A footnote in the history of Abraham Lincoln’s ascension to the presidency of the United States is fictionalized in The Tall Target (1951), a dandy little thriller.
Dick Powell portrays detective John Kennedy (yes, yet another interesting Lincoln-Kennedy connection) who is convinced that an attempt is to be made on the life of Lincoln as he travels to his inauguration in 1861. His superiors don’t believe him, so he resigns from the police force and boards the train that is to carry Lincoln through Baltimore, thought to be the site of the alleged assassination.
On the train, Kennedy discovers more than enough evidence to persuade him the threat is real, including the murdered body of a contact. Several suspects present themselves and he spends the majority of the train trip either flushing the conspirators into the open or recovering from their attacks upon him.
The film is atmospheric, noirish (occurring mostly at night and inside) and suspenseful. More care might have been taken with consideration to details; elements don’t always add up or make sense, and one of the conspirators is easily identified by an action he takes that is quite unnecessary. My other quibble is that everyone is entirely too civil with each other. This is manifestly evident in a scene where Kennedy escorts a conspirator off the train, only to have the conspirator obtain enough evidence to turn the tables against Kennedy. And Kennedy emits nary a peep.
Quibbles aside, this film is right up my alley. It is fairly accurate in its rendition of Lincoln’s infamous disguised sneak through Baltimore, one which made the incoming president a laughingstock around the country. Participants and elements have been changed, of course, yet the story reflects the essence of what really occurred, while emphasizing Kennedy’s fictional heroics. Historians continue to argue just whether plots against Lincoln were genuine but the film takes a definitive stand. Furthermore, it offers supporting characters played by Florence Bates and Ruby Dee who add nuance and structure to the politics surrounding Lincoln and the threat of civil war. Anthony Mann’s movie is a long-neglected reminder that Hollywood can and occasionally does bring history alive.
My rating: ☆ ☆ ☆. (10:3).