Killing Lincoln - Nat Geo (Reactions)

[John E.]

(02-18-2013 12:29 PM)Loomings Wrote:  As for Booth's being shot, all of the dialogue is according to Conger, Baker and Doherty (independent testimonies) - including the last line: Make quick work of it, Captain! Shoot me through the heart!

Erik, the only person who testified to or gave reference to the line "Make quick work of it, Captain! Shoot me through the heart!" was Boston Corbett and he did so with some uncertainty, adding "or something to that effect" in his testimony. No one else heard Booth utter that line.

I agree with Laurie that the Booth death sequence was a bit unclear as to whether he was indeed shot through the heart. Booth was stated to have crumpled to the floor and on his back after he was hit, but as depicted, it seemed like the force of the bullet pulled him backwards, not the fact that he was instantly paralyzed.

Here's a nitpick I noticed:

You have Gardner's Single lens'd camera positioned on the right side of the window (looking out at the execution) and the stereo view from the left. The cameras should have been reversed. Judging from the photos, the single lens'd was on the left side. I am most likely in the extreme minority in picking that out. -- I'm a little too close to the material. :-)

You give a lot of credence to the Wardell autopsy photo story: I personally don't believe it. In his letter to Oldroyd (A fibber if there ever was one), Wardell says that he accompanies Gardner's assistant to develop the photo. -- He even stands with him in the dark room. Ok, here's my problem with that: Wet Plate collodion development must be done within 2 to 10 minutes of the exposure. If the collodion solution which coats the glass plate dries, it won't develop.

The autopsy photograph was taken on the Montauk which was 100 yds away from the pier. This tells me that Gardner most likely brought a portable dark room contraption with him on the Montauk. I've not seen a portable dark room large enough for two people to stand in. (I could be wrong, maybe there was one) --

The alternative is that the detective and the assistant rowed back to the pier and entered Gardner's Wagon to do the developing. How long would it take to row back to the pier from the ship, and would you risk it ?

For all those interested, here is a photo of a portable dark room:

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I loved that you had the stage at Ford's covered with the green baize top. -- Excellent detail. I also thought the costumes were fantastic - especially the clothes Booth wore when he did his deed.

[Loomings]

John (or, as you are now widely known in Hollywood, Jeff) --

This is my favorite nitpick so far! The camera's should have been reversed! Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

[John E.]

(02-18-2013 03:22 PM)Loomings Wrote:  John (or, as you are now widely known in Hollywood, Jeff) --

Right !! That was officially my first Nit Pick. Now if you tell me Conger or Doherty said my name was Jeff, we're going to tangle.

[GARY POPOLO]

I like everyone else on this forum I am sure watched Killing Lincoln last night. It was everything I expected. What a great group of actors. But like everyone else I have to admit there was something else I would have liked to have seen and that was SOMETHING on Mary Surratt. I agree with Antiquefinder that she and her boarding house were the focal point for the assassins. My wife and I were watching the film and at the end when they mentioned Mary Surratt being the first woman to be given the death sentence she said did I miss something? She asked why they did not say or show her at all during the film. Other than that I loved the film. I also would love to see a mini series done. Have a good day all! Gary

[Loomings]

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is truly amazing. From a press release minutes ago:

via press release:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL’S KILLING LINCOLN
SETS RECORD RATINGS WITH 2.6 HH, 1.1 P25-54;

SPECIAL SCORES HIGHEST TOTAL VIEWERSHIP IN NGC HISTORY

3.4 Million People Tune in to NGC’s First Original Factual Drama

(WASHINGTON, D.C. — February 18, 2013) National Geographic Channel’s Sunday night premiere of KILLING LINCOLN – the network’s first original factual drama – proved to be the perfect way to honor President’s Day Weekend with stellar ratings that averaged a whopping 2.6 HH rating – tied for the second highest HH in network history – and a 1.1 P25–54 on Sunday, February 17, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

KILLING LINCOLN also averaged 3.4 million persons 2+ over the entire two-hour premiere, the highest total viewership in NGC’s history!

Said Howard T. Owens, President, National Geographic Channels: “The success we saw last night proved that authentic and entertaining are not mutually exclusive, and I think we’ve tapped into a new genre of factual drama that clearly resonates with our audience.

[jonathan]

Ahhh, that's fantastic. Now let's hope a bunch of those people start showing up on here.

[Dawn E Foster]

(02-18-2013 05:22 PM)Loomings Wrote:  Ladies and Gentlemen, this is truly amazing. From a press release minutes ago:

via press release:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL’S KILLING LINCOLN
SETS RECORD RATINGS WITH 2.6 HH, 1.1 P25-54;

SPECIAL SCORES HIGHEST TOTAL VIEWERSHIP IN NGC HISTORY

3.4 Million People Tune in to NGC’s First Original Factual Drama

(WASHINGTON, D.C. — February 18, 2013) National Geographic Channel’s Sunday night premiere of KILLING LINCOLN – the network’s first original factual drama – proved to be the perfect way to honor President’s Day Weekend with stellar ratings that averaged a whopping 2.6 HH rating – tied for the second highest HH in network history – and a 1.1 P25–54 on Sunday, February 17, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

KILLING LINCOLN also averaged 3.4 million persons 2+ over the entire two-hour premiere, the highest total viewership in NGC’s history!

Said Howard T. Owens, President, National Geographic Channels: “The success we saw last night proved that authentic and entertaining are not mutually exclusive, and I think we’ve tapped into a new genre of factual drama that clearly resonates with our audience.

Congratulations!

Sorry I wasn't able to be a part of that figure - I was watching my grandsons - but I did stay up till 2am so I could catch the midnight showing when I got home. And I have been OnDemand-ing it in the background all day today (Presidents' Day!). I hope they do get the message!

[BettyO]

Fantastic!!

Congratulations, Erik, Adrian, cast and crew!!!

I had a large group of colleagues and friends watching as well - including members of Lewis Powell's family .... Lots of great comments and reviews.

Now....about that mini series!

[Jim Garrett]

(02-18-2013 03:45 PM)John E. Wrote:  

(02-18-2013 03:22 PM)Loomings Wrote:  John (or, as you are now widely known in Hollywood, Jeff) --

Right !! That was officially my first Nit Pick. Now if you tell me Conger or Doherty said my name was Jeff, we're going to tangle.

More nit picking, Booth's barber was left handed

[L Verge]

Erik,

I may know my assassination story, but I don't know ratings. Does 2.6 HH mean 2.6 Households out of every one watching TV at that time were watching Nat Geo? If I pass that test, what does 1.1 P25-54 mean? Is that the age range of those people?

John aka Jeff,

You are continuing to amaze me with your knowledge in the assassination field!!! I am so proud of you, and I want that book out in time for Conference 2014. I don't care if you have to take over doing it all. You have brought up stuff that I have never heard anyone else talk about. You are really painting all the scenery of what went on from the moment the conspirators began being arrested until their fates were sealed.

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I am cross-posting here with something that I just said on Dave Taylor's great site (please visit BoothieBarn.com, if you haven't already). Dave mentioned that he questioned the shot in the film where Samuel Cox appeared to recognize Booth. Here's my take on it - whether or not the film meant it this way or not, I think it's logical:

Dave – In conjunction with your doubts about Cox recognizing Booth, I thought the same thing at first. And then I decided to speculate that the Southern Maryland underground had already received notice to be on the lookout for the assassin with a broken leg. Where could they have gotten that information? Dr. Mudd’s trek into Bryantown could likely have been for things other than buying things for the missus. Remember his slow progress on his way back home, stopping to chat with other men along the way??? Just saying.

My point is that the underground in our area was darned good at getting the job done. If Mudd supplied the information in the early afternoon to just one person, there is no doubt in my mind that Cox would have known about it within hours. He didn't need to recognize Booth; he just needed to look for two men - one having a broken leg - who would show up likely under the cover of darkness.

[John E.]

(02-18-2013 06:57 PM)L Verge Wrote:  John aka Jeff,

You are continuing to amaze me with your knowledge in the assassination field!!! I am so proud of you, and I want that book out in time for Conference 2014. I don't care if you have to take over doing it all. You have brought up stuff that I have never heard anyone else talk about. You are really painting all the scenery of what went on from the moment the conspirators began being arrested until their fates were sealed.

Thanks for the compliment Laurie. Barry and I would like to get this thing done too. It's killing him not being able to be more active right now. When he gets chances to take a break, we'll talk and I can hear it in his voice that he wants to discuss photos and angles and investigative reasoning behind things. But...duty calls and so do the bills. We'll keep plugging away.

[Loomings]

Laurie, the ratings system is complicated (as though assassination research isn't). I don't pretend to understand it either.

The important fact is the 3.4 million viewers -- an all time record buster for the network. That's a big deal in TV.

ALSO, this term, "factual drama" which might just be what we've invented. The term seems to be in use in England (BBC) but not so much in this country. It seems that Howard Owens might've co-opted it to define our new paradigm, and I'm terribly pleased.

As per Cox...my notion is that by the early hours of April 16 (1:00 AM) it's been roughly 26 hours since testimony in the Petersen House has fingered Booth. And Mudd's visit to Bryantown (per your brilliant post). And the Ebola-like speed with which news could spread via the Confederate underground. All of this leads to Cox's surmise.

[jonathan]

(02-18-2013 09:10 PM)Loomings Wrote:  ALSO, this term, "factual drama" which might just be what we've invented. The term seems to be in use in England (BBC) but not so much in this country. It seems that Howard Owens might've co-opted it to define our new paradigm, and I'm terribly pleased.

Hopefully what you've done is remind the tv show making crowd that something doesn't have to be completely Hollywooded up to be successful. With sooo many bad shows on TV (I'm giving you the stink-eye, "reality" tv), it sometimes seems like they've just forgotten that there are plenty of intelligent TV watching people out here who would love to see more of this kind of thing. It's gotten to the point where even shows on the so-called educational channels can't be trusted much of the time. As I said somewhere else on this website, any historical event worth making a movie or tv show about, or writing a book about, is almost certainly interesting enough on it's own. It's just a question of whether film makers/writers want to put in the effort to get the facts right and entertain at the same time. That's what you've done, and I hope it sets a precedent that leads to more of the same. I accept that there will always be plenty of garbage on TV, and that's okay too. But there's plenty of room, and an audience, for this kind of production also.

[Loomings]

Jonathan --

That was the whole point. I deeply appreciate your post. It means the world to me.

[asobbingfilm]

Onr thing I really liked in hidsight was how little if any of the other cosprirators faces we saw. (I believe GA was in shadow) and if I recall we didnt really see their faces. Very effective as it made the rest a clear extention of Booth.