Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

Gene C · 02-24-2014, 10:22 AM

(02-24-2014 09:08 AM)BettyO Wrote: Booth looked like Snidely Whiplash....

Great!

L Verge · 02-24-2014, 12:05 PM

I was approached last year by the Travel Channel regarding a segment on Historic Hotels. I beat around the bush a bit, and I'm glad that they didn't get back to me, if this is any indication of the quality of their work.

BettyO · (This post was last modified: 02-24-2014 01:20 PM by BettyO.)

I'm glad you didn't Laurie!

I guess "price" is a consideration nowadays in this economy, which is unfortunate. Unless you really care; like the Nat Geo Channel or Spielberg and concerned with "doing it right", it'll only end up as filler fluff - most certainly NOT history. A lot of times these TV/Movie production crews are only concerned with what they perceive as "entertainment" and could care less about the message that they are sending the general public with their "they won't know the difference anyway" philopsophy. This is how bad history myths are born -"Hey, I saw it on TV/the internet so it must be true!" Not! When such things are aired they are really doing the general public a disservice - not only about the history of our nation and it's preservation; but that which will be handed down to future generations. It also does a big disservice to the museum/historic site. I think that in a lot of instances, the site is basically "duped" by these productions, with the facts being given, and then the producers going back out to LA or whereever they are from and filming their misconceptions and fiction out in another area. They then "meld" the two together and what comes out in the final is something that appears to be sanctioned by the historic site, when it actually is not!

OK - off my soapbox.....

Linda Anderson · 02-24-2014, 02:32 PM

Too bad that the Travel Channel didn't show Ms. Chabot telling the real story of what happened that night.

"Billye Chabot, executive director of Seward House Museum, was interviewed for the piece. She said a film crew spent eight hours at the museum in September and interviewed her for four hours on the details of the 'brutal attack'...

"Chabot retells the events of that night based on the diary of Seward's 20-year-old daughter, Fanny, who was by his side during the attack."

http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/in..._sewa.html

BettyO · 02-24-2014, 02:41 PM

Quote: "Chabot retells the events of that night based on the diary of Seward's 20-year-old daughter, Fanny, who was by his side during the attack."

And who is never mentioned, much less seen in the production....

Miss it last night? Tune in for a repeat Thursday night. Would love to hear others thoughts.

MaddieM · (This post was last modified: 02-25-2014 10:35 AM by MaddieM.)

(02-23-2014 05:05 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:
(02-23-2014 03:28 PM)MaddieM Wrote: Are there any photos of the interior of that house from that time?

The photos Betty posted are from the interior of the Washington D.C. house. It looks to me like there is a stair railing on the left side of the top picture. If so, that would mean that the stairs started on the right side of the central hall. The stairs went up half a flight then across a landing to the other side of the hall, then up half a flight to the next floor.

Here is a photo of the exterior of the Seward house in Auburn during the Civil War. The south side was added after 1865.

http://sewardhouse.org/gallery/southeast-before-1866/

This is a gallery of photos of the house after the renovations. I haven't seen any interior photos of the house before 1865 but the Seward House may have some. The spiral staircase was installed after 1865 as well.

http://sewardhouse.org/gallery/

They knew how to build houses in those days!

(02-23-2014 10:54 PM)BettyO Wrote: Just watched the Seward House show...OMG! Who WROTE and researched this?!?

Hearing a knock at the front door, Fred Seward opens it to confront a hatless "mysterious stranger." Powell attacks him in the downstairs vestibule as soon as he opens the door.

Where is Bell?!

Upstairs, Powell leaps onto the bed and stabs Seward. There is no altercation between Robinson and Powell. There is NO Robinson! "Gus Seward" pulls Powell from the bed. He flees.

Where is Fanny? Fred is shown walking around the bedroom holding a cloth to his head.....

Later, Powell is captured in the day time at "a boarding house" (Mrs. Surratt's house? Herndon House?!) while seated at a desk in his room, writing a letter. He is wearing the Navy garb he wore in prison.

Absolutely ghastly....this makes the old Sunn-Schick Lincoln Conspiracy look like something top notch!

One of the worse, if not THE worse thing I've ever seen. Absolutely no historical research was done whatsoever apparently. It was pure fiction; all made up....

Seward House should have known better! They are such a wonderful source and site....this whole thing was an embarrassing fiasco.

I've oft times wondered at why on earth anyone would want to make an historical movie/documentary and be half hearted about the finer details? It really gets my goat when you have high expectations and they can't even get costumes right, never mind the facts. I've not seen this of course, no doubt it'll filter through to the UK any day soon. But I feel your pain.

We had a TV series here in the UK called The Tudors. I love Tudor times and adore anything about this period in English history. But Henry the 8th, a notoriously fat, ginger haired tyrant was played by an actor with black hair and good looks, and all his wives wore lip gloss and mascara.

(02-24-2014 09:08 AM)BettyO Wrote: Mike, you hit the nail square on the head....

Horror movie it sure was....albeit a very, very short one - thank goodness!

You could tell it was done on the short end with NO budget whatsoever! Only thing they got right was Lew Powell's age and he looked somewhat good. Booth looked like Snidely Whiplash....

I had to Google that

BettyO · (This post was last modified: 02-25-2014 01:52 PM by BettyO.)

I agree 100 percent, Maddie!

I don't understand why folk want to film and not get it right! Usually my biggest pet peeve in most period films is the costuming. Not to mention bad horsemanship or using the wrong tack - i.e a western saddle on a Eastern horse.... I can really get picky and my ex used to hate to watch period movies with me. This was just plain bad on all accounts! I was practically screaming at the TV I'm going to attempt to tape this horrid thing on Thursday night - just the Seward segment. Then I'll turn it into a digital video and see if I can send it to you - you MUST see this! It's unbelievably bad....

I, too loved the Tudors and was a bit aghast at the casting. Henry was TOO good looking - and yes, he was not portrayed as a Ginger. Everyone also looked too clean and scrubbed up for the time period.

Snidley Whiplash was a TV cartoon villain when I was a kid.....

Sally · 02-25-2014, 08:25 PM

(02-24-2014 02:41 PM)BettyO Wrote: [quote] Miss it last night? Tune in for a repeat Thursday night. Would love to hear others thoughts.

I am in complete agreement with your assessment. Betty. It was so bad, I was actually laughing. But upon consideration, after it was over, I realized it wasn't funny. There is no reason why they couldn't have been more accurate. Nothing about any part of the Lincoln assassination story needs to be embellished or changed to make it intriguing or horrifying or incredible or dramatic or ________ (fill in your own adjective.) It is all that and more in its true form.

I've watched a couple other episodes of this series and caught several other historical errors. In truth, I wasn't expecting accuracy or depth, so I don't know why it ticked me off so much. I guess the topic is just too near to my heart. All we can hope is that the story piqued the interest of some people and inspired them to further explore the facts. Maybe we'll get another Mike Kaufman or Dave Taylor out of it!