Although this production is little more than a photographed stage play, television viewers were treated to a rare opportunity to see Julie Harris in her Tony Award winning role of Mary Todd Lincoln in The Last Of Mrs. Lincoln. The play by James Prideaux is the story of Mary's widowhood from when she settled in Chicago after her husband's assassination to her death in 1882.
Mary Lincoln being southern born and being accused of extravagance in the White House during the Civil War was a controversial figure before she became our first presidential martyr widow. Mrs. Lincoln did not even have that few years of fairy tale existence that Jacqueline Kennedy had before she married Aristotle Onassis. Her life however before and after the White House was as tragedy filled as any Kennedy.
When she became a widow only two of her four sons survived her husband, the oldest Robert and the youngest Tad. The sons are played by Michael Cristofer as Robert and Robby Benson as Tad. Robert Lincoln suffered the rest of his life by people expecting him to be a junior version of the wise, saintly, and philosophizing Abraham Lincoln. Robert said nothing quotable for the ages, but he did have a successful career as an attorney for the railroads, the advantage of a Harvard education that his prairie lawyer father didn't. When the story ends he happens to be the Secretary of War in President Chester A. Arthur's cabinet. Later on he was Minister to Great Britain. He has never had a full scale biography and badly needs one.
Mary's world was shattered when her husband was killed, even further destroyed when she lost Tad. She insisted on living an extravagant lifestyle beyond her means as though she was still first lady. Robert and his wife Mary Harlan Lincoln played by Linda Kelsey were essentially trying to keep their inheritance intact for their children, they had three of them. It was why Robert did what he did in having his mother committed to an asylum, an indignity no other first lady ever suffered. It wasn't a nice thing, but who's to say he was wrong.
Julie Harris is nothing short of wonderful in the title role. You forget you are looking at Julie Harris and really do think you are peaking in on the Lincoln family. Robby Benson's final scene as Tad suffering from a fatal tuberculosis having to be strapped in a seat because the doctor's orders are to keep him upright so his lungs don't fill up is touching.
If The Last Of Mrs. Lincoln is broadcast, absolutely don't miss it. Author James Prideaux researched Lincoln well before writing his play and it shows. No Lincoln scholars should find fault with this work.
Mary Lincoln being southern born and being accused of extravagance in the White House during the Civil War was a controversial figure before she became our first presidential martyr widow. Mrs. Lincoln did not even have that few years of fairy tale existence that Jacqueline Kennedy had before she married Aristotle Onassis. Her life however before and after the White House was as tragedy filled as any Kennedy.
When she became a widow only two of her four sons survived her husband, the oldest Robert and the youngest Tad. The sons are played by Michael Cristofer as Robert and Robby Benson as Tad. Robert Lincoln suffered the rest of his life by people expecting him to be a junior version of the wise, saintly, and philosophizing Abraham Lincoln. Robert said nothing quotable for the ages, but he did have a successful career as an attorney for the railroads, the advantage of a Harvard education that his prairie lawyer father didn't. When the story ends he happens to be the Secretary of War in President Chester A. Arthur's cabinet. Later on he was Minister to Great Britain. He has never had a full scale biography and badly needs one.
Mary's world was shattered when her husband was killed, even further destroyed when she lost Tad. She insisted on living an extravagant lifestyle beyond her means as though she was still first lady. Robert and his wife Mary Harlan Lincoln played by Linda Kelsey were essentially trying to keep their inheritance intact for their children, they had three of them. It was why Robert did what he did in having his mother committed to an asylum, an indignity no other first lady ever suffered. It wasn't a nice thing, but who's to say he was wrong.
Julie Harris is nothing short of wonderful in the title role. You forget you are looking at Julie Harris and really do think you are peaking in on the Lincoln family. Robby Benson's final scene as Tad suffering from a fatal tuberculosis having to be strapped in a seat because the doctor's orders are to keep him upright so his lungs don't fill up is touching.
If The Last Of Mrs. Lincoln is broadcast, absolutely don't miss it. Author James Prideaux researched Lincoln well before writing his play and it shows. No Lincoln scholars should find fault with this work.