Ward Hill Lamon (Lea Coco, right) tries to cheer his melancholy friend, President Lincoln (Tom Amandes) with a song in “Saving LIncoln.” ©Saving Lincoln, LLC.

By ANGELA DAWSON

Front Row Features

HOLLYWOOD—Even back in the 1860s, presidents needed protection. “Saving Lincoln” is the story of America’s 16th president as told from the point of view of his bodyguard and close friend Ward Hill Lamon (Lea Coco). Released theatrically earlier this year, the drama directed by Salvador Litvak and co-written with Nina Davidovich, which is based on a true story, is available Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray.

“Saving Lincoln” uses a new filmmaking technique—CineCollage, which makes use of actual Civil War photos (from the Library of Congress) for the green screen backdrops in every scene. Coco stars alongside Tom Amandes, who plays Lincoln, his friend and leader.

When the president survives an assassination attempt on his way to Washington in 1861, banjo-playing, pistol-wielding Lamon appoints himself Lincoln’s bodyguard. (There was no Secret Service back then.) From then on, Lamon is a witness to history as the Commander-in-Chief deals with the nation’s most serious crisis since its founding less than 100 years earlier.

The DVD and Blu-ray contains a number of bonus features including behind-the-scenes videos, an audio commentary by the writers and director, an interactive Civil War photo gallery, the making of a CineCollage Film, the theatrical trailer and more. Alongside Coco and Amandes, the film stars Bruce Davison and Penelope Ann Miller as Mary Todd Lincoln.