(1939) 4.5 Karl Williams More hagiography than biography, Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) took such outrageous liberties with historical fact that its value as a portrait of the nation's sixteenth president remains questionable. Nevertheless, the performance of Henry Fonda and the assured, fully engaged direction of John Ford placed Young Mr. Lincoln among both men's best work. Indeed, 1939 came to be regarded as Ford's annus mirabilis, the year in which he began his ascent to legend status, directing not only Young Mr. Lincoln but also Drums Along the Mohawk and Stagecoach. It is ironic that Young Mr. Lincoln came to be so well regarded, since neither Ford nor Fonda initially wanted to do the picture. A pair of plays about Lincoln's younger years had just enjoyed success on Broadway, so a reluctant Ford was pressured by Fox producer Darryl F. Zanuck to tackle what was essentially a studio assignment. On reading the script by Lamar Trotti, however, the zealously patriotic Ford became more enthusiastic about the film's all-American subject matter, even persuading a reluctant Fonda to take the lead role. Intimidated by playing such an august historical figure, Fonda at first rejected the part, but he changed his mind during a meeting in which Ford reportedly told the skittish star that he would be playing not "the Great Emancipator" but "a jack-legged lawyer from Springfield, Illinois -- a gawky kid still wet behind the ears who rides a mule because he can't afford a horse." When Ford clashed with Zanuck over the film's slow pace and grew fearful that the studio would ruin his film in post-production, he destroyed the negatives of every take he disliked and did in-camera editing. The studio disappointed Ford anyway, excising a scene in which Lincoln and a young John Wilkes Booth have a friendly encounter. Like that scene, most of Young Mr. Lincoln is pure Hollywood balderdash, resting on only the slimmest tissue of truth. For instance, the real murder trial depicted in the film was based not on one tried by Lincoln but on a real-life courtroom drama witnessed by Trotti, who had covered it as a reporter. Though it was not in any way an authoritative view of its subject, Young Mr. Lincoln was a masterpiece of cinema, showcasing a writer, director, and star at the top of their games. In a supreme irony, Young Mr. Lincoln was a major inspiration for master Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein in the creation of his propagandistic classic, Ivan the Terrible (1944).

Young Mr. Lincoln on AllMovie

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

Young Mr. Lincoln

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Suitable for Children

genres

Historical Film

sub-genres

category

Feature

directed by

John Ford

countries

USA

released

1939

run time

100 min.

produced by

20th Century Fox, Cosmopolitan Productions

released by

20th Century Fox

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Young Mr. Lincoln

Young Mr. Lincoln

Young Mr. Lincoln

Young Mr. Lincoln

by Linda Rasmussen synopsis

John Ford's fine direction distinguishes this highly fictionalized account of the early life of Abraham Lincoln. The film shows Lincoln (Henry Fonda) as he rises from a country boy born in a log cabin to a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois defending two young men unjustly accused of murder. The film, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, received an Academy Award nomination for "Best Original Screenplay" for its screenwriter Lamar Trotti. Henry Fonda perhaps the most American of actors, is at his best playing Lincoln as the quintessential, compassionate American hero.

characteristics

- High Artistic Quality

- Righting The Wronged

- Miscarriage Of Justice

- Triumph Of The Spirit

- Social Injustice

- Historian

- President

- Presidency

- Lawyer

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MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

SOCIAL INJUSTICE