O Prisioneiro da Ilha dos Tubarões

This moving story does have some actuality. One of the interesting details is some legal argument about the place of residence of doctor Mudd. The lawyers argue that if he could be transported from Shark Island, the prison on Dry Tortugas, to a place where normal US legislation is applied, then a writ of habeas corpus could be served and he would go free. Therefore Mudd's supporters launch a failed rescue attempt to that effect. On Dry Tortugas, an island off the Floridy Keys, the prisoner has no chance to appeal for territorial reasons. In my understanding (I am no lawyer, however) this pretty much reflects the Guantanamo situation of today and one just hopes that no doctor Mudds are holed up there and that all open legal questions in that context can be resolved satisfactorily.

I am always amazed how outspoken movies of the great Hollywood Studios could be on political issues or social or legal injustice. This movie is an important product of this tradition. The Prisoner of Shark Island is almost an Anti Yankee-movie. The soldiers are uncouth and brutal, the carpet baggers sleazy double talkers. The authorities panic after President Lincoln's assassination. Somebody, anybody has to hang for the crime. And fast. One of the memorable moments of the movie has one of the military judges in charge say something like „we owe it to the people", clearly meaning the enraged mob in the square below. Thinking of who else claimed to fulfill the wishes of „the people" around 1936 this could also be an appeal to legal authorities to serve the written law and not give in to those who shout the loudest.

Director John Ford certainly knew how to stir up emotions, some of the pathos might be regarded as slightly overwrought by contemporary viewers. However, The Prisoner of Shark Island certainly is one of the most beautiful and memorable movies of his.

On 09 April 1865, John Wilkes Booth (Francis McDonald) breaks his leg after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln (Frank McGlynn Sr.). He flees with an accomplice and once in Maryland, they seek medical treatment with the country Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd (Warner Baxter) that does not know that his patient has murdered the president.

Dr. Mudd is arrested by the army for helping John Wilkes Booth and together with seven other suspects, they are sent to a military court without civil rights. Dr. Mudd is a scapegoat and sentenced to life imprisonment in the hopeless prison in the Dry Tortugas, in Gulf of Mexico. When the prison is isolated due to a yellow fever epidemic, Dr. Mudd helps the guards and the other prisoners to cure the disease.

"The Prisoner of Shark Island" is a great biographical drama by John Ford, telling a tale of injustice and recognition of a nation with a family man that is sentenced to a life sentence in a devil's island of the Nineteenth Century in Gulf of Mexico. The story is engaging and supported by magnificent performances and direction. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Prisioneiro da Ilha dos Tubarões" ("The Prisoner of Shark Island")

This is an engaging film about the doctor who treated John Wilkes Booth after the Lincoln assassination. The film goes on to show how all the defendants in the case were hanged except Mudd. He was sent to a lovely spot off the coast of the Florida keys, but with no air conditioning. We see his treatment and attempt to escape as well. I will not reveal the conclusion of the film, but Dr. Mudd is the origin of the saying "His name is Mudd, now" meaning that you have lost your reputation. Good acting by Warner Baxter and good viewing.

One of John Ford's more under-appreciated movies is this biopic of Dr Samuel Mudd, the doctor who set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Mudd (Warner Baxter) is convicted of being a part of the assassination and sent to a Union prison on the Dry Tortugas, a small group of islands off the coast of Florida. The prison island is surrounded by sharks, hence the movie's title. While there he endures brutal treatment and living conditions. When the prison is stricken with an outbreak of yellow fever, Dr. Mudd rises to the occasion and heroically saves lives.

It's solid entertainment directed by one of the greats with a script from Nunnally Johnson and starring a fine cast. In addition to Warner Baxter, who does an excellent job in the lead, the cast includes Gloria Stuart, Harry Carey, and Claude Gillingwater. Ernest Whitman is good as Mudd's friend (and his former slave!). John Carradine shines as an abusive Union guard ("Hiya, Judas!"). Ford's direction is superb, as one might expect, and he wrings every ounce of emotion out of each scene. While some parts of the movie are historically accurate (or at least close), it's inaccurate in many places. The primary example being the portrayal of Dr. Mudd as a complete innocent who knew nothing of Booth before the man showed up at his door with a broken leg. In reality, Mudd was a Confederate sympathizer who had met Booth on more than one occasion. It is true there is no concrete proof that Mudd knew about the assassination plot or knew that Lincoln was dead when Booth arrived at his house, but there is enough room for doubt that we still don't know the extent of his guilt or innocence to this day. But, as I always say with these biopics, I don't look to movies for history lessons but rather to be entertained. On that front, this is very successful.

Most history buffs will like this though they may disagree with the portrayal of Dr. Mudd as being complete innocent after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Historians say Mudd knew John Wilkes Booth from often seeing the famous actor on the stage. However, it doubtful if he knew Booth had just assassinated Lincoln and was in flight from pursuing soldiers after breaking his leg while leaping from the Ford Theatre balcony onto the stage. It is now believed by many that Dr. Mudd allowed Booth to remain in his home overnight due to the strain put upon the recently set leg. The next morning Mudd went into town to get a newspaper and then discovered that Booth was wanted for Lincoln's murder. He was thus placed in the uncomfortable position of unintentionally harboring a murderer and if he had notified the police at that time he would never have been implicated in the tragedy. He unwisely chose not to do so and instead returned home to tell Booth to leave. The pusuing troops discovered that Booth had been at the Mudd home and the doctor was arrested and later tried. The movie does give a good presentation of the trial which was a travesty conducted by the military with orders from the authorities to convict and hang all those charged. Booth did luck out a bit by escaping the death penalty. Many legal experts now believe that the trial was illegal since the civilian courts were still functioning. But vengeance was to be extracted and what did befall Dr. Mudd could have been far worse.