Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)

Synopsis: Director John Cromwell (OF HUMAN BONDAGE) brings Robert Sherwood's enormously popular Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the life and times of America's 16th president to the silver screen. Raymond Massey stars in the role that would make his face synonymous with that of the martyred... Director John Cromwell (OF HUMAN BONDAGE) brings Robert Sherwood's enormously popular Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the life and times of America's 16th president to the silver screen. Raymond Massey stars in the role that would make his face synonymous with that of the martyred president. In scenes that span from Lincoln's early days as a modest shopkeeper to his reluctant decision to run for political office, Massey's performance is consistently brilliant, carrying the audience into the struggles of the man the world came to know as the Great Emancipator. In addition to delving into major social and political events from 1831 to 1860, the story explores Lincoln's romance with Ann Rutledge (Mary Howard), her subsequent death from brain fever, and the misery placed upon him by his mentally unstable wife, Mary, played passionately by Ruth Gordon in her screen debut. The Lincoln-Douglas debates are written and performed with chilling expertise, while James Wong Howe's succulent cinematography combines with excellent art direction and costuming to create a stirring vision of America's rural past. ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS presents a beautiful and moving character study of one of America's greatest heroes. [More]