The Prairie Landscape

Lincoln in Films


Facets Multimedia


Lincoln in Films

Photo of Lincoln courtesy of the Illinois Historical Library.

The following list of films was compiled by Facets Multimedia, Inc., 1517 West Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, IL. 60614. For information on video sales, rentals, our film schedule, classes and other events, visit their website. Films designated with an asterisk (*) are notable films or films by a notable director.

  • 1910 Abraham Lincoln's Clemency - D: Theodore Wharton
  • 1912 Lincoln's Gettysburg Address - D: J. Stuart Blackton & James Young
  • 1914 Lincoln, The Lover - D: Thomas Ince
  • 1915 The Battle Cry of Peace - D: William J. Ferguson
  • *The Birth of A Nation - D: D.W. Griffith
  • 1916 The Crisis - D: Colin Campbell
  • 1917 Her Country's Call - D: Lloyd Ingraham
  • 1918 Birth of A Race - D: Emmett J. Scott
  • Madam Who - D: Reginald Barker
  • My Own United States - D: John W. Noble
  • 1920 The Copperhead - D: Charles Maigne
  • The Land of Opportunity
  • 1921 The Highest Law - D: Ralph Ince
  • 1922 The Heart of Lincoln - D: Francis ford
  • 1924 Abraham Lincoln ("The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln") - D: Phil Rosen
  • Barbara Frietchie - D: Lambert Hillyer
  • *The Iron Horse - D: John ford
  • The No-Gun Man - D: Harry Garson
  • 1925 The Man Without A Country - D: Rowland V. Lee
  • 1926 Hands Up! - D: Clarence G. Badger
  • 1927 The Heart of Maryland - D: Lloyd Bacon
  • 1928 Court Martial - D: George B. Seitz
  • 1930 *Abraham Lincoln - D: D.W. Griffith
  • 1932 The Phantom President - D: Norman Taurog
  • 1934 Are We Civilized? - D: Edwin Carewe
  • 1935 *The Littlest Rebel - D: David Butler
  • The Perfect Tribute - D: Edward Sloman
  • 1936 Hearts In Bondage - D: Lew Ayres
  • *The Plainsmen - D: Cecil B. Demille
  • *The Prisoner of Shark Island - D: John ford
  • Trailin' West - D: Noel M. Smith
  • 1937 Courage of The West - D: Joseph H. Lewis
  • John Ericsson--The Victor At Hampton Roads - D: Gustaf Edgren (Sweden)
  • Victoria The Great - D: Herbert Wilcox
  • Welles Fargo - D: Frank Lloyd
  • Western Gold - D: Howard Bretherton
  • 1938 The Lone Ranger - D: John English & William Whitney
  • of Human Hearts - D: Clarence Brown
  • 1939 Lincoln In The White House - D: William C. Mcgann
  • *Young Mr. Lincoln - D: John ford
  • 1940 *Abe Lincoln In Illinois - D: John Cromwell
  • Hi-Yo Silver - D: John English & William Witney
  • *Virginia City - D: Michael Curtiz
  • 1945 Abbott & Costello In Hollywood - D: S. Sylvan Simon
  • 1951 *The Tall Target - D: Anthony Mann
  • 1953 San Antone - D: Joseph Kane
  • 1955 The Face of Lincoln -
  • 1957 Abe Lincoln In Illinois -
  • 1962 How The West Was Won - D: John ford & Henry Hathaway
  • 1971 The Great Man's Whiskers - D: Philip Leacock
  • 1976 Captains and The Kings - Made for Television - D: Douglas Heyes & Allen Resiner
  • The Faking of The President - D: Alan Abel & Jeanne Abel
  • The Last of Mrs. Lincoln - D: George Schaeffer
  • 1977 The Lincoln Conspiracy - D: James L. Conway
  • 1982 The Blue and The Gray - Made for Television - D: andrew V. Mclaglen
  • 1985 *North and South - Made for Television - D: Richard T. Heffron
  • 1986 Dream West - Made for Television- D: Dick Lowry
  • North and South II - Made for Television - D: Kevin Connor
  • 1988 *Lincoln ("Gore Vidal's Lincoln") - Made for Television- D: Lamont Johnson
  • Two Idiots In Hollywood - D: Stephen Tobolowsky
  • 1989 The Big Picture - D: Christopher Guest
  • 1990 *The Civil War - Documentary, Made for Television - D: Ken Burns
  • 1991 Ironclads - Made for Television - D: Delbert Mann
  • The Perfect Tribute - Made for Television - D: Jack Bender
  • Lincoln - Made for Television - D: Peter W. Kunhardt
  • 1995 Tad - Made for Television - D: Robert C. Thompson
  • 1998 The Day Lincoln Was Shot - Made for Television - D: John Gray

The Men who Played Lincoln
Some of the more prominent actors who have played Lincoln include:

  • F. Murray Abraham ("Dream West," 1986),
  • John Carradine ("of Human Hearts," 1938),
  • Henry Fonda ("Young Mr. Lincoln," 1939),
  • Hal Holbrook ("North and South,"1985, and "North and South II," 1986),
  • Kris Kristofferson ("Tad," 1995),
  • Raymond Massey ("Abe Lincoln in Illinois," 1940, and "How the West Was Won," 1962),
  • Gregory Peck ("The Blue and the Gray," 1982),
  • Jason Robards ("The Perfect Tribute," 1991),
  • Sam Waterston ("Lincoln," 1988, and, in voice only, "The Civil War," 1990),
  • Dennis Weaver ("The Great Man's Whiskers," 1971).

There were a few actors, however, who virtually made a cottage industry out of playing the former President. Frank McGlynn Sr. played Lincoln no fewer than seven times between 1934 and 1937, while George A. Billings, Benjamin Chapin and actor-director Ralph Ince each took on the role four times during the silent era.

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