Lincoln in the White House

Lincoln in the White House (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Technicolor short showing Abraham Lincoln (Frank McGlynn, Sr.) taking office and leading up to his Gettysburg Address. This film runs just twenty-minutes so it doesn't have time to go into great detail but I thought it did a pretty good job and I'm sure those unfamiliar with these events would find this very entertaining. The Technicolor really adds a lot to the film and makes it stand out compared to other films and shorts from this era that took a look at the President. McGlynn seems to split opinions on his performance but I enjoyed it for the most part. I think he has some very awkward moments but I found most to these to be in his movements. The first time we see Lincoln and several scenes afterwards it appears the actor is walking around so stiff that the character had suffered a stroke. Dickie Moore does a nice job as Lincoln's son. Character actor John Harron co-stars.

This short gives Honest Abe the typical Hollywood treatment: deep voice (Lincoln actually had a high-pitched voice), broad theatrical motions when giving speeches, and every line out of his mouth is basically an historical sound-bite from his best speeches. Interesting as a curiosity (how people viewed Lincoln on the eve of WW II), but don't expect to learn anything about Lincoln (or history in general) from watching it.

First of all, FRANK McGLYNN is not the best choice to play the lanky president who gave the Gettysburg Address after the Civil War changed American politics forever.

He's excessively hammy, especially when speech-making, and bears only a slight resemblance to Honest Abe.

NANA BRYANT as Mrs. Lincoln is much too sensible and natural looking for the role. However, DICKIE MOORE is effective as Tad, the ill-fated youngest son who is gravely ill when Lincoln leaves his Washington, D.C. residence to deliver the Gettysburg Address, against his wife's wishes.

All of the usual facts are stated briefly so that it's really a very compressed look at American history, but probably suitable for young viewers who are just learning about the period.

Words like "strong union," "keep the flag flying," "freedom to slaves," "footsteps in the snow at Valley Forge," etc., give the documentary some talking points that are only able to hint at the overall facts.

Might have been more commanding with a better actor as Lincoln, it seems rather ordinary in its treatment of subject matter.

It's Abraham Lincoln's presidency from his inauguration to the Gettysburg Address. It is a short from Warner Brothers and I must assume that this is a part of their war effort. It's part educational and part propaganda preparation for the coming war. I can see them trying to translate some of the dialogue for modern purposes. That's why they ended it at the Gettysburg Address and not with his assassination. The patriotism is dripping off the screen. It is the nobility of America and the struggle for freedom and the call for unity. The acting and the writing is stiffly sincere. One must see the purpose underneath it all.

Character actor Frank McGlynn, Sr. had a cottage industry of his own going with portraying Abraham Lincoln. Scroll down the list of his credits and you'll see what I mean.

Of course we get a history cardboard cutout, we don't get much more out of this short than the exhibit at Disney World. The film ends with Lincoln at Gettysburg and McGlynn recreating Lincoln's most famous speech of all.

Stripped from the myth, Abraham Lincoln was the guy who preserved the United States in being and freed this country from the stigma of slavery, nothing more, nothing less. It took a lot of lives to accomplish this, something he brooded on every minute of the slightly four plus years he occupied the White House. Had he not won the Civil War for the Union and preserved the USA in being, we would be in a much worse world than we are, no doubt in my mind about it.

The part I liked best in this was the human side of Lincoln with McGlynn comforting his son Tad played by Dickie Moore. Tad was one of two sons that survived him, his other son Robert was off at Harvard during most of the war. Lincoln was one of several presidents who buried children while in the White House, son Willie died the year before. The bond between Abe and Tad was something special after that as this short so clearly shows.

Lincoln In The White House is still a good teaching tool, but really only for the elementary school.