Abraham Lincoln (United Artists) (1930)

D. W. Griffith’s “Abraham Lincoln” Advance Stories Seem from D. W QriffLth r "Abraham Lincoln" 5—7Vo Co/. Scene (Mat 10c; Cut 50c) Cast of Internationally Known Notables Griffith Considers Talkers Constructive Force in Advancing World Civilization “Lincoln” Characters Faithful to Originals It is the belief of D. W. Griffith, the noted producer-director of "Abra¬ ham Lincoln,” United Artists’ spec¬ tacular and romantic life of the Eman¬ cipator scheduled to open at the - theatre next _, that the greatest historical events of the present and future will be handed down to poster¬ ity by means of the talking picture. "We can properly gauge their im¬ portance to us by asking a simple question ,” said Griffith. "If talking p'etures had been invented two thou¬ sand years ago, how much further advanced would our culture and un¬ derstanding be today? "The answer, of course, is obvious. Among other things we would now have a clearer conception of the life of Christ. I am sure that the news reels would have followed him and record his actions during those mys¬ terious years when he was absent from the ken of men. "We would now be hearing his voice, preaching his doctrines of brotherly love, scolding the money lenders and confusing the wise men. "Likewise, we might now be seeing and hearing the cold-hearted Nero as he fiddled an accompaniment to the destruction of Rome. In that brief glimpse of him we would learn all there was to know about his complex character.” "Suppose," continued Griffith, "we could hear Lincoln’s or Washington’s voice — Napoleon’s; or listen to Patrick Henry delivering his fiery 'Liberty or Death’ speech before the Colonial Con¬ gress, wouldn’t those sound films be about the most important documents we could possibly possess?” Griffith believes the greatest use of the talk'es to humanity will be found in their scientific and educational usage. "If Newton and Darwin had had the advantage of talking pictures,” said the producer-director, "these noted scientists would certainly have used this medium to demonstrate their dis¬ coveries.” Griffith contends that the most im¬ portant sound pictures yet made—in the'r potentalities for good—have is¬ sued from the laboratories of the Gen¬ eral Electric Company where elaborate production schedules of scientific experiments, such as the photograph¬ ing and recording of atoms in explo¬ sion, have been successfully concluded. "It has come to my notice that many prominent medical schools are taking steps to produce talkies of ac¬ tual operations by leading surgeons. These films will tend, because of their practical nature, to impress a student’s mind more vividly than a book or technical lecture. Other schools, I know, have issued reels of film depict¬ ing intricate experiments in physics and chemistry.” "In time,” said this famed producer of "The Birth of a Nation,” "every school in the United States will be equipped to teach its scholars by the sound and sight system. I earnestly believe that this revolutionary chang¬ ing of the accepted methods of teach¬ ing will come within the next ten years. "I don’t say that book-learning will become obsolete. Such a thought must always be absurd. What I do look forward to is the filming and drama¬ tizing of academic subjects as an aux¬ iliary aid to the present school meth¬ ods. "The personal element does not enter into this estimate, but I believe that such films as my 'Abraham Lin¬ coln,’ filmed conscientiously and based on strict historical fact, will be used as extensively in the schoolroom of to¬ morrow as the book of history is used today. "History books have been noted for their dullness. It was not until lately that educators and historians realized the necessity of dramatizing their sub¬ ject matter and I think that they have learned this lesson from motion pic¬ tures.” Griffith affirms that historical pic¬ tures, cloaked in legitimized romance, will live throughout the ages, while the typical dramatic entertainment of today, unless it reproduces an authen¬ tic period, must necessarily run its short-lived course and die the way of all film. "Abraham Lincoln” recreates the authentic life of the Emancipator, with a cast composed of 112 speaking players, headed by Walter Huston, as "Lincoln”; Kay Hammond, as "Mary Todd Lincoln”; Una Merkel, as "Ann Rutledge”; Ian Keith, as "John Wilkes Booth”; Hobart Bosworth, as "Gen¬ eral Robert E. Lee”; Jason Robards, as "Herndon”; Frank Campeau, as "General Phil. Sheridan,” and Lu¬ cille La Verne, as an important piv¬ otal character. Two Women Qualify as Doubles for Lincoln Perhaps no other American stalwart has so large and zealous a following as Abraham Lincoln, whose charac¬ teristics and mannerisms are still copied by hundreds of devotees. According to D. W. Griffith, whose dialogued screen spectacle of the mar¬ tyred President’s life is being shown at the.theatre, with Walter Huston in the title role, there are no less than forty-five men and at least two women in the United States who bear striking resemblances to the Emancipator. These figures were gained as the result of the scores of applications received by the director when he was casting for the title role. The remark¬ able thing is that two women believed they approached Lincoln’s character so closely as to compete with profes sional impersonators. One of these women was Lucille La Verne, the celebrated American actress who recently startled London by appearing as “Shylock” in a Shakesperian revival and who even actually accepted another role in the picture. The other was Sophia A. Hume, of Los Angeles, who took the trouble and expense of being photo¬ graphed in an exact duplicate of Lin¬ coln’s presidential costume, not even omitting the umbrella, beard and small mole on the right cheek. Both women expressed, the keen de¬ sire to be given screen and voice tests before any decision was made. Miss Hume’s characterization, according to Griffith, was one of the fifteen best submitted. Out of 148 applications and photo¬ graphs received, Griffith narrowed the field of potential Lincolns to forty- five on the basis of exact resemblance. Most, however, fell short in the mat¬ ter of height. Whereas Lincoln was six-foot-four in his stockinged feet, the average height of the most likely ap¬ plicants was three inches short. Huston, noted on the New York stage, and recently made a film stat by Paramount, was selected to play Lincoln because he, more than any other, approximated the real Lincoln in height, temperament and physical appearance. Stephen Vincent Benet, noted poet- author and .Pulitzer prize winner, wrote the story and dialogue of “Ab¬ raham Lincoln.” All of the historical characters of Lincoln's period are im¬ personated in the picture by a cast of 112 principal stage and screen ac¬ tors, headed by Huston, as “Lincoln”; Kay Hammond, as “Mary Todd Lin¬ coln”; Una Merkel, as “Ann Rut¬ ledge”; Ian Keith, as “John Wilkes Booth”; Jason Robards, as ‘‘Hern don,” Lincoln’s junior partner; Ho¬ bart Bosworth, as “Robert E. Lee”; Frank Campeau, as “Phil. Sheridan,” and Miss La Verne, as the matron at Lincoln’s birth. Lincoln Fascinating Person Says Griffith A laborious research into the life of Abraham Lincoln convinced D. W. Griffith, the noted producer-director, that the martyred President was a more complex character than any of the thousands of fictitious villains and heroes he has portrayed on the screen during his twenty-two years’ experi¬ ence in the making of motion pictures. Griffith, who is presenting “Abra¬ ham Lincoln,” an epic vocal film built on the theme of Lincoln’s life, at the . theatre, discovered, for instance, that the Emancipator never drank liquor, though he never cen¬ sored those who did. On one occasion a committee of temperance workers pleaded with him to dismiss Ulysses Grant because the general was drunk when he won a decisive battle. Lincoln smiled and said: “I’d like to get more of the same brand for some of my other generals.” Lincoln was as much a teetotaler in tobacco as he was in drink, though he frequented the numerous frontier saloons where his Rabelaisian humor was at its best. On his wedding day Lincoln became so panicky with fear that he fled to the woods and there he stayed until a party of searchers discovered him five days later. Lincoln, the champion “rassler,” the teller of risque stories, the man whose indomitable courage forced him out of a heritage of “pore white trash” into the greatest political captaincy of modern times, was in turn practical and impractical. His habit of reading out loud drove his law partner, Herndon, to distrac¬ tion. He argued his law cases to success through the employment of apt stories which struck sympathetically the “down to earth” hearts of his juries; then he forgot to collect his fees. Walter Huston breathes the veri¬ ties of life into the character of Lin¬ coln. Others in the cast of principals are Kay Hammond, as “Mary Todd Lincoln”; Una Merkel, as “Ann Rut¬ ledge”; Ian Keith, as “John Wilkes Booth”; Jason Robards, as “Hern¬ don”; Hobart Bosworth, as “Robert E. Lee”; Frank Campeau, as “Sheri¬ dan,” and Lucille La Verne. Supporting these principals is a cast composed of 112 of the stage and screen’s most capable character ac¬ tors portraying the various historical personages of Lincoln’s time. Big Cast in “Lincoln” “Abraham Lincoln,” the D. W. Grif¬ fith United Artists’ film coming to the .theatre, has the largest cast of important screen and stage players and the greatest number of huge sets in the history of motion pic- J ture production. Eleven Principals Speak In "Abraham Lincoln” More than 112 principal speaking players are cast in D. W. Griffith’s “Abraham Lincoln,” the United Art¬ ists all-dialogue screen romance of the Emancipator’s life, which opens at the .theatre. For sheer numerical strength this is the largest cast ever assembled in a single mqtion picture, exceeding even Griffith’s stupendous “Intol¬ erance,” “The Birth of a Nation” and “Hearts of the World.” Ninety scenes and seventy sets are shown in the picture. The sets, de¬ signed by William Cameron Menzies, art supervisor at the United Artists studios, include a slave ship on the high seas; the birthplace of Lincoln; his various law offices; a Southern plantation; various rooms in the White House; battle scenes for Sheri¬ dan’s famous ride and Lee’s last stand; the Ford Theatre where Lin¬ coln was shot and various symbolic backgrounds. The whole pageant of Lincoln’s life passes in review, with the romance of the martyred President and Ann Rutledge stressed in an important and entertaining way. Heading this tremendous cast of 112 are Walter Huston, as “Lincoln”; Kay Hammond, as “Mary Todd Lin¬ coln”; Una Merkel, as ‘‘Ann Rut¬ ledge”; Ian Keith, as “John Wilkes Booth”; Jason Robards, as “Hern¬ don,” Lincoln’s young law partner; Hobart Bosworth, as “Robert E. Lee”; Frank Campeau, as “Phil. Sheridan,” and Lucille La Verne, playing an im¬ portant character role. Scene from D. W QriffLUif Abraham Lincoln.." 7 —One Col. Scene (Mat 05c; Cut 30c) Griffith Extra Girl Is Lead in D. W.’s Newest Una Merkel, the “extra” whom D. W. Griffith hired eight years ago to “stand” for Lillian Gish in “Way Down East,” plays the role of “Ann Rutledge” in “Abraham Lincoln,” Griffith’s United Artists spectacle showing at the.theatre. Miss Merkel, who is a Southerner with a decided Dixie accent, was re¬ discovered by Griffith during a recent trip to New York, where the diminu¬ tive actress was scoring a sensational stage success in ‘‘Coquette.” As “Ann Rutledge,” the girl of Lin¬ coln’s first romance, Miss Merkel has one of the most important roles in this epic picturization of the Emanci¬ pator’s life. It was over this girl’s death that Lincoln, sorrowed to the point of men¬ tal aberration, wandered foodless through the woods for days. It was her memory that caused him to desert his fiancee on the night of their wed¬ ding so that he might protect her rain-soaked grave with his body. Walter Huston plays the title role; Kay Hammond is seen as “Mary Todd”; Ian Keith, as “Booth”; Jason Robards, as “Herndon”; Hobart Bos¬ worth, as “General Lee”; Lucille La Verne, as the “matron” at Lincoln’s birth, and Frank Campeau, as “Gen- | eral Phil. Sheridan.” Walter Huston featured in D W Griffith's ’Abraham Lincoln 4—Two Col. Scene (Mat 10c; Cut 50c)