The Lincoln Conspiracy

I saw this movie in 1977 when it aired on television. It's year 2000 now, whether my opinion might be different if I saw it now I don't know. I'd read the book by Jim Bishop (I think that's correct) that the movie is based on, and this seemed a very well-done, interesting enactment and narration of the details of the book regarding the conspiracy of Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Another Schick Sunn Classic films presentation, directed by James L. Conway, this time about a possible government conspiracy involving the assassination of U. S. President Abraham Lincoln, well played by John Anderson. And Bradford Dillman playing his assassin John Wilkes Booth (no doubt about his guilt is there?!)

Film suggests that Booth was used in a bigger conspiracy than history has recorded, and certainly I don't remember this from my history books! Nonetheless, I found this picture interesting, well-acted and directed, presenting its speculative premise with conviction, though not in the same league as "JFK"(1991) of course, but I wonder if a young Oliver Stone was inspired by it!

The only woman charged in the alleged conspiracy; she was hanged like most of her male counterparts.

The hoods you see in one of the opening scenes were not made of fabric, however, but leather. The prisoners, of course had no A/C, and their faces swelled up with the contained sweat, so it was not just the shock of newly admitted light that caused pain to their rapidly contracting pupils that we see in this film. Their faces looked like prunes. The hoods restricted their breathing! This was only one of the forms of torture their captors used against them.

Mary Surratt, as a woman in those times, was spared this extreme form of punishment. She still swung in the end.

If anyone knows where to watch "The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd," I'd sure appreciate it. It, too, is supposed to be a fairly authentic account of what happened.

The claim that Lincoln admirer Edwin Stanton and other high government officials had anything to do with the President's murder is based on ludicrous retyped versions of "lost" manuscripts; as history it would be silly if it did not discredit great heroes. To credit such drivel by making a movie based on it is pandering of the worst sort. What next? Something charming on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? The conspiracy to fake a landing on the moon? Its bad enough that history is taught so little; its outlandish that movies of blatantly false reports are made. The far more interesting story is how Lincoln -- widely viewed, by Stanton among others -- as foolish, repulsive looking, and ill-educated -- won over enemies by his wit, intensity, intelligence, and humor.

I saw this film as a kid. It was one of the several great Sunn Classic Documentaries. The best one is The Mysterious Monsters. Its a good film that raises a lot of questions. Why wasn't Lincoln given better protection at Ford's Theater that night. Contrary to popular belief, he was one of our most hated Presidents. Why did they so quickly bury the body of the man killed at Garret's farm? Why didn't they even take a picture of it? How was Booth able to escape so easily? Stanton was a tyrant, but was he really part of the conspiracy to kill the President? People have often pointed out there are a lot of coincidences in the lives (and deaths) of President Lincoln and President Kennedy one of them is there is still so much unresolved about their assassinations and whether there was a conspiracy. These are great tragedies for our nation and the fact we will never know all of the pertinent facts makes them even more tragic. Bradford Dillman made a good Booth. I best think of him though as Dirty Harry's dumb captain.