The Hunt for Lincoln's Assassin, National Geographic Channel, 50 minutes, $19.95, 2008. DVD format.Thin Soup. The National Geographic Channel didn't try hard enough on this one. The talking heads, reputable scholars each, are given very short (six to ten second)sound clips. During their fragments, the experts come off sounding smarter than the script that is read by an actor who often slips slips into/out of Dixie and New York City dialects.
On the upside Booth's diary is featured and some black and white photographs are colorized quite well. Everton J. Conger is given a place in history but is given a superficial treatment. On the downside John Wilkes Booth has mustache issues. Maps of the route are few and without detail. Five Union cavalrymen were filmed in daylight, dawn, twilight and nighttime riding through woods, over open roads, and across pastures. The riders seem to have more time in the film as the experts.
Suitable for middle school classrooms The Hunt for Lincoln's Assassin offers little to anyone who has read a book on the assassination.
