[3][4] Produced by Warner Bros. and directed by William C. McGann, the 21-minute Technicolor film stars Frank McGlynn Sr., a veteran actor who since 1915 had specialized in impersonating Lincoln on both stage and screen.

[5] "...here is a picture that is not only an honor but a duty for every theater to show...." The film begins with Lincoln (Frank McGlynn Sr.) delivering part of his presidential inaugural speech in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 1861.

That scene transitions to July 1863, to Lincoln's cabinet members bickering about the president's war strategy, when news arrives of the Union army's victory at Gettysburg.

[7] The next day at the ceremony, as celebrated orator Edward Everett (Gordon Hart) concludes his two-hour speech, Lincoln receives a telegram from Mary informing him that Tad is "much improved", news that noticeably relieves the president.

At the end of his brief but historic address, the image of Lincoln's face fades out, gradually replaced by an American flag fluttering in the wind and accompanied musically by a rousing excerpt from the "Battle Hymn of the Republic".

[11] Kalmus therefore worked closely with Milo Anderson in selecting costumes and with Charles Novi, the short's art director, in choosing rugs, curtains, upholsteries, and other set furnishings deemed acceptable to her in both color and tone.

[15] The Film Daily and other film-industry publications announced in early January that such a premiere would be held in New York City on Lincoln's birthday, the day before the general release.

When comparing the print media's coverage of feature films and shorts, rarely did newspapers, trade papers, and fan magazines in the 1930s devote equal attention and column space to reviewing the latter.

[6][9] Abel Green, editor for the influential New York-based trade paper Variety, published his lengthy reaction to the short after attending a preview the week of January 12.

It reads in part:...A corking cast, canny pacing and ultra production re-creates a cross-section of Lincolniana that's surefire in American theatres, and certain to command respect and attention before any English-speaking audience.