The way Huston becomes more like the Lincoln of myth scene-by-scene is interesting, and there's some nice moments (including a dance scene that found its way into Young Mr. Lincoln), but the lack of any real perspective makes it all pretty dry. Griffith's protege John Ford would take the same framework and flesh it into a stone-cold masterpiece, making this merely a curiosity like Allan Dwan's Frontier Marshall.

A dry and stiff affair that only rarely comes alive. Huston truly looked the part though.

Griffith has a little trouble with the new medium of sound, but there is something about the dignity of Huston's performance and the honest traditional reverence of Griffith's presentation that makes this film very moving.