known story of Lincoln's haunting dream, shortly before his death: that he heard the sound of weeping and saw a coffin guarded by a soldier who told him the president had been assassinated. One of them declares that no mention was made of any of this until twenty years afterwards, while the other repeats the standard version, apparently well-confirmed, that he spoke about it to colleagues in the few days' interval before the fatal theatre-visit.
Certain variations have somewhat blurred the Yes/No validity of the tale. It needs to be separated-out from the other (recurring) dream he had about travelling in a boat towards 'a vague, indefinite shore', which always left him feeling disturbed and distracted. Then we hear that his wife Mary appeared to have had a dream of foreboding at the same time, and was keen to stay at home on that evening, though we know that she was liable to nag him regularly throughout their marriage. As for the other psychic phenomena linked to the murder, reported from all over America, it is reasonable to treat these with scepticism, knowing the urge to fabricate legends in the wake of a catastrophe.
This makes for a somewhat untypical episode of OSB, not strictly in series (and the last minutes are affected by poor audio recording); also my YouTube upload at 20 minutes is ten minutes shorter than the running-time quoted by IMDb, so I may have missed some important clues. But it remains an interesting sidelight on America's supreme national tragedy.
Two of our critics on this page give conflicting verdicts about the well-known story of Lincoln's haunting dream, shortly before his death: that he heard the sound of weeping and saw a coffin guarded by a soldier who told him the president had been assassinated. One of them declares that no mention was made of any of this until twenty years afterwards, while the other repeats the standard version, apparently well-confirmed, that he spoke about it to colleagues in the few days' interval before the fatal theatre-visit.
Certain variations have somewhat blurred the Yes/No validity of the tale. It needs to be separated-out from the other (recurring) dream he had about travelling in a boat towards 'a vague, indefinite shore', which always left him feeling disturbed and distracted. Then we hear that his wife Mary appeared to have had a dream of foreboding at the same time, and was keen to stay at home on that evening, though we know that she was liable to nag him regularly throughout their marriage. As for the other psychic phenomena linked to the murder, reported from all over America, it is reasonable to treat these with scepticism, knowing the urge to fabricate legends in the wake of a catastrophe.
This makes for a somewhat untypical episode of OSB, not strictly in series (and the last minutes are affected by poor audio recording); also my YouTube upload at 20 minutes is ten minutes shorter than the running-time quoted by IMDb, so I may have missed some important clues. But it remains an interesting sidelight on America's supreme national tragedy.
He now belongs to the ages
kapelusznik183 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS***Claimed by host John Newland to be an absolutely true story about the hours leading to President Abraham "Honest Abe" Lincoln's, Barry Atwater, tragic assassination on the evening of April 14, 1865 by fanatical pro south, before the word became incorporated into the English language, terrorist/assassin John Wilks Booth. With the Civil War just ended Abe having the first solid night sleep in over 4 years is hunted by this dream he has seeing himself attending his own funeral! Keeping the contents of his dream from his nagging wife Mary Todd, Janne Bates, Abe plans to take her out for the night at Washington's Fords Theater to watch the English comedy "Our American Cousins". What was to happen is well documented in all our, in English and otherwise, history books. The what this "One Step Beyond" episode brings out is what we don't know about Abe's death that it brings out here for the very first time!
Not, according to this OSB episode, only did "Honest Abe" see what was coming but a whole slew of other people all across the United States saw it as well. Still determined to watch the show he put it all behind him even ignoring his wife Mary Todd's, from the sketchy description he told her about his dream, who smelled danger and begged Abe not to go. Throwing caution to the wind Abe watching and chuckling while the play is on is whacked from behind, all off camera, by Mr. Booth who escapes from the scene, only to be tracked down and shot later, with a severely broken leg.
****SPOILERS**** It seemed according to the story that John Newland is telling us that there were a number of warning from the great, or one Step, beyond for Abe Lincoln to watch his step and stay home and miss the show at the Fords Theater. But as fate would have it he didn't. And with that Abe ended up dead long before his time, he was 56 at the time of his assassination, and couldn't implement the plans for a future un fragmented, that it was to become after his death, and united America that he envisioned.
Not, according to this OSB episode, only did "Honest Abe" see what was coming but a whole slew of other people all across the United States saw it as well. Still determined to watch the show he put it all behind him even ignoring his wife Mary Todd's, from the sketchy description he told her about his dream, who smelled danger and begged Abe not to go. Throwing caution to the wind Abe watching and chuckling while the play is on is whacked from behind, all off camera, by Mr. Booth who escapes from the scene, only to be tracked down and shot later, with a severely broken leg.
****SPOILERS**** It seemed according to the story that John Newland is telling us that there were a number of warning from the great, or one Step, beyond for Abe Lincoln to watch his step and stay home and miss the show at the Fords Theater. But as fate would have it he didn't. And with that Abe ended up dead long before his time, he was 56 at the time of his assassination, and couldn't implement the plans for a future un fragmented, that it was to become after his death, and united America that he envisioned.
Bad history....
planktonrules2 March 2014
Abraham Lincoln's old law partner, Ward Hill Lamon, told a story twenty years after Abe's murder. In this story, the President reported had a dream in which he dreamed he was assassinated--and looked down into his coffin at his own corpse. Neither he nor anyone else mentioned this dream until two decades later and most historians concluded Lamon was confabulating (a nice way to say he was lying). Logically, if the President had such a dream and told people about it, they would have soon begun repeating this and they would have claimed it was evidence of psychic experiences or a message from God. However, the folks at "One Step Beyond" took the story as truth and based the entire episode around a dream that most likely never occurred.
Barry Atwater plays Lincoln in this show and although it's all hogwash, it IS well constructed and compelling--and folks would believe it since it was presented in such a believable manner. But, despite being well made, it is mostly crap. Interesting crap, but crap.
Barry Atwater plays Lincoln in this show and although it's all hogwash, it IS well constructed and compelling--and folks would believe it since it was presented in such a believable manner. But, despite being well made, it is mostly crap. Interesting crap, but crap.
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