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Customer Reviews of The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (Broadway Theatre Archive)

"I live from dream to dream--it is NOT better than death."
Written by James Prideaux and directed by George Schaeffer, this adaptation of the play for which Julie Harris won the Tony Award in 1973, is a stunning example of great theater commissioned for television. Seemingly without friends or allies after the death of Abraham Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln (Julie Harris) is at odds with the world. Her sister and southern relatives have always believed Lincoln beneath her. Congress has refused to reimburse her for installing central heating and indoor plumbing in the White House, and they have refused to approve her pension. The press uses her vituperation to their own advantage, and the fates have taken two of her sons before adulthood. <
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>Julie Harris creates a Mrs. Lincoln who is full of passion and afraid of no one, a woman who is willing to go to any extreme to protect her husband's memory. Bright, often amusing, and very astute, she is also extremely vulnerable, sick with loneliness and worry, and too prideful to bow to politicians. As she moves to Germany, Chicago, St. Augustine, France, Spain, and ultimately back to Springfield, Illinois, always trying to find peace, her lack of contact with reality becomes obvious, though her commitment to her husband's memory never waivers. <
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>A very young Robbie Benson as Tad elicits great sympathy as he tries to help his mother while dying of tuberculosis. Michael Christofer as Robert Todd Lincoln, the scapegoat for his mother's rage, maintains his patient firmness with her but reflects the enormous difficulties of dealing with a self-destructive parent. Denver Pyle as a frustrated Senator Austin locks horns with Mary in a couple of dramatic and hot-tempered scenes, revealing his own love of power in holding up her pension. All the supporting players are outstanding, with a young Patrick Duffy, as her grand-nephew Lewis, a particularly charming addition. <
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>The production belongs to Julie Harris, as Mrs. Lincoln, however. Nominated for an Emmy for this production, she portrays Mrs. Lincoln as a woman full of maddening contradictions, alternating between anger toward Congress and solicitude toward her sick son, between good-hearted protectiveness and a need to dominate, and between independence and complete helplessness. Her range of emotion makes Mary Lincoln live and breathe, and even when Mary is in the grip of her demons, Julie Harris continues to present her as a sympathetic character. A fascinating psychological study of a much-maligned First Lady, this production was a great moment in public television, fortunately preserved. Mary Whipple <
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I Saw The Final Performance of "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln"
I was fortunate to be in the audience for the final performance of Miss Julie Harris in "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" on Broadway. When the curtain came down and the thuderous applause began, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

What can one say about Julie Harris's incredible performance? The entire cast was wonderful, of course, but we're talking about one of the First Ladies of the American Theatre here. My heart broke (along with everyone in the audience) when Mrs. Lincoln wrote (aloud) a letter to her beloved nephew. I tried desperately NOT to shed tears, but the floodgates were shattered all over the theatre. People were sobbing openly. I had seen nothing else that season, but was convinced that Julie would win the Tony Award for best actress. She did.

Screams of "bravo!" greeted Miss Harris as she took bow after bow. I must put this performance along side Geraldine Page in "The Trip to Bountiful," Uta Hagen in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff," Cecily Tyson in "A Woman Called Moses," Jessica Tandy in "The Gin Game," Bette Davis in "All About Eve," and Gloria Foster in "A Hand is On The Gate."

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THE UNFORGETTABLE JULIE HARRIS
I HAVE ALWAYS REGRETTED NOT SEEING MISS HARRIS ON BROADWAY IN THIS PRODUCTION. THE DVD WHICH I RECENTLY PURCHASED REMINDED ME HOW FORTUNATE THE WORLD OF THEATRE IS TO HAVE PRODUCED SUCH AN INCREDIBLE ACTRESS. THE PERORMANCES THROUGHOUT THIS PRODUCTION ARE OUTSTANDING AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS FOR ANYONE WHO TRULY APPRECIATES THEATRE AT ITS VERY BEST. AS ALWAYS, MISS HARRIS GIVES A PERFORMANCE WHICH COMPLETELY CAPTIVATES THE VIEWER. THIS IS NOT TO BE MISSED!