Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Alicia I love this movie so much

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Martin Bradley A wonderful piece of authentic Americana that has tended to be overlooked in favour of John Ford's "Young Mr Lincoln" and while Cromwell was no Ford, this is almost as good. Raymond Massey received his only Oscar nomination as "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" and it's s superb performance and unlike Ford's movie this covers the whole spectrum of Lincoln's life from the earliest days right up to Washington and the presidency, his courtship of Ann Rutledge, (a charming Mary Howard), and marriage to Mary Todd, (a wonderful Ruth Gordon).Other standouts in a good cast include Gene Lockhart as Stephen Douglas and Howard Da Silva as the town bully who becomes Abe's best friend. The source material is a Pulitzer Prize winning play by Robert E Sherwood and it was Sherwood himself who brought it to the screen while Lincoln's 'House Divided' speech, magnificently spoken by Massey, could be culled from today's headlines and sadly is just as appropriate today as it was back then.

t_k_matthews I disagree that this is the definitive Lincoln. Massey is like one of Disney's Audioanimatrons. I agree with one corespondent that Henry Fonda's performance as Lincoln tended to lapse into a trance. Same with other Fonda roles, which is one reason he's not my favorite actor. Both actors seem to have been overwhelmed by history and thus Lincoln comes out as an icon, not as a human. There was a miniseries with Hal Holbrook some years ago that gave us a more human Lincoln.Whatever actor or studio manages the perfect Lincoln ought to do us a favor and have him deliver both the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural, even if it doesn't fit into the movie. Send the clips around to schools. Would love to see the greatness of those speeches matched to a great performance.

Robert J. Maxwell If you compare John Cromwell's "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" with John Ford's "Young Mister Lincoln" -- and how can you NOT -- you immediately notice both similarities and differences. Ford's movie appeared a year earlier but Sherwood's play had been around for a while and can probably be considered earlier.Some isomorphisms are so conspicuous that it's likely that the craftsmen for Ford's movie lifted them from the play. Example: It just can't be coincidental that both movie have celebrants doing a polka to the same tune, which, we learn in "Young Mister Lincoln," is "Lovely Susan Brown." Even individual lines of dialog were shamelessly ripped off. If, in "Abe Lincoln in Illnois," Howard Da Silva boasts, "I'm the big buck of this lick," in "Young Mister Lincoln" the line is given to Jack Pennick.Those similarities are superficial and in fact the differences turn them into two almost entirely different movies about the same subject. "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" is more of a biographical sketch that gives us far more of Lincoln's political rise, as well as his romances with Ann Rutledge and, later, Mary Todd. Ford's movie mostly sketches the character of Lincoln and then turns into a courtroom drama leavened with comic incidents.Comparing the two leads, it can be said that Raymond Massey is a more convincing Lincoln than Henry Fonda. Massey simply looks more like the gangling Lincoln, even without Fonda's false nose. Also, for whatever reason, in this instance Massey gives a better performance. Some viewers might wince at Massey's quivering oratory during his debate with Stephen Douglas, but that was the custom at the time. (The film prunes this "house divided against itself" speech.) But -- I'll try to keep this short -- aside from Cromwell's movie covering Lincoln's maturation from a slow youth to his departure with his new whiskers for Washington, while Ford's movie covers a much shorter time span and includes virtually no politics -- Ford's movie is helped immensely by Alfred Newman's multivaried musical score. The Anne Rutledge theme is simple, nostalgic, innocent, and elegant. There's nothing like it in "Abe Lincoln in Illinois." On top of that, Sherwood's narrative (he did the screenplay too) has more serious drama in it, including the conflict between the compliant and peaceable Lincoln and his fiery and ambitious wife, who was later to spend time in an insane asylum. We get far more than an occasional domestic squabble. Sherwood isn't afraid to hit us over the head with reality.Ford, on the other hand, throws history out the window in favor of sentiment and even an attempt at art in some of the incidents and certainly in the photography and lighting. There are two instants of melancholy, both connected with Ann Rutledge's death, and one dramatic incident involving a possible lynching but, that aside, it's more comic than dramatic. Even the murder trial has several amusing moments. (Francis Ford, called for voir dire, puts aside his jug, stumbles to the bench, and pleads, "Guilty.") Massey may be the better performer but Ford is the more subtle director. During moments of gravitas, Cromwell's camera dollies in for a close up of Massey's face, obviously and unnecessarily drawing our attention to the fact that something important is going on, as Massey's voice hesitates before launching some impassioned pronouncement. Ford does it once, when a woman asks, "Who are you?" and Fonda replies, "I'm your lawyer, Ma'am." I'm not counting the end of Ford's movie when Fonda wanders off to the top of a distant hill under an El Greco sky full of menace. Cromwell spells it all out in a final farewell address to the people of Springfield, while Ford keeps it symbolic. (Kids: It's symbolic of the immanent Civil War, fought over slavery and state's rights, between the North and the South. A lot of people got hurt and the South was wrecked. The thunderstorm is a "symbol" because it "stands for" all that impending tumult.) In the end, it's just about impossible to argue that one movie is generally better than the other because they're so different in their intent and execution. Let's call them "unordered variables."I suppose, historically, the movie is kind to Mary Lincoln and her shopping sprees and family background. A TV movie starring Sam Waterston fills in some of the blanks.

Stormy_Autumn In Robert Sherwood's "Abe Lincoln in Illinois"(1940), Raymond Massey was Abraham Lincoln, and it showed. "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" is the best of the Lincoln movies. I don't believe it can be surpassed. Raymond Massey, a born and bred Canadian, portrayed Lincoln as a melancholic persona due to the losses he had suffered. In spite of these painful memories; such as the deaths of his mother Nancy and sweetheart, Ann Rutledge, Lincoln moved forward with his life. Lincoln started his law practice in Springfield, Illinois. He met the sister-in-law of friend Ninian Edwards, Mary Todd. (Lincoln jested that God spelled His Name with only one "D" but the Todd's needed two). Mary was interested in Abraham, her sister wasn't. She felt Mary needed to meet a more refined fellow, not a backwoods lawyer. But Mary saw a winner in Abraham.As a lawyer, Abe tended to show a great deal of interest in all people, in helping the poor and in politics. With his humor and ability to use stories to make points, Abe was very popular with the citizens of Springfield. Mary liked those positives in his personality.During these years, Lincoln worked hard and readied himself for a successful law and political career. With a 'hard' push from Mary, Abraham was going to make something of himself.He and Mary Todd were engaged. Then, due to a deep depression, Lincoln abruptly broke it off. According to some he missed Ann. Mary tended to be Ann's polar opposite. Around this time Lincoln and Douglas held their famous debates. Lincoln was anti-slavery. Douglas believed it was the state's right to decide on slave issues. Douglas won. He went to the U.S. Senate as the Honorable Stephen Douglas of the State of Illinois. Soon after, despite her family's opposition and Stephen Douglas's hard work to prevent it, Mary Todd went on to marry her Abraham. During their years in Springfield, Lincoln built a successful practice. He and Mary had 4 sons; Robert, William, Edward and Thomas (Tad). (Eddie died while they were still in Springfield.)While practicing law, Abe continued to keep his foot in politics. He was asked to run for president in the new Republican Party. Lincoln won the White House. Mary had won the greatest prize of her life. Little did she know what she was going to lose.Just a few little asides:Raymond Massey had done this as a play. Writer, Robert Sherwood and director, John Cromwell asked him to do the movie. The Massey-Ferguson Farm Machinary Company of Canada was founded by his Grandfather. In his later years, Massey became a U.S. citizen.Gene Lockhart, Bob Cratchett of "A Christmas Carol"(1938), played Stephen Douglas. Lockhart was the father of actress June Lockhart who played one of the Cratchett children. Wife Kathleen was Mrs. Cratchett. Ruth Gordon, known as the fun 80 year old Maude of the cult film "Harold & Maude" (1971), played Mary Todd. She was the feisty, fighting 80 plus year old in "Every Which Way But Loose"] (1978) and "Any Which Way You Can" (1980) (Senovia 'Ma' Boggs) (Clint Eastwood was the star but, IMO, Ruth was the favored comic relief.)