The Last of Mrs. Lincoln

"The Last of Mrs. Lincoln," directed by George Schaeler, starring Julie Harris as Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) in a 1976 teleplay, is a fine retelling and character study into the lives of the Lincoln family: Mary Todd Lincoln (Julie Harris) and her two sons, Robert and Tad, following the 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States, devoted husband and father. While there have been numerous Hollywood portraits and stories revolving around the life and times of Abraham Lincoln himself, "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" is the only known account on his wife, Mary, who not only pushed her husband to the presidency of the White House, but was by his side at the Ford Theater when he was assassinated by a crazed actor named John Wilkes Booth. While all this is mentioned in dialogue through portions of the story, this videotaped presentation is all about Mary Todd Lincoln's struggles through the years and coping over the loss of her husband, her second son, Willie (who died in the White House during Lincoln's presidency in 1862), and further tragedy in her personal life that was to follow.

The story opens in 1865 Chicago where Mary, a recent widow, moving into an apartment along with her two surviving sons, Robert, and her youngest and most favorite, "Tad." During her period of adjustment, Mary, known for her tempestuous personality and extravagant spending, is now cluttered with more debts than she could handle, which leaves her to take action by writing firm letters to congressmen in Washington, D.C., asking for help and to award her a pension, which goes ignored for years until Mary faces up to the fact that she has been flatly refused. The next act fades into 1870 Germany where Mary faces another tragic chapter of her life, that of Tad, now approaching the age of 18, becoming gravely ill with not much longer to live. She decides to devote all her time to him by making his final days on Earth as pleasant as possible, especially when the young lad, under doctors orders, must sit in an upright position at all times, and restrained that way when sleeping so he wouldn't have to endure tremendous pain. Mary tearfully reads to Tad from her late husband's second most favorite book (the first being the Holy Bible), the works by William Shakespeare, and at Tad's request, she reads his favorite, HENRY V. Now coping with the loss of her husband and her youngest son, Mary slowly begins to imagine things, thus, losing her mind, leaving her sole surviving son, Robert, forced to have her committed to a mental institution. After she is released, Mary comes to live in the home of her married sister, Elizabeth, the very home she and Abe got married. Mary soon bonds with her nephew, Lewis, who bears a striking resemblance to Tad, and ignores all correspondence with eldest son, Robert, whom she has never forgiven for placing her in an institution.

Julie Harris, a theatrical actress with limited screen credit but with full credibility, gives one of the best performances of her career as the misunderstood and controversial Mary Todd Lincoln, almost overshadowing actress Ruth Gordon's carnation of that same character from the 1940 motion picture, ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS (RKO Radio), starring Raymond Massey as Lincoln. The supporting cast should not go without mention: Robby Benson as Tad Lincoln at 18; Michel Cristofer as Robert Lincoln; Patrick Duffy as Lewis Edwards; Priscilla Morrill as Elizabeth, Mary's sister; and Denver Pyle (of TVs DUKES OF HAZZARD fame) playing Senator Austin.

Rarely seen in recent years, unless one is lucky enough to find a rebroadcast of this presentation on public television, THE LAST OF MRS. LINCOLN was formerly available on video cassette through USA Home Video in the 1980s. At nearly two hours, this production holds interest throughout, thanks to an intelligent script, which could be both sad and funny, depending on the scenes, and fine performance from the entire cast, especially that of Miss Julie Harris. Recommended.

And I had to see it. She was such a marvelous actor, and the role of Mary Todd Lincoln seemed tailor-made for her. There isn't much out there in history on what happened with Mrs. Lincoln after the assassination and this is a good "maybe" story. The supporting cast, especially Robbie Benson, are very good too. Well worth the watch if you can find it.

Mary Todd Lincoln was probably the most misunderstood and controversial first lady of all. This play tells of her tragic final years after Lincoln's assassination. As beloved as Abraham Lincoln is today, there is something that is hard to believer, when he was alive he was probably the most hated President in history. One reason is that he freed the slaves and supressed many cival liberties. He was forced to take the powers of a dictator during his term. There was an American historian named William Hanchett that talked of the assassination and he said that Booth really believed he was killing a horrible tyrant. He said that during WWII we would have revered someone who killed Adolf Hitler and many people at that time thought of Lincoln as we thought of Hitler. Mary Todd suffered all her life from terrible headaches and severe depression. The Lincoln marriage wasn't as horrible as some made it out to be but she wasn't an easy person to live with! People criticized and villified her as well during her years as First Lady. They got onto her about overspending and the fact that her relatives were Southern rebels. This poor woman had to undergo criticism and scrutiny that no other first lady in history has had to endure. To top this off, her husband was assassinated by her side and she saw the death of three of her beloved sons and a fourth son who had her committed to an asylum to keep her from spending his money. Julie Harris brings Mrs. Lincoln to life splendidly. You feel so bad for this poor woman especially when they show Tad dying a horrible death from consumption. Robby Benson gives a tender touching performance as a loving son. It has been debated weather Mrs. Lincoln really was insane, but the tragedies she suffered would have broken just about anyone. This play brings to life one of the most misunderstood women in history and no one could have done it better then Julie Harris. You feel so for her that there may be a lump in your throat at the end when she finally dies. In her last years, Mrs. Lincoln often said that all she wanted was to join her husband and three sons. I hope that she got her wish, she earned it.