When Lincoln Paid
| When Lincoln Paid | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Francis Ford |
| Written by | William Clifford |
| Starring | Jack Conway Francis Ford Charles Edler Ethel Grandin |
| Distributed by | Mutual Film |
Release date | 31 January 1913 |
| Country | USA |
| Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
When Lincoln Paid (1913) is a silent film, written by William Clifford, and directed by Francis Ford, who also appears in the film as Abraham Lincoln.
Plot
The mother of a dead Union soldier attempts to convince President Lincoln to pardon a similarly condemned Confederate soldier whose unjust conviction was the result of her vindictive scheme.
Background
This was one of many films from the 1910s focusing on Lincoln's well-known practice of pardoning young Civil War soldiers condemned to die, if any extenuating circumstances might have been involved.
Cast
- Francis Ford as Abraham Lincoln
- Jack Conway
- Charles Edler (billed as Charles Elder)
- Ethel Grandin
Restoration
In 2006, a local contractor was demolishing a barn in Nelson, New Hampshire, when he came across a 35mm Monarch projector and seven reels of film. He donated his find to the Keene State College Film Society, which has determined that at least three of the films appear to be the only surviving copies of long-lost movies, including When Lincoln Paid, a film on an incident in Abraham Lincoln’s life, starring and directed by movie pioneer Francis Ford, the older brother of and greatest influence on famed director John Ford.
This brittle and damaged 30-minute two-reeler is of such historical significance that it easily won support from Tag Gallagher (author of John Ford), the film archive at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, and the National Film Preservation Foundation, who rallied to restore the film. The film has been lost for 97 years. The film is important for its historical theme, its place in film history, and for what it has to show about the techniques that influenced John Ford. The restored film was shown at Keene State College on April 20, 2010.[1][dead link]
Both Ford brothers were fascinated with Abraham Lincoln and made him the subject of many of their films. “There is nothing I like better than to play Lincoln. I have a big library devoted to this great man, and I have studied every phase of his remarkable character, and when I am acting the part, I can feel the man as I judge him,” Francis Ford is quoted as saying in an article by Ford scholar Tag Gallagher.
“Francis Ford is one of the most fascinating persons in film history. … And he is known as the man who taught John Ford.” Gallagher said in a letter he sent in support of restoring When Lincoln Paid. Francis Ford made the first spectacular westerns in 1912, some of the first detective movies, and one of the first serials.
“Between 1912 and 1915 he played Abraham Lincoln in at least seven pictures. Alas, all of these pictures are lost. For nearly a century no one has been able to see Francis Ford as Lincoln,” Gallagher explained. “So now … to be told that I may get to see Francis Ford as Lincoln is thrilling news indeed.”
References
See also
External links
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