Walter Huston
Abraham Lincoln
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Synopsis
D. W. Griffith follows Abraham Lincoln from his early work and relationships to the presidency and the Civil War. Personal disappointments lead into the responsibilities of national leadership, with Walter Huston playing the central role. This early sound biography is a dramatized portrait of a public figure, reflecting the storytelling and historical outlook of its own era.
Cast
DirectorsD. W. Griffith
Historical context
This was D. W. Griffith's first sound feature and one of only two he completed. Walter Huston's Lincoln therefore belongs both to Hollywood's tradition of presidential biography and to the difficult transition of a major silent-era director into spoken cinema.
Reception and legacy
Early critics often praised Huston's performance and treated the film as an important achievement in sound filmmaking. Later assessments have been more divided, particularly about its episodic structure and historical simplifications. Its reputation has changed substantially across generations.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Walter Huston — studio · Public domain
- Una Merkel — Clarence Bull, for MGM · Public domain
- Lucille La Verne — Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
