3 Review(s)

President Lincoln is so deeply ingrained in our national consciousness that his image can be found practically everywhere (not least on those ubiquitous American pennies). This is sure to only increase with the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth in 2009. He is the most frequently portrayed American historical figure in the history of the film and television arts, having been featured in well over 150 productions since the birth of the motion picture medium. On screen, Lincoln has both delivered the Gettysburg Address and solemnly urged the teenagers of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) to "party on, dudes." From the eminently dramatic to the absurdly comedic, the part of Lincoln has been played by such diverse actors as Raymond Massey, Walter Huston, Gregory Peck, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook and Henry Fonda.The author provides a brief overview of the history of Lincoln film and television portrayals, including documentaries. Each Lincoln-related work has an individual entry detailing essential cast, production and release information, as well as a discussion of each work's historical accuracy and artistic merits.The book is fully illustrated with photographs of Lincoln actors, dating from the earliest portrayals. This updated edition provides commentary on all new films produced in recent years, as well as on two earlier films, "The Rivalry", "Abraham Lincoln" (1924) and "Lincoln" (1929), that were not covered in the original edition.