Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year RKO 1940: VIGIL IN THE NIGHT & ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS

Published: Aug. 26, 2022, 5:52 a.m.

This week's studio is RKO, 1940, and we have two great movies:\xa0Vigil in the Night, starring Carole Lombard as a saintly nurse and Anne Shirley as her flawed sister in George Stevens' noirish medical drama; and Abe Lincoln in Illinois, based on Robert E. Sherwood's play, with Raymond Massey reprising his stage role of Abraham Lincoln. We discuss the latter as an anti-fascist film and argue for both films as examples of RKO's particular brand of progressivism, which continues even after the departure of Pandro S. Berman.\xa0

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Time Codes:

0h 01m 00s:\xa0 \xa0\xa0\xa0 VIGIL IN THE NIGHT [dir. George Stevens]

0h 47m 01s:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS [dir. John Cromwell]

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Studio Film Capsules provided by The RKO Story by Richard B. Jewell & Vernon Harbin

Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler

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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s

* Intro Song: \u201cSunday\u201d by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of\xa0The Internet Archive)

* Read Elise\u2019s latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating.

* Check out Dave\u2019s new Robert Benchley blog \u2013 an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist\u2019s 2000+ pieces as he can locate \u2013 Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!\xa0

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