For all you American presidential history nerds out there, I’m sure you have some awareness ofthe Lincoln-Kennedy Coincidences. Ranging from the number of letters in their names to the details of their assassinations, the laundry list of coincidental similarities between the personal and political histories ofAbraham LincolnandJohn F. Kennedyis one of the strangestMatrix glitchesin history, and it somehow extended into Hollywood. In 1951, before John F. Kennedy was even a notable politician, a thriller calledThe Tall Targetdared to ask,“what if Abraham Lincoln was saved from assassination by a guy named… John Kennedy?“There isn’t a punchline coming, I swear.
What Is ‘The Tall Target’ About?
For context, this film isn’t a revisionist history aboutLincoln’s actual murder at the hands of John Wilkes Booth, but is about a completely different assassination attempt that allegedly almost happened. In the movie, Lincoln had just been elected President in 1861, and he was on a train ride from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. on the way to his inauguration. Police sergeant John Kennedy (Dick Powell), who has a history of bodyguarding Lincoln during his campaign, has inside knowledge thatan assassin is hiding on the train and plans on shooting Lincoln before he arrives in Washington.
He must become an amateur detective, as he is entrusted toan Agatha Christie-style mysterywhere anybody on the train could be the plotting assassin in hiding. As with all good detective stories, he’ll have to snoop on people in plain sight, rubbing shoulders with many potential suspects, be they unsavory and shady or seemingly genteel and friendly. What follows is a film that can’t be called anything more than satisfying. With competent direction fromWestern maverickAnthony Mann, the film succeeds off the back of a couple of choice scenes and the truly unintended hilarious novelty of the Lincoln-Kennedy connection.
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Are you watching, Mr. President?
Yes, the idea of a man named John Kennedy saving Abraham Lincoln from assassination is pretty weird. It honestly sounds likeaTwilight Zoneepisode, where a younger Kennedy has time traveled to save Lincoln in some ironic twist of fate in which two kindred slain souls look out for each other. Unfortunately,it’s a funny concept that doesn’t fit in a film that’s fairly gravein its positioning as a serious reckoning with the insidious danger of Confederate ideology and the awesome hold that Lincoln’s power held over the nation. Even though the Kennedy family was already well-known as an American dynasty bythe early 1950s, nobody involved inThe Tall Targetseemingly stopped to ask if they should at least make sure their protagonist’s first name wasn’t the same as a certain golden child. Nevertheless, the unspoken poetic irony of the shared memory of these two titans of American history does suffuse certain scenes with an undeniable power.
The Film Honors the Special Place Lincoln and Kennedy Hold in History
If there’s any reason to see this film, it’s for the developing rapport between Kennedy and Rachel (Ruby Dee), a young slave who’s traveling with a pair of Confederate-sympathizing siblings. At this point,Dee was still on the rise as a relatively unknown actress, and she all but steals every scene as a womanwho silently suffers under the thumbs of her oppressors and gradually warms up to Kennedy as somebody who’s effectively on the right side of history. This builds up to the best scene in the film: when Rachel tells him important info that could help him catch the assassin. In return, out of gratitude, Kennedy describes what it was like to be in Lincoln’s presence for 48 hours, helping shelter him from the rapturous crowds and sneak out through the back of buildings to safety. Dick Powell sellshow precious it was to be able to see Lincoln in his own element and see him for the authentic man he was(even though Kennedy isn’tan abolitionist), while Dee is luminous in the way she silently bows in respect and appreciation for what he’s shared.
Despite this film being made long before the real John Kennedy was ever shot,there’s a potent subtext speaking to the tragic connection between him and Abraham Lincoln— a twisted brotherhood between two men who ascended to the levels of martyrs for core struggles in the fabric of America. In a way, for a film that’s ultimately a compact and effective thriller,The Tall Targetspeaks to the mythological aura of two figures who transcended beyond politics into the realm of American folk tales, seeking to guide this country into a brighter future in spite of the attempts to end their legacies.
