What do many people think of when they think of Abraham Lincoln? Is it the top hat? An ax? Savior of the Union or Self-Made Man? These images and concepts have captured the imagination of directors and screen play writers for decades and thus they make up what the majority of the nation thinks of Abraham Lincoln. Within these films, however, there is not just historical fact, there is also fiction and ulterior motives. The films Abraham Lincoln, Young Abe Lincoln, and Abe Lincoln in Illinois are just three of the more popular films that helped shape the myths surrounding the president. When dissected by a historian these films can tell us a lot about what the public believes about Lincoln, the time period in which the film was made, and the entertainment industry as a whole. Within the scenes the filmmakers cleverly wind together myth, fact and intention to create something that seems believable enough that the normal layperson would not question it. People who have studied Lincoln however, can easily point out the fact from fiction. In each movie Lincoln is portrayed as in love with Ann Rutledge. In the film Abraham Lincoln directed by D.W. Griffith of The Birth of a Nation fame, Lincoln, with horrific red lipstick on, confesses his love to Ann telling her, “You taught me how to love.” Additionally, at Ann’s death bed Abe tells her not to leave him, and she urges him to be brave. After Ann’s death, Abe is heartbroken and melancholy. His family even notes that they “took his pocket knife away from him,” suggesting that they were scared Abe would kill himself. The movie, though caught up in a love affair that never occurred, does a fine job of addressing how melancholy and depressed Lincoln could become. Many of Lincoln’s friends and family noted that he was prone to bouts of depression. William Herndon, Lincoln’s law partner described him as moody, telling stories about when Lincoln would come into the office without speaking and sit in the dark, while Herndon left him alone to be with his troubled thoughts. Rather than focus on the deaths of people who Lincoln actually had a relationship with, like his mother, and sons Willie and Eddie, the movies highlight what would sell tickets, a love story.
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The film, Young Mr. Lincoln directed by John Ford, depicts Ann as a motivator for Lincoln’s success. Ann is depicted as a smart and ambitious girl who believes that Abe is special. In one scene, Abe and Ann discuss going away for further schooling together. Additionally, after her death Abe goes to the cemetery to visit Ann’s grave and “lets the stick decide” whether or not he will leave New Salem and go to Springfield to become a lawyer. By having Lincoln put his trust in a stick over Ann’s grave, hoping for some ghostly intervention, the director shows the audience how dependent Lincoln was on Ann. In reality, however, Lincoln was intrinsically motivated to become well versed in law. He read and mastered Euclid’s Geometry on his own according to William Herndon. One of his friends Henry McHenry commented that Lincoln “was so studious—took so little physical exercise—was so laborious in his studies that he became emaciated and his best friends were afraid that he would craze himself.” Lincoln loved to learn and read, and that love began when he was a boy, long before he ever came to New Salem. Only one of the movies addresses the fact that Ann was engaged to John McNeil at the time she met Lincoln. In John Cromwell’s Abe Lincoln in Illinois, it is Jack Armstrong and John McNeil that get into a fight that Abe has to finish in order to win the Clary Boy’s trust. McNeil and Ann are depicted saying goodbye and he gives her a locket to remember him while he is away. Throughout the rest of the film, Abe seems to be the one smitten with Ann, the only mutual feeling seem to be friendship. Even on her death bed and delirious, Ann seems to be talking about events that had happened with McNeil, not with Abe. With the inclusion of McNeil the film acknowledges that Ann’s heart was elsewhere, but the
The film, Young Mr. Lincoln directed by John Ford, depicts Ann as a motivator for Lincoln’s success. Ann is depicted as a smart and ambitious girl who believes that Abe is special. In one scene, Abe and Ann discuss going away for further schooling together. Additionally, after her death Abe goes to the cemetery to visit Ann’s grave and “lets the stick decide” whether or not he will leave New Salem and go to Springfield to become a lawyer. By having Lincoln put his trust in a stick over Ann’s grave, hoping for some ghostly intervention, the director shows the audience how dependent Lincoln was on Ann. In reality, however, Lincoln was intrinsically motivated to become well versed in law. He read and mastered Euclid’s Geometry on his own according to William Herndon. One of his friends Henry McHenry commented that Lincoln “was so studious—took so little physical exercise—was so laborious in his studies that he became emaciated and his best friends were afraid that he would craze himself.” Lincoln loved to learn and read, and that love began when he was a boy, long before he ever came to New Salem. Only one of the movies addresses the fact that Ann was engaged to John McNeil at the time she met Lincoln. In John Cromwell’s Abe Lincoln in Illinois, it is Jack Armstrong and John McNeil that get into a fight that Abe has to finish in order to win the Clary Boy’s trust. McNeil and Ann are depicted saying goodbye and he gives her a locket to remember him while he is away. Throughout the rest of the film, Abe seems to be the one smitten with Ann, the only mutual feeling seem to be friendship. Even on her death bed and delirious, Ann seems to be talking about events that had happened with McNeil, not with Abe. With the inclusion of McNeil the film acknowledges that Ann’s heart was elsewhere, but the