Abraham Lincoln (United Artists) (1930)

D W. GRIFFITH’S ‘‘ABRAHAM LINCOLN” The More You Publicize “Lincoln” the Better Your Returns GRIFFITH DECLARES DIRECTION OF "LINCOLN” HIS BIGGEST TASK The direction of motion pictures is not the soft and easy job hundreds of embryo directorial geniuses are sometimes led to believe by glowing newspaper accounts. Directing is a man’s job, and that it is just that may be easily understood through the revelation of a few pertinent facts regarding the filming of “Abraham Lincoln,” D. W. Griffith’s great historical romance for United Artists now showing at the.theatre. Indicative of Griffith’s painstaking effort is the fact that he read a total of 132 separate accounts of the life of the Emancipator. From this voluminous Lincolniana, he personally wrote and dictated a pre¬ liminary motion picture script of approximately 80,000 words. This voluminous book-length docu¬ ment was revised and reduced several times until the necessary “footage” was arrived at for translation into spoken film. In turn, Stephen Vincent Benet, the Pulitzer Prize Poet, and author of “John Brown’s Body,” wrote a com¬ plete new story along the lines of Griffith’s original script. This last script was close to 60,000 words long. The task of correlating the series of events which made Lincoln’s life such an outstanding one dramatically (excluding actual filming) occupied Griffith’s entire time over a period of nine months. Even the least signi¬ ficant episodes in the Liberator’s life were included sequentially in Griffith’s first script so that nothing of impor¬ tance would be overlooked in the final paring down. The work of a director is by no means through once his story is fin¬ ished. There are matters of budget meetings to attend to when the artis¬ tic mind is sometimes awakened to the imperative need for strict adher¬ ence to scheduled cost and time. The purpose of these meetings is to determine what shall be the cost of the picture. When that figure is ar¬ rived at, the conferees apportion the total planned cost of the picture into 42 separate categories. For example: A certain portion of the total is al- loted to salaries of the cast; another to the construction of sets; the employ¬ ment of electricians, mechanics and technical men; and likewise, in vary¬ ing sums according to the importance of the item, separate subsidiary bud¬ gets are set aside for such other items as costumes, studio overhead, staff sal¬ aries, the rental of camera’s and re¬ cording equipment, transportation, etc. It is part of the director’s duty to see that his picture comes within the extreme limit of his budget. To do this he has to labor late into the night, worrying about delays, sickness, cloudy- weather and the many other trivial difficulties that manage to crop up during the making of a feature motion picture. Griffith’s difficulties included all of the above, but his twenty-two years of pioneering experience has hardened him to detail. In the case of “Abra¬ ham Lincoln,” however, the normal difficulties were doubled and some¬ times tripled. As an historical vehicle, the sub¬ ject and background of which are stilf vividly impressed on the minds of thousands, more than the average care had to be taken in preserving strict authenticity. The old order of allocating the bud¬ get was drastically changed to take care of items that loomed up to great importance because of the picture’s historical significance. Thus, “make¬ up” became almost a major factor be¬ cause of the necessity for reproducing exact likenesses of a hundred or more characters associated with Lincoln at various times. In the matter of direction itself, the usual problems are greatly magnified. The dramatist’s prerogative of fic¬ tional liberty was impossible in film¬ ing even the least important scene of “Abraham Lincoln” since the man, his peculiarities and deeds are known in¬ timately to every grammar school stu¬ dent in the United States. Exact truths had to be adhered to faithfully, yet these actualities, because motion pictures are made solely for entertainment and not education, had to be presented in pleasing and ro¬ mantic form. Griffith constructed his romance out of Lincoln’s tragic love of Ann Rut¬ ledge and the Emancipator’s subse¬ quent peculiar jilting and marriage to the irrascible Mary Todd. For his suspense the noted director correlated the dramatic events in Lincoln’s life —notably his rise from obscurity and poverty, and the gravities of the Civil War—and mounted them in a rising crescendo of action to the very end when an assassin’s hand ended it all. There were innumerable problems in the handling of dialogue and con¬ temporary provincialisms and collo¬ quialisms. The sound effects; the mad roar of battle; the negro hallelujahs over their liberation; the final sobbing of women and the requiem at the con¬ clusion of the picture had to be di¬ rected with rare good judgment and taste. The direction of motion pictures is not child’s play. Griffith asserts that he never worried so much, or worked harder in his life and he is a man who is indefatigable in his labors. However, the production is long fin ished; a thing of the past, with its labors and worries forgotten. “Abraham Lincoln” is one of the greatest of Griffith’s productions; with the magnitude of “Intolerance,” the dramatic fervor of “The Birth of a Nation,” and the heart interest of “Broken Blossojns” and “Way Down East.” Its cast is the largest ever assem¬ bled in a single motion picture, with 112 speaking principals headed by Walter Huston, as “Lincoln”; Kay Hammond, as “Mary Todd Lincoln”; Una Merkel, as “Ann Rutledge”; Ian Keith, as “John Wilkes Booth”; Ho¬ bart Bosworth, as “Robert E. Lee, and Jason Robards, as “Herndon.” Lincoln’s junior law partner who eventually played Boswell to the Emancipator’s Johnson. MAKE UP IMPORTANT IN LINCOLN FILM Grease Paint and Pencil Used Artistically to Show Lin¬ coln’s Complex Character As important almost as the story itself were the efforts of the make-up department at the United Artists stu¬ dios to recreate the actual physical character of the 112 historic person¬ ages who relive the scenes of Abra- epic talking screen production for ham Lincoln’s life in D. W. Griffith’s United Artists, now playing at the .theatre. Walter Huston, who plays the role of the Emancipator, resembles Lincoln perhaps more than any other actor in the United States, yet experiments with his make-up were stretched over a period of five weeks before actual filming commenced. Lincoln, with his numerous wrink¬ les, bushy brows, sallow, hollow cheeks and melancholy eyes, is one of the most strikingly individual portraits of a man conceivable. In order to faithfully reproduce the man’s minutest facial expression and changing moods, it was necessary to photograph Huston in 40 different make-ups and select from these the combination of grease paint and pen¬ cil most suitably adapted to Lincoln’s complex character. ‘‘It wasn’t merely a matter of a beard and stove-pipe hat,” said Grif¬ fith; “we had to produce an exact duplicate of Lincoln as he was when a rising young lawyer and later when the sorrows and cares of office fur¬ rowed his face with hundreds of wrinkles.” The same care that was taken to reproduce the physical likeness of the martyred President was duplicated for the characters of Generals Robert E. Lee, ‘‘Stonewall” Jackson, U. S. Grant, Sheridan and Sherman, the orator Daniel Webster, Mary Todd, Ann Rutledge, John Wilkes Booth and many other personages of the story. For true likenesses of these charac¬ ters, Griffith had borrowed many of the original Brady photographs. Brady, one of the pioneers of photo¬ graphy, made thousands of portraits and battle scenes in the camps of the Confederate and Union armies. Brady’s pictures, taken under the most difficult conditions imaginable, with cumbrous wet plates and time ex¬ posures lasting as long as five and ten minutes, are the source records from which authentic reproductions of bat¬ tlefields and settings were made. Stephen Vincent Benet, poet and Pulitzer prize winner, wrote and dia¬ logued the story which presents Lin¬ coln as he actually existed. One of the largest casts ever assembled for a picture is the boast of Griffith’s “Abraham Lincoln.” D. W Qriffith... Producer- Director of the^> sensational, romantic spectacle "Abraham Lincoln!. 10 —Two Col. Director Head Griffith (Mat 10 c; Cut 50 c) "ABRAHAM LINCOLN” UNRIVALLED AS GREATEST AMERICAN FILM SPECTACLE No American film spectacle pro¬ duced within the last ten years can rival the stupendous “Abraham Lin¬ coln,” D. W. Griffith’s United Artists feature based on the life of the Eman¬ cipator, now showing at the. theatre. .No deliberate selection of superla¬ tives can justify the magnitude, the expense and historical accuracy which features this greatest and most gen¬ uinely “Griffith” picture since “The Birth of a Nation” startled the world with its pathos and romantic realism. In the matter of cast alone the pro¬ duction rightfully lays claim to a record which may never be surpassed. The principals—so called because of their characterization of high histori¬ cal personages—total 112 of the stage and screen’s* most capable players. It is claimed for this picture that no expense was spared in securing the exact type desired to play a certain role. Absolute resemblances were re¬ quired in 90 percent of the selections of players. This strict adherence to historical exactitude made many de¬ mands on the treasury of the produc¬ ers, but the result has more than jus¬ tified expense in this direction. It is interesting to note in this respect that approximately 70 percent of the cast was especially imported from the New York stage for the im¬ portant character roles. It was felt by Griffith that trained stage actors, provided they bore the required re¬ semblances to the characters they por¬ trayed, had the advantage over film personages in the speaking of vital dialogue passages. Thus many new faces were brought to the screen for the first time. Seventy distinct sets distinguish the picture physically. This is three times the number erected for the average motioji picture of feature proportions. Although all of these are not large, more than a third of them are of a size sufficient to accommodate mobs of a thousand or over. The greatest of these sets are the reproductions of Ford’s Theatre in Washington, where Lincoln was shot shortly after the termination of the Civil War; the slave ship, where the horrors and crudities of negro bondage are stressed; the magnificent East Room of the White House and the battle¬ field, where the fight for possession of Cedar Creek was fought. No temptations of the imagination to the activities of the intrepid Civil were indulged in the matter of design¬ ing these historical settings. Thanks to War photographer, Brady, it was pos¬ sible for Griffith and his technical staff to obtain photographs of the set¬ tings he wished to reproduce. The same faithful observance of fact applies to the dialogue used in the picture. Stephen Vincent Benet, the noted Pulitzer prize poet, made an exhaustive research into Civil War colloquialisms so that the language of his characters might ring true. All of Lincoln’s utterances in the picture are historical and are spoken by Wal¬ ter Huston, in the title role, exactly as the Emancipator said them. No other spectacle made by Griffith so abounds in dramatic highlights. For romance, the noted producer- director has chosen the love affaij between Lincoln and his boyhood sweetheart, Ann Rutledge, played by Una Merkel. The pathos and the hopelessness of this affair, when Ann died shortly after her engagement to Lincoln, is treated delicately and simply. Griffith takes Lincoln from the time of his birth to ,his death and reveals, through entertaining symbolism and suggestion, the causes which brought about the martyr’s apotheosization by the American people. Principals in the cast, in addition to Huston and Miss Merkel, are: Kay Hammond, as “Mary Todd Lincoln”; Ian Keith, as “John Wilkes Booth,” the assassin; Hobart Bosworth, as “General Robert E. Lee”; Jason Ro¬ bards, as “Herndon”; Frank Cam- peau, as “General Phil. Sheridan,” and Lucille La Verne, as the matron officiating at the birth of Lincoln. Bosworth’s Life One Of Strange Adventures Life has been a kaleidoscope through which Hobart Bosworth has experi¬ enced many strange adventures. This capable actor, who portrays the gallant “Robert E. Lee” in D. W. Griffith’s United Artists film special, ‘‘Abraham Lincoln,” showing at the .theatre, ended a three- year’s whaling cruise in the Arctic when he was 15 years of age. Next he became a boxer, wrestler and cowboy. Then an actor with the title role in “Macbeth” to his credit at the age of 20. A few years later he was leading man for such sterling actresses as Mrs. Fiske, Amelia Bing¬ ham and Julia Marlowe. The ravages of tuberculosis drove him to nine years of tent life in Colo¬ rado, Arizona and California where he learned to paint landscapes profes¬ sionally. His art paid his living ex¬ penses until he had fully recovered his health. ‘‘Abraham Lincoln,” in which Bos¬ worth is seen as the cherished leader of the South, boasts a cast of 112 speaking players, headed by Walter Huston, as “Lincoln”; Kay Hammond, as ‘‘Mary Todd Lincoln”; Una Mer¬ kel, as “Ann Rutledge”; Ian Keith, as ‘‘John Wilkes Booth”; Jason Ro¬ bards, as “Herndon,” and Lucille La Verne, as the matron at the birth of the Emancipator. Army of Make-Up Men Used By Lincoln Cast The fact that thirty “make-up” men were employed in a single day on two scenes of “Abraham Lincoln,” the D. W. Griffith spectacl'e showing at the . theatre, creates another unique record, for this mammoth pic¬ ture, which boasts the largest cast of stage and screen notables ever as¬ sembled. This extraordinary number of make¬ up artists—a majority of those em¬ ployed in this capacity at Hollywood —was needed for the presidential re¬ ception scenes and cabinet meeting where absolute resemblances to fam¬ ous historical personages were re¬ quired. In all, approximately 112 persons of high social and political signifi¬ cance are impersonated in this Grif¬ fith film. Wherever possible, the noted producer-director chose types who bore striking likenesses to the characters impersonated. However, there were exceptional cases where this could not be done without sacri¬ ficing the chances of an actor espe¬ cially suited for the role. In those few isolated cases the art of “make-up” men was called upon to change the shape of foreheads and noses to conform exactly to existing photographs of the originals. The “make-up” man—one of Holly¬ wood’s few unsung heroes—was never more sorely tried than in “Abraham Lincoln” where absolute fidelity and authenticity became paramount re¬ quirements. Robert Stephenoff, chief of this de¬ partment at the United Artists studios, was at times engaged for as long as three hours in applying just the right quantity of whiskers and wrinkles to a single character. Guesswork was eliminated entirely. A photograph of the individual to be copied was handed Stephenoff, and he and his staff of assistants worked on the actor portraying this person until a perfect likeness was obtained. Though Walter Huston, who plays the title role, possesses Lincoln’s facial characteristics—notably his mouth and pronounced high cheek bones — the problem of aging him as he grew older cinematically taxed Stejjhenoff’s abili¬ ties to the utmost. Here the “make¬ up” man’s highest ingenuity was called upon to reproduce the gradual changes in Lincoln’s features brought about by increasing age and worries. It is interesting to note that one- piece stage beards are no longer used in motion pictures. The accepted method now is to apply the hair in little bunches and trim it to the proper size and shape. This new method is more plastic and allows the actor ample opportunity “to express himself facially.” “Abraham Lincoln’’ has a cast of 112 speaking parts, headed by Huston; Kay Hammond, as “Mary Todd Lin¬ coln”; Una Merkel, as “Ann Rut¬ ledge”; Ian Keith, as “John Wilkes Booth”; Hobart Bosworth, as “Gen¬ eral Robert E. Lee”; Frank Campeau, as “General Phil. Sheridan”; Jason Robards, as “Herndon,” and Lucille La Verne playing an important charac¬ ter part at the birth of Lincoln. Lincoln s Cabin A Three Sided Home Motion picture researchers, separat¬ ing fact from fiction in the life of Abraham Lincoln, have discovered that the martyred President lived the first few years of his life in a small lean-to cabin with only three sides. An exact duplicate of this wilder¬ ness cabin was ordered made by D. W. Griffith, producer of the epic all¬ dialogue film, ‘Abraham Lincoln,” now running at the. theatre. The exposed end of the old Lincoln home, it was revealed, faced the South, from whence the mildest winds blew. The structure stood in a man¬ made clearing surrounded by primeval forest. Though this cabin was only a tem¬ porary shelter, seemingly, and made of logs and skins of animals cemented with mud, it stood two terrible Illinois winters with only three sides to keep out the brutal elements. Griffith’s desire for authenticity in the settings for “Abraham Lincoln” was carried out by United Artists studio technicians to the minutest de¬ tail, from the cabin of Lincoln’s earl¬ iest youth to the historic rooms of the White House. In all 70 sets are shown. By far this is the most ever constructed for a single picture, outnumbering even Griffith’s “Intolerance,” which nine years ago startled the world with its magnificence and lavish display.