‘The Birth of a Nation’ was among the first film depictions of Lincoln’s assassination.

Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator” is the latest of literally dozens of American films about Abraham Lincoln.

By the time D.W. Griffith treated Lincoln at length in his Reconstruction-era epic “The Birth of a Nation” (1915), the president had been the subject of several one-reelers—the first in 1908 titled “The Reprieve: An Episode in the Life of Abraham Lincoln.” In this silent film by Van Dyke Brooke, Lincoln is shown pardoning a sentry who has violated his duty by falling asleep on his watch. This depiction of Lincoln as a compassionate and benevolent leader would recur in numerous screenplays that followed, including “The Birth of a Nation.” Griffith’s film has Lincoln pardoning the “Little Colonel,” Ben Cameron, a Confederate military officer who led the final charge against Union forces at Petersburg. Captured at battle’s end, Cameron had been sentenced to be hanged as a traitor. Lincoln’s magnanimous attitude toward the fallen South, amidst calls for a more punitive response from the North, highlights Griffith’s dramatic treatment of Lincoln.

This scene of Lincoln’s assassination in “The Birth of a Nation” is historical filmmaking at its best. Using a detailed account of events in Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865—chronicled in Nicolay and Hay’s “Lincoln, A History”—Griffith recreated Lincoln’s assassination with such authentic tailoring that the scene had the essence of documentary. Joseph Henabery had been selected by Griffith to portray Lincoln because of the actor’s uncanny resemblance to the President. So carefully constructed was the assassination scene that the moment of Booth’s gunshot occurred at the exact, accurate moment in the stage production “Our American Cousin.”

With the advent of talking motion pictures, more expansive and nuanced narratives of Lincoln’s life found their way to the screen. From my point of view the two best are John Ford’s “Young Mr. Lincoln” (1939) and John Cromwell’s “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” (1940).

Henry Fonda starred in ‘Young Mr. Lincoln.’

“Young Mr. Lincoln” starred Henry Fonda as the young lawyer in Springfield, Ill.—a man already being shaped by forces that would lead to a greater destiny. Ford’s rendering offered a poetic slice of Americana, and Fonda’s performance, one of his best, captured Lincoln’s heroic persona with subtlety and pathos.

Cromwell’s “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” was adapted for the screen from Robert Sherwood’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, with Raymond Massey repeating his portrayal of Lincoln. The film presented a sweeping biography of Lincoln, from life with his parents as a young Kentuckian up to his election as President. A distinguishing quality of the film was Sherwood’s authentic dialogue, which incorporated Lincoln’s own words in many scenes. The acting is superb: the eloquent Raymond Massey, a spirited Ruth Gordon in her first feature film role as Mary Todd, Gene Lockwood as a brassy Stephen Douglas. A long overdue and excellent DVD of “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” appeared in 2010.

Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator,” released last month on the anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination, examines an intriguing footnote to Lincoln’s murder: the trial of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), a Washington, D.C. boarding-house owner who was charged along with three others as co-conspirators in the assassination.

The film swiftly retraces the Ford Theatre evening of April 14, 1865—using details similar to those of Griffith’s in “Birth of a Nation”—then follows the manhunt for and killing of Booth. “The Conspirator” becomes a full-fledged courtroom drama with some classic elements of the genre. The young lawyer who is assigned to defend Surratt, Frederick Aiken (James McEvoy), is untested in court and up against powerful prosecutorial forces. (Think of Tom Cruise as a young Navy officer in “A Few Good Men” (1992) or Matt Damon as Rudy Baylor in “The Rainmaker” (1997): young lawyers caught up in David-versus-Goliath courtroom battles.)

Raymond Massey starred in ‘Lincoln in Illinois.’

Frederick Aiken’s defense of Mary Surratt begins reluctantly but becomes passionate when he discovers that he’s in the midst of a kangaroo military trial—spearheaded by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline) who wants the accused convicted, hanged and buried “for the good of the nation.” Though unsure of Surratt’s innocence, Aiken grows in determination as he realizes that sacred human rights and the laws of justice are being sacrificed for the sake of revenge. The interaction between Aiken and an uncooperative Surratt makes for psychologically complex and poignant drama. “The Conspirator”‘s ending is shocking and ironic.

I liked “The Conspirator” because I’m a devoted fan of courtroom films, but also because the movie is good history that forces you to ponder what you’ve seen even after you leave the theater.

James Solomon, the screenwriter, used trial transcripts for his treatment of Aiken’s defense efforts and for the historical figures acting as Aiken’s opponents. You can only ask: would Surratt’s fate have been different had there been a civil trial? Why and how did Secretary of War Stanton manage to determine the outcome of the trial? How much did Surratt really know about the conspirators—one of whom was her son John, who remained hidden during the trial? Redford’s film offers an enigmatic take on a little known aspect of Lincoln’s assassination.

A film buff has claimed that more than 200 actors have now played Abraham Lincoln on the screen (Gerald Bestrom plays him in “The Conspirator”), and at least one more is on the way: Daniel Day Lewis is slated to play the president in Steven Spielberg’s “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” adapted from the book by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Sally Field will play Mary Todd Lincoln. It’s another take on Lincoln that I’m looking forward to, given Spielberg’s record for powerful historical filmmaking.

What did you think of “The Conspirator” and other Lincoln-based movies? Whose performance as Lincoln do you think was best? And why are we so interested in the 16th president anyway? Share your thoughts in the comments section.