NF The Conspirator

Non-Fiction

Rusk County Avengers

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Muster Stunt Master Stones River / Franklin 2022
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As I type this review of sorts for the movie, I literally just finished watching the movie for the first time and I must say I really liked it.

When the movie came out, I didn't watch it, nor even made an attempt to watch it. Now I think I really should have because as someone who loves courtroom dramas, combined with my love of the CW era this movie takes the cake for me! I never watched it before because I read bad reviews from several sources, the one that made me not watch it I think being in either Civil War Times, or America's Civil War I can't remember which.

Whichever it was, it painted the movie as a Lost Cause film and an allegory to 9/11 in modern times both descriptions I now feel were unwarranted. Throughout the movie I got the feeling of a Lost Cause type film a little here and there, but I think the true motivation of the film comes out right before the Conspirators hang, when the Prosecutor tells the main character "Inter arma, silent legas" (sure I misspelled that, Latin spelling and pronunciation has never been a strong suit of mine also I always heard and read it as "inter arma einim silent legas") and old Roman quote commonly translated as "In times of war the law falls silent" the main character and defense of Mary Surrat, Frederick Aiken, replies "It shouldn't." which I feel from watching the movie is its core message, not some Lost Cause drivel as I had previously been led to believe.

I won't lie, I'm not the most well read on the trial and aftermath of the Lincoln Assassination, but looking at the extremely well done costuming and although I bet filmed in Charleston, S.C., the locations were extremely were well done and to me it genuinely felt like 1865 Washington DC at several points. There were some mistakes clothing wise here and there, especially in Union uniforms (the most annoying was one of the conspirators wearing a farby/incorrect Confederate vest found on sutler row nowadays, never on one of them or back then period) but my discriminatory self in that department was able to look past it with a smile. I was pleased to see the Union's Veteran Reserve Corps/Invalid Corps portrayed. Small story elements I think were historically off, one important I think overlooked is that Aiken is said to have been Confederate sympathizer before he enlisted in the Union Army, but I can see why they omitted that story wise, even though I don't agree with it.

Also, as someone who admittingly does not look back favorably on Edwin Stanton, I absolutely love the portrayal of him!!!!! Even if pretty off in some areas.

I think the most important attribute of this movie is has inspired me to learn more about the trial, I've never had this inclination before. To me Booth shot Lincoln, his buddies mucked their jobs up, Stanton went of a Constitution rip up spree, and a crazy man shot Booth paralyzing him and his last words being "Useless, useless..." on his birthday with a Colonel Baker accusing Stanton of organizing the whole assassination a couple years later before he mysteriously died, end of story to me. Now thanks to this movie, I find my curiosity to learn more very much piqued on this subject.

I wonder what everyone else's thoughts are. Also anyone know good books on the subject?
 
Eh, I'm a uniform nerd I can't help but nitpick. There are many other more knowledgeable than me, but I still strive for excellence.
 
The movie is free on YouTube with ads:


As a historian I did not like the movie that much because it had several major inaccuracies. It attempts to portray Mary Surratt as a much more sympathetic character than she really was. For example, when Lewis Powell arrived at her boardinghouse the movie made it seem like the place was dimly lit and that is why she lied to the detective when she claimed that she never saw Powell. In reality Powell was standing beneath a bright light when the detective asked Mary Surratt if she ever met Powell. In this instance Mary Surratt almost certainly lied to the detective. It was really disingenuous for Frederick Aiken to claim that she accidently said that she never met Powell before because it was dark outside and she had poor eyesight. She also lied to detectives about her son's trips to Canada. These were not enough to prove that Mary Surratt was guilty, but it raised a lot of suspicions.

Another thing I dislike about the movie is that it unfairly attacked Louis Weichmann. I read his memoirs A True History of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the Conspiracy of 1865:

https://www.amazon.com/History-Assa...Conspiracy/dp/0394493192&tag=civilwartalkc-20

After finishing this book I had much more respect for Weichmann. I feel that the movie turned him into a villain when he was in reality a hero.

I am not yet an expert on the Lincoln assassination so I cannot absolutely state that Mary Surratt did or did not play a role in the plot. Nonetheless, I find it hard to believe that Mary Surratt was an innocent little lady who had absolutely nothing to do with the conspiracy and she was dragged into it by her son and then railroaded by the federal government.

P.S. If you want to read the book the movie was based upon you can find it here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LLICFY/?tag=civilwartalkc-20
 
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I am not yet an expert on the Lincoln assassination so I cannot absolutely state that Mary Surratt did or did not play a role in the plot. Nonetheless, I find it hard to believe that Mary Surratt was an innocent little lady who had absolutely nothing to do with the conspiracy and she was dragged into it by her son and then railroaded by the federal government.

I'm no expert in this topic either, but I've read some arguments that trying her and the other conspirators by a military tribunal made that 'railroading' more of a possibility. The contention is that a conventional civilian trial would have allowed for a stronger defense, but in the wake of the assassination and the end of the war, the Federal government imposed a military tribunal to get a quicker verdict.

Roy B.
 
I watched part of the movie and liked what I saw of the sets, costumes, acting styles etc. I didn't watch the whole movie, though, because the whole "Mary got railroaded" thesis seems rather obvious (to me) and there is no dramatic tension at all because we know exactly how this all came out in the end. Maybe I'll give it another try...
 
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