The Prisoner of Shark Island

Last updated
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Prisonerofsharkisland.jpg
film poster by Joseph A. Maturo
Directed by John Ford
Written by Nunnally Johnson
Produced byNunnally Johnson
Darryl F. Zanuck
Starring Warner Baxter
Gloria Stuart
Frank McGlynn
Francis McDonald
Cinematography Bert Glennon
Edited by Jack Murray
Music by R.H. Bassett
Hugo Friedhofer
Production
company
Twentieth Century Fox
Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox
Release date
  • February 28, 1936 (1936-02-28)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Prisoner of Shark Island is a 1936 American drama film that presents a highly whitewashed and fictionalized life of Maryland physician Samuel Mudd, who treated the injured presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth and later spent time in prison after his unanimous conviction for being one of Booth's accomplices. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, was directed by John Ford and starred Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart.

Contents

The film portrays Dr. Mudd as an innocent man, while the historical record shows Mudd sheltered Booth and another conspirator in the Lincoln Assassination, David Herold, and assisted them in their flight from Washington after learning Booth had assassinated President Lincoln, making Mudd an accomplice after the fact. Dr. Mudd had been part of an earlier conspiracy to kidnap President Lincoln and exchange him for Confederate prisoners, which constitutes treason.

Twentieth Century Pictures, before it merged with Fox, purchased the rights to the book The Life of Dr. Mudd by Nettie Mudd Monroe, the doctor's daughter. The film's credits, however, make no reference to Monroe or her book. Modern sources state that Darryl F. Zanuck, Twentieth Century's vice-president in charge of production, got the idea to make the film after he read an article in Time magazine about the prison camp for political prisoners on the Dry Tortugas island. [1]

Plot

A few hours after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln (Frank McGlynn Sr.), Dr. Samuel Mudd (Warner Baxter) gives treatment to a man with a broken leg who shows up at his door. In the movie, Mudd does not know that the president has been assassinated, and also does not know the man he is treating is Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. But the historical record shows that Mudd had met Booth at least twice before and Booth had actually stayed at Mudd's Maryland farmhouse a few months before the assassination. In the movie, Mudd splints the broken leg and receives a banknote as payment, only later realizing that it is a $50 bill.

But the historical record shows Booth did not ride off - Mudd provided shelter to Booth and Herold until the following night, in the hopes darkness would hide their flight, and gave them directions to a Confederate safe house. During his stay, Booth told Mudd that he had assassinated President Lincoln. Mudd twice confessed that Booth had told him what he had done, and twice Mudd recanted his confession. After his death Mudd's widow acknowledged Booth had told her husband about the assassination and that Booth and her husband had a big fight, not about the assassination, but about why Booth showed on his doorstep. None of that is in "The Prisoner of Shark Island." In the movie, Mudd expresses his admiration for President Lincoln. Witnesses at his trial testified Mudd frequently expressed his hatred for Lincoln.

Mudd is soon afterward arrested for being an accessory in the assassination, is convicted, and is then sent to Arcadia, a prison on the Dry Tortugas that is referred to in the film as "America's own Devil's Island". In the movie, Mudd makes a dramatic speech at his trial that shames the members of the military tribunal. There was no such speech. Mudd had very good legal counsel at his trial; years later his lawyer stated "Dr. Mudd's defense was greatly complicated by his many prevarications."

In the movie, Mudd's wife hatches an escape plan using "Buck", the black prison guard who tends to Mudd. Mudd escapes his cell, hears Sgt. Rankin's instruction to kill him on sight, and gets to the prison's outer wall above the shark-infested moat before an alarm is sounded. Mudd then swims to a waiting boat where his wife and her father (Mr. Holt) help him. However, Sgt. Rankin boards the boat, recaptures Mudd and returns him to the prison, where he is confined to a windowless, underground cell along with "Buck".

The island was later in the grip of a yellow fever epidemic, with the official prison doctor having fallen ill with the same fever. The Commandant has few options and places Mudd in charge of addressing the outbreak. Now with the cooperation of the soldier guards, Mudd introduces ventilation into the hospital ward by smashing the windows and letting in a storm which relieves the men's suffering by cooling the air and “blowing all the mosquitoes away.” (The references to the mosquitoes speaks to most, if not all, of the film 's audience, who would know that yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes.) The yellow fever epidemic subsides and Mudd ironically saves the life of Sgt. Rankin, but not before Mudd also catches the fever. The soldiers sign a petition to have Mudd pardoned and he is ultimately released.

Cast

Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart in The Prisoner of Shark Island Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart 1936.png
Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart in The Prisoner of Shark Island

Critical response

A contemporary review by Frank Nugent in The New York Times reported that the film presents Mudd's story "with commendable directness," noting "Warner Baxter's entirely convincing portrayal of Dr. Mudd" but also claiming that the film "is scarcely more than a well-fabricated edition of the Dreyfus-Devil's Island series that has become part of the screen's tradition." [2] Variety reported that "Warner Baxter [...] turns in a capital performance as the titular prisoner of ‘America’s Devil’s Island’", and described the casting as "tiptop", with "John Carradine stand[ing] out as a new face among especially sinister heavies." [3] Writing in Turner Classic Movies, critic Jeremy Arnold described the film as a "highly entertaining, fast-moving film with endlessly fascinating subject matter," being "one of director John Ford's less-talked-about pictures" and noting that "John Carradine [...] is deliciously evil and nasty in one of the most memorable performances of his career [and] Warner Baxter as Mudd gives perhaps THE best performance of his own career." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wilkes Booth</span> American stage actor and assassin (1838–1865)

John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth theatrical family from Maryland, he was a noted actor who was also a Confederate sympathizer; denouncing President Lincoln, he lamented the then-recent abolition of slavery in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Mudd</span> American physician implicated in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Samuel Alexander Mudd Sr. was an American physician who was imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth concerning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Surratt</span> American boarding house owner convicted as a conspirator to murder (1823–1865)

Mary Elizabeth Surratt was an American boarding house owner in Washington, D.C., who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy which led to the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Sentenced to death, she was hanged and became the first woman executed by the U.S. federal government. She maintained her innocence until her death, and the case against her was and remains controversial. Surratt was the mother of John Surratt, who was later tried in the conspiracy, but was not convicted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Herold</span> Accomplice of John Wilkes Booth (1842–1865)

David Edgar Herold was an American pharmacist's assistant and accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After the shooting, Herold accompanied Booth to the home of Samuel Mudd, who set Booth's injured leg. The two men then continued their escape through Maryland and into Virginia, and Herold remained with Booth until the authorities cornered them in a barn. Herold surrendered, but Booth was shot to death by Sergeant Boston Corbett. Herold was tried by a military tribunal, sentenced to death for conspiracy, and hanged with three other conspirators at the Washington Arsenal, now known as Fort Lesley J. McNair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Atzerodt</span> American assassin (1835–1865)

George Andrew Atzerodt was a German American repairman, Confederate sympathizer, and conspirator in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He was assigned to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson, but lost his nerve and made no attempt. Atzerodt was tried by a military tribunal, sentenced to death for conspiracy, and hanged along with three other conspirators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Holt</span> American politician

Joseph Holt was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. As a leading member of the Buchanan administration, he succeeded in convincing Buchanan to oppose the secession of the South. He returned to Kentucky and successfully battled the secessionist element thereby helping to keep Kentucky in the Union. President Abraham Lincoln appointed him the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army. He served as Lincoln's chief arbiter and enforcer of military law, and supporter of emancipation. His most famous roles came in the Lincoln assassination trials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis Powell (conspirator)</span> American soldier and conspirator (1844–1865)

Lewis Thornton Powell was an American Confederate soldier who attempted to assassinate William Henry Seward as part of the Lincoln assassination plot. Wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, he later served in Mosby's Rangers before working with the Confederate Secret Service in Maryland. John Wilkes Booth recruited him into a plot to kidnap Lincoln and turn the president over to the Confederacy, but then decided to assassinate Lincoln, Seward, and Vice President Andrew Johnson instead, and assigned Powell the task to kill Seward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Halpin</span> American actor

Luke Austin Halpin is a former American actor, stuntman, marine coordinator, diver and pilot. He became a child actor at the age of eight and is widely known for his role as Sandy Ricks in the feature films Flipper and Flipper's New Adventure, as well as for reprising his role for the NBC television series adaptation, Flipper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Carradine filmography</span>

This is a list of John Carradine's hundreds of theatrical films. Television appearances and television movies are not included.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Abraham Lincoln</span> 1865 murder in Washington, D.C., US

On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play, Lincoln died of his wounds the following day at 7:22 am in the Petersen House opposite the theater. He was the first U.S. president to be assassinated. His funeral and burial were marked by an extended period of national mourning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael O'Laughlen</span> Conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Michael O'Laughlen, Jr. was an American Confederate soldier and conspirator in John Wilkes Booth's plot to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, and later in the latter's assassination, although he ended up not directly participating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Spangler</span> Stagehand at Fords Theatre

Edman "Ned" Spangler, baptized Edmund Spangler, was an American carpenter and stagehand who was employed at Ford's Theatre at the time of President Abraham Lincoln's murder on April 14, 1865. He and seven others were charged in conspiring to assassinate Lincoln and three other high level government officials. Spangler was the only one found not guilty of the conspiracy charge. Even so, he was found guilty of helping Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, escape and sentenced to six years of hard labor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Arnold (conspirator)</span> Lincoln conspirator (1834–1906)

Samuel Bland Arnold was an American Confederate sympathizer involved in a plot to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. He had joined the Confederate Army shortly after the start of the Civil War but was discharged for health reasons in 1864.

<i>The Day Lincoln Was Shot</i> 1998 American TV series or program

The Day Lincoln Was Shot is a 1998 American television film based on the book by Jim Bishop. It is a re-creation of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, co-written and directed by John Gray, and stars Lance Henriksen as Abraham Lincoln and Rob Morrow as John Wilkes Booth.

John Minchin Lloyd was a bricklayer and police officer in Washington, D.C., in the United States. He was one of the first police officers hired by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia when its Day Watch was first formed in 1855. He played a role in the trial of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination. Arrested but never charged in the conspiracy, Lloyd's testimony was critical in convicting Mary Surratt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank McGlynn Sr.</span> American actor

Frank McGlynn Sr. was an American stage and screen actor who, in a career that spanned more than half a century, is best known for his convincing impersonations and performances as Abraham Lincoln in both plays and films.

<i>Devils Island</i> (1939 film) 1939 film

Devil's Island is a 1939 American prison film directed by William Clemens and starring Boris Karloff. This film is notable for Karloff in a then-rare sympathetic role, as opposed to his usual antagonistic characters in horror films. The plot appears to have been recycled from John Ford's The Prisoner of Shark Island, which depicted the true story of doctor Samuel Mudd, who treated the injury of John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Lincoln.

<i>The Conspirator</i> 2010 American historical drama film by Robert Redford

The Conspirator is a 2010 American mystery historical drama film directed by Robert Redford and based on an original screenplay by James D. Solomon. It is the debut film of the American Film Company. The film tells the story of Mary Surratt, the only female conspirator charged in the Abraham Lincoln assassination and the first woman to be executed by the US federal government. It stars Robin Wright as Mary Surratt, together with James McAvoy, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Jonathan Groff, Tom Wilkinson, Alexis Bledel, Kevin Kline, John Cullum, Toby Kebbell, and James Badge Dale.

<i>Manhunt</i> (miniseries) American historical conspiracy thriller miniseries

Manhunt is an American historical drama miniseries created by showrunner Monica Beletsky, adapted from James L. Swanson's book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. The series follows Edwin Stanton's search for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Directed by Carl Franklin and starring Tobias Menzies, the series was produced for Apple TV+, and released on March 15, 2024.

<i>The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd</i> 1980 film by Paul Wendkos

The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd is a 1980 historical drama film directed by Paul Wendkos. Based on a true story, it revolves around the 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Dennis Weaver plays the lead role of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, who was imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the killing.

References

  1. "Home".
  2. Nugent, Frank (1936-02-13). "' The Prisoner of Shark Island,' at the Center -- 'Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk,' at the Astor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
  3. "The Prisoner of Shark Island". Variety. Variety Media LLC. 1935-12-31. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
  4. Arnold, Jeremy. "The Prisoner of Shark Island". Turner Classic Movies. Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved 2023-03-08.

Further reading