AllMovie

Director Salvador Litvak uses actual Civil War photographs from the Library of Congress as the backdrops for this innovative historical drama detailing the relationship between President Abraham Lincoln (Tom Amandes) and his loyal bodyguard, U.S. Marshall Ward Hill Lamon (Lea Coco). Upon taking his oath of office, Lincoln invites his trusted former law partner Lamon to join him in Washington. Large in frame, good humored, and a deadeye shot, Lamon assumes the role of the president's bodyguard following a failed assassination attempt in 1861. Over the course of the next four tumultuous years, Lamon protects the president with a watchful eye, saving him on numerous occasions and providing companionship in Lincoln's darkest hours. Later, during that fateful night at Ford's Theater, Lamon is away on assignment with direct orders from the president. As word of the president's murder begins spreading across the nation, it's Lincoln's longtime ally and protector who helps to frame the tragic event in a hopeful new context. Penelope Ann Miller, Bruce Davison, and Creed Bratton co-star.