An episodic biography of the 16th President of the United States.An episodic biography of the 16th President of the United States.An episodic biography of the 16th President of the United States.
- Tom Lincoln
- (as W.L. Thorne)
- Armstrong
- (as Edgar Deering)
- Herndon
- (as Jason Robards)
- John Hay - Secretary to the President
- (as Cameron Prudhomme)
- Young Soldier
- (as Jimmie Eagle)
- Director
- D.W. Griffith(personally directed by)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was D.W. Griffith's first sound film. Abraham Lincoln (1930) was also the first sound film about the Civil War which veterans of that war could view.
- GoofsIn both the Union and Confederate parades, the musicians play trombones with forward facing bells. During the Civil War, the bells faced backwards.
- Quotes
Abraham Lincoln: You know, Ann, I... I've always done a lot of dreaming. And lately it seems when I dream, your face gets mixed up in it.
Ann Rutledge: Does it really, Abe? Tell me about them, Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln: Well, I... I feel as though I'm going to be seeing your face 'til the day I die. Course, I know that that'll be pretty hard on you to have to look at my face that long.
Ann Rutledge: Everybody to their own opinion.
Abraham Lincoln: Hmm?
Ann Rutledge: Well, I... I think it's the dearest, kindest, most beautiful face in the whole world.
Abraham Lincoln: Oh, Ann, Ann. Course, I know that's just flattery, but I love it.
- Alternate versionsOriginally, this film was color-tinted in sepia-tone, with blue for night scenes. These prints also had a prologue. Current public-domain prints are in black and white, minus the prologue with a shorter running time.
- ConnectionsEdited into General Spanky (1936)
- SoundtracksBattle Hymn of the Republic
(ca 1856) (uncredited)
Music by William Steffe
Lyrics by Julia Ward Howe (1862)
Played during the opening credits and often in the score
Sung by an offscreen chorus during a civil war scene
This was Griffith's first sound film and he shows a somewhat uneasiness with the new medium but what director didn't in 1930. Griffith faired better than most. If you can look past the oldness of the film you'll see that this is pretty much a straight forward & accurate & well made(by 1930 standards) telling of the events of Lincoln's life. The sort of way Masterpiece Theatre would later tell stories episodically over many hours decades later. Griffith shows an aptitude for shooting that had already happened in the late silents of Hollywood. He makes quality use of the moving camera. Roving in and out of some scenes. The shot where the soldiers are fighting in trenches during the Civil War are similar to the same kind of shot Lewis Milestone did in All's Quiet On the Western Front which also came out in 1930. But even both of these films hark back to Griffith's own scene in Birth of A Nation where the South is battling the North and the Colonel jumps out of the trench to stoke a cannon.
This was not Griffith's first experiment with sound. He had shot some experimental dialogue scenes for his 1921 feature Dream Street. A short 1921 intro to Dream Street with Griffith talking up the film still exists as well as a 1930 sitdown interview with Huston promo-ing Abraham Lincoln. But Abraham Lincoln showed a 'newer' Griffith. Moving away from the static camera of which he was famous and adopting a more fluid style which was recently introduced by some German directors. Griffith even this late still liked old fashioned 19th century melodrama stories. Lincoln's life story is certainly a subject he could sink his teeth into. He had done bits and parts of Lincoln's life before particularly the Ford's Theatre scene in BoAN. Abraham Lincoln is Not necessarily a great film nor the best of 1930 but a very interesting foray into sound by a great film pioneer and like mentioned before a lot of the Lincoln life is covered quite surprisingly well.
- zpzjones
- Jul 10, 2004
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.20 : 1