I'm glad you mentioned that particular line. It perfectly summarized everything that was bad about Eagles' 'performance.'
Why exactly did he say it? Taken in print, out of context, one might naturally assume that he was responding to something Lincoln had said.
Hearing (and seeing it) spoken in the film, however, one is presented with a painfully static wide shot and Eagles blankly reciting his radio-drama lines like a dull-witted schoolboy declaiming from some presumably off-screen blackboard.
As he recites, he never once looks at Lincoln and similarly, Lincoln never moves a muscle.
Consequently, when Eagles gets to the floridly purple prose about his "boyhood chum," neither character interacts with the other and so it is all the more jarring when the deserter 'reacts' and 'responds' to a question which has neither been asked or implied.
It's a truly painful scene to watch, not just because the so-called performance is so astonishingly bad (even for the period) but because what could have been an especially powerful scene is gutted and left impotent.
A similarly poor script (worse, even, in some respects) is that of Dracula which would come out the following year. It started life as a very poorly-written stage play and watered down even further for its screen adaptation. However, we are given the rare opportunity, through the two simultaneous versions filmed -the English- and Spanish-language casts- to see how good acting can elevate even a poor script.
"If you don't know the answer -change the question."
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marbleann
11 years ago
Acting back in the early days of the talkies is much different then it is now. A lot of the actors come right from the stage so they look overly exaggerated. The writing has a lot to do with the acting too. They write like they were writing for the stage. I would not call it bad acting, but different. Walter Houston one of the best actor ever even looks stilted, but after a few films he was much better.
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bok602
11 years ago
I must disagree to an extent.
Houston's performance in this film does indeed come across as a bit artificial, but at the same time, the script makes the character out to be something of a plaster saint, so there really wasn't much room for Houston's talent as an actor to show.
Despite this, I still feel as though it is one of the more "human" portrayals of Lincoln. I especially liked the business of Lincoln walking barefoot at midnight in the White House; kicking back on an upturned chair to take a nap and even the almost simple-minded expression of delight he takes in the play just before he is shot.
Notice also the scene with General Lee. A devastatingly heartfelt performance. Certainly the single best scene in the film. The old man's desolation, grief and agony are heart-rending.
And then you get Eagles' and his "No, no, sir. Not alive."
"If you don't know the answer -change the question."
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