Killing Lincoln - Nat Geo (Reactions)

[L Verge]

I am so happy that the vast majority of the critiques here are positive ones. At this particular moment, I cannot imagine that any other film company in the near future will undertake anything that could surpass this production. In the past, only one comes close, and that was a pure documentary done by Greystone Productions (again, I can't remember the name, but it was about 1990).

As for some of the other comments: I, too, would have liked a little more on Mary Surratt; but I understand that the whole focus was on the assassination and the escape -- and despite what Bill Richter tries to ram down my throat, I do not believe that Booth's escape included a stop at the boardinghouse! (Fear not, Bill and I are good friends - at least we were until I just typed that...)

As for Jesse's portrayal of Booth, again I would cite the few days and hours that are portrayed. By the time that Richmond falls and Lee surrenders, Booth had to be becoming fanatical in his hatred for what his country was becoming. The celebrations in Washington, the Confederates being shuffled through town, and Lincoln's speech on April 11 must have been driving him crazy - and that's how Jesse portrayed him.

Someone else mentioned Booth's leg being tended to on Mudd's settee. I believe I'm correct that Mudd actually tended to the leg upstairs, hence the boot being retrieved later from under the bed. For anyone who has seen the settee, it would appear a very uncomfortable place to have a broken leg set and splinted.

One of the most effective pieces of the film for me was the meshing of Booth's advances on Lincoln with Powell's advances on Seward. I loved the way one scene with one assassin melted into a similar scene with the other assassin.

Two nit-picks - yes, I do it too - The scene of Booth being shot just didn't work for me. First, you were led to believe that he was shot in the heart, and then he falls backwards.

I have always thought that Booth fell forwards. My other complaint would go unnoticed to everyone except old-timers in Southern Maryland. I did find it interesting that Oswell Swann was allowed to have a part in this and a speaking part even. It was nice to realize that he had to have some discourse with the fugitives as he led them over miles of dark roads to Cox's house. So what bugged me? Mr. Swann's skin color!

I appreciated that a lesson was given on what a Wesort is because it is a definite part of Southern Maryland life. Wesorts are tri-racial people tracing their roots first to colonial Virginia and Maryland. The settlers at Jamestown did not have women join them until 1619. During those years, many of the men took Indian women as their common-law wives. Some were shunned and moved elsewhere, while others migrated with their women to more fertile lands. About six of the men ended up in Maryland.

When Father Andrew White came to Maryland with the first Calvert settlers in 1632, he found these couples "living in sin" and forced them to marry within the Catholic Church. Because they were of mixed race, however, their offspring married within the circle of half-whites and half-Indians. Understanding what it was like to be social castoffs, they also harbored escaping slaves, and soon the clan became tri-racial.

Because of the intermarriage, however, they also became some rare examples of genetic inbreeding. To return to my original complaint, Oswell Swann was much too dark to accurately portray a Wesort. I have lived and worked with Wesorts my entire life (they were also known as Wedems when I was young). I had a cousin who worked with Public Health back in the 1950s when the government actually did an extensive study of the group in relation to genetic factors. Wesorts are often whiter than white folk, or they have cafe au lait coloring. I taught students who had the hair of the Negroid race, the coloring of Native Americans, with freckles and blue eyes. Because of the genetics, many also had few, if any, teeth and other unusual characteristics. Many have been excellent students and have gone on to high positions. One is currently a representative for our county in state government, and one is the education coordinator at Surratt House - and is a whiz at programming.

One last thing on Wesorts - I don't believe they were "given" that name in society until the early-1900s. And that's your Southern Maryland history lesson for the day. North Carolinians might associate them with the Melungeons (if I spelled that correctly).