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. Thomas 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 character | mary todd lincoln character | abraham lincoln character | samuel mudd character | year 1865 | 

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Taglines:

Your heart will cry but ...your eyes sting with tears...at this thundering revelation of man's inhumanity to man! (Print Ad-Illawarra Mercury, ((Wollongong, NSW)) 2 October 1936)

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

A 60-minute adaptation of this film was broadcast on the CBS Radio Network program "Lux Radio Theater" on May 2, 1938, with Gary Cooper playing Dr. Mudd.

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Goofs

The letter Buck hands Dr. Mudd from his wife states that she is in Key West, but the envelope was postmarked in Washington, DC. Furthermore, the postmark was dated November 7, but Mudd's escape attempt was on September 25, 1865.

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Quotes

'Buck' Milford: Move on, white man.

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Alternate Versions

Since this film has never been released to the video market in the USA, the only version available for home entertainment is an Argentinean VHS edition that was lifted from a 16mm print. Although the film plays in English with Spanish language subtitles, the credits and all signs and letters shown in the picture were redone in Spanish. The name of this version is "Prisionero del destino".

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Connections

Referenced in The Best of Sex and Violence (1982)

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Soundtracks

Taps
(uncredited)
Written by Daniel Butterfield
Played by a bugler at the prison

User Reviews

Your name is Mudd

This film, coming out at a time when the nation as a whole and Hollywood in particular tended to be sympathetic toward the South, presents a one-sided account of the events surrounding the Lincoln assassination of 1865. This was due to some extend by the visual impressions created by D. W. Griffith of Kentucky, especially his seminal "The Birth of a Nation" which made heroes out of the clandestine hate organization, the KKK. From a political standpoint, the South had become important as a result of many powerful congressmen and senators being from that region which by now had become the stronghold of the Democratic Party, "The Solid South." Pecuniary matters are usually the deciding factor for Hollywood, and there existed a large ticket-buying public in that part of our nation. The Civil War became The War Between the States or the War of Northern Aggression. The volatile issue of slavery was replaced with the states rights rationalization, forgetting that South Carolina and the other ten Confederate slave states withdrew from the Union so their right to own chattel would not be bothered. The right to own slaves became one of the main planks in the Confederate Constitution.

"The Prisoner of Shark Island" presents the Southern view of history. It also conveniently omits the incriminating evidence against Dr. Mudd, that he knew Booth well. In fact, he was the one who had introduced Booth to a leading conspirator, John Surratt. After setting Booth's leg, Booth did not leave the Mudd house but stayed the night and was ably assisted by Dr. Mudd. Evidence indicates that Mudd knew much more than he ever admitted about Booth and the assassination conspiracy. The murder of Lincoln occurred in the federal district of Washington, D.C., not in a state, hence the reason for the military tribunal. Needless to say, the conduct of the trial would have been much different had it been a civilian rather than a military one. The fact that the one who pulled the trigger, Booth, was killed before coming to trial also muddied the water.

The part of "The Prisoner of Shark Island" that sticks with history best is Dr. Mudd's heroic efforts to combat disease at the prison. This justifiably led to his pardon by President Andrew Johnson.

The acting, direction, and cinematography are first rate. Written by a Southerner, Nunnally Johnson, the historical facts are a bit skewed but otherwise the script is a good one. If the viewer keeps an open mind, this is a very entertaining picture.

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1