Product description

The Last of Mrs. Lincoln [DVD] [1976] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Price: £9.19
Average customer rating: 5.0

Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780769796147
ISBN : 0769796141
Label : Kultur
Manufacturer : Kultur
Publisher : Kultur
Release date : 2002-06-25
Title : The Last of Mrs. Lincoln [DVD] [1976] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actor : Array
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1976-01-01
Region code : 1
Running time : 130
Studio : Kultur
Theatrical releaseDate : 1976-09-16

Customer reviews

review by: date: 2005-01-16 rating:

"I live from dream to dream--it is NOT better than death."
Written by James Prideaux and directed by George Schaeffer, this adaptation of the play for which Julie Harris won the Tony Award in 1973, is a stunning example of great theater commissioned for television. Seemingly without friends or allies after the death of Abraham Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln (Julie Harris) is at odds with the world. Her sister and southern relatives have always believed Lincoln beneath her. Congress has refused to reimburse her for installing central heating and indoor plumbing in the White House, and they have refused to approve her pension. The press uses her vituperation to their own advantage, and the fates have taken two of her sons before adulthood.pJulie Harris creates a Mrs. Lincoln who is full of passion and afraid of no one, a woman who is willing to go to any extreme to protect her husband's memory. Bright, often amusing, and very astute, she is also extremely vulnerable, sick with loneliness and worry, and too prideful to bow to politicians. As she moves to Germany, Chicago, St. Augustine, France, Spain, and ultimately back to Springfield, Illinois, always trying to find peace, her lack of contact with reality becomes obvious, though her commitment to her husband's memory never waivers.pA very young Robbie Benson as Tad elicits great sympathy as he tries to help his mother while dying of tuberculosis. Michael Christofer as Robert Todd Lincoln, the scapegoat for his mother's rage, maintains his patient firmness with her but reflects the enormous difficulties of dealing with a self-destructive parent. Denver Pyle as a frustrated Senator Austin locks horns with Mary in a couple of dramatic and hot-tempered scenes, revealing his own love of power in holding up her pension. All the supporting players are outstanding, with a young Patrick Duffy, as her grand-nephew Lewis, a particularly charming addition.pThe production belongs to Julie Harris, as Mrs. Lincoln, however. Nominated for an Emmy for this production, she portrays Mrs. Lincoln as a woman full of maddening contradictions, alternating between anger toward Congress and solicitude toward her sick son, between good-hearted protectiveness and a need to dominate, and between independence and complete helplessness. Her range of emotion makes Mary Lincoln live and breathe, and even when Mary is in the grip of her demons, Julie Harris continues to present her as a sympathetic character. A fascinating psychological study of a much-maligned First Lady, this production was a great moment in public television, fortunately preserved. Mary Whipple

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