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Has Young Mr. Lincoln--the first cardinal masterpiece of director John Ford's career, and the finest film of that epochal Hollywood year 1939--been neglected because people fear it's a stodgy history lesson? Even Henry Fonda, drafted to play the title role, was reluctant till Ford testily explained, "This isn't 'The Great Emancipator,' for God's sake--it's a movie about this jackleg lawyer...." And so it is: a small, slow-gathering village tale about a young man whose biggest moments--such as losing the love of his life--occur between scenes, and whose emergence as a historic figure is decades away. Yet the essential Lincoln is being forged in luminous scenes that unfold with the simplicity of fable, only no one knows it's a fable yet. The French title for the movie says it beautifully: Toward His Destiny.
The script, by Lamar Trotti, introduces Lincoln as a frontier storekeeper and drolly inadequate politician. In an early scene, we see Abe receiving his first books of law in a casual transaction with a pioneer family on their way to make a new home in the wilderness. But was it Trotti or the director who decided that this same family should circle back into Abe's life years later for the dramatic heart of the film, a murder trial in which his wit, ingenuity, and bedrock decency shape Lincoln's first public triumph--and that neither Lincoln nor the family recognize they have met before? That's typical of the movie, in which what is most important, most definitive, most valuable, is always outside the frame, out of reach, beyond naming. Even triumph is imbued with a heartbreaking sense of loss.
This transcendently beautiful film was a modest production, without the Pulitzer Prize cachet of Abe Lincoln in Illinois (not a Ford picture) the following year. Fonda, in his first of six collaborations with Ford, is the only marquee name in the cast, though Alice Brady is radiant as the pioneer matriarch (her final performance), and Ford stalwart Ward Bond has a key role. Sergei Eisenstein, no less, wrote a lucid and impassioned appreciation of the film, hailing it as "a movie I would like to have made"--and proved it by stealing a few visual tropes for his own Ivan the Terrible! This is a great, great motion picture, eminently deserving of the Criterion treatment on DVD. --Richard T. Jameson
Product Description
American master director John Ford crafts a fictionalized account of ten years in the life of Abraham Lincoln (magnificently portrayed by Henry Fonda), before he became known to the world
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
1939 is universally accepted as the greatest year in Hollywood history, with more classic films released than in any other, and John Ford directed three of the best, "Stagecoach", "Drums Along the Mohawk", and this beautiful homage to frontier days and a young backwoods lawyer destined to eventually save the Union, "Young Mr. Lincoln".
With the world plunging into a war that America dreaded, but knew it would be drawn into, Abraham Lincoln was much on people's minds, in 1939, as someone who had faced the same dilemma in his own life, and had triumphed. On Broadway, Robert E. Sherwood's award-winning "Abe Lincoln in Illinois", with Raymond Massey's physically dead-on portrayal, was playing to packed houses (it would be filmed in 1940). Carl Sandburg's continuation of his epic biography, "Abraham Lincoln: The War Years", was published, and quickly became a best seller. President Roosevelt frequently referred to Lincoln in speeches, and the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C., became the most popular landmark in town (a fact that Frank Capra made good use of, in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington").
All this was not lost on Darryl F. Zanuck, at 20th Century Fox; as soon as he read Lamar Trotti's screenplay of Lincoln's early days as a lawyer, he designated it a 'prestige' production, and assigned John Ford to direct, and Henry Fonda, to star.
Fonda did NOT want to play Lincoln; he felt he couldn't do justice to the 'Great Emancipator', and feared a bad performance would damage his career. Even a filmed make-up test, in which he was stunned by how much he would resemble Lincoln, wouldn't change his mind. According to Fonda, John Ford, whom he'd never worked with, cussed him out royally, at their first meeting, and explained he wasn't portraying the Lincoln of Legend, but a young "jackanape" country lawyer facing his first murder trial. Humbled, Fonda took the role. (John Ford offered a different scenario of the events, but the outcome was the same!) Obviously, they found a chemistry together that worked, as nearly all of their pairings would produce 'classics'.
Unlike the introverted, melancholia-racked Lincoln of "Abe Lincoln in Illinois", Ford's vision was that of a shy but likable young attorney, who made friends easily, and misses the mother he lost, too young (resulting in a bond with a pioneer mother that becomes a vital part of the story). Injustice riles him, and he speaks 'common sense' to quell violence, interlaced with doses of humor. Both productions play on Lincoln's (undocumented) relationship with Ann Rutledge; in Ford's version, the pair are truly in love, and committed to each other. After her death, Lincoln would frequently visit her grave, to share his life with her 'spirit' (a theme Ford would continue in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon").
A murder trial is the centerpiece of the film, and shows the prodigious talents of the star and director. Fonda deftly portrays Lincoln's inexperience, yet earnest belief in justice tempered with mercy, and Ford emphasizes the gulf between the big-city 'intellectuals' (represented by pompous D.A. Donald Meek, and his slick 'advisor', Stephen Douglas, played by a young Milburn Stone), and the informal, rule-bending country sense of Lincoln. With Ford 'regular' Ward Bond as a key witness, the trial is both unconventional, and riveting.
With the film closing as Lincoln strides away into the stormy distance, and his destiny (dissolving into a view of the statue at the Lincoln Memorial), audiences could take comfort in the film's message that if a cause is just, good would ultimately triumph.
"Young Mr. Lincoln" is a truly remarkable film, from an amazing year!
With the world plunging into a war that America dreaded, but knew it would be drawn into, Abraham Lincoln was much on people's minds, in 1939, as someone who had faced the same dilemma in his own life, and had triumphed. On Broadway, Robert E. Sherwood's award-winning "Abe Lincoln in Illinois", with Raymond Massey's physically dead-on portrayal, was playing to packed houses (it would be filmed in 1940). Carl Sandburg's continuation of his epic biography, "Abraham Lincoln: The War Years", was published, and quickly became a best seller. President Roosevelt frequently referred to Lincoln in speeches, and the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C., became the most popular landmark in town (a fact that Frank Capra made good use of, in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington").
All this was not lost on Darryl F. Zanuck, at 20th Century Fox; as soon as he read Lamar Trotti's screenplay of Lincoln's early days as a lawyer, he designated it a 'prestige' production, and assigned John Ford to direct, and Henry Fonda, to star.
Fonda did NOT want to play Lincoln; he felt he couldn't do justice to the 'Great Emancipator', and feared a bad performance would damage his career. Even a filmed make-up test, in which he was stunned by how much he would resemble Lincoln, wouldn't change his mind. According to Fonda, John Ford, whom he'd never worked with, cussed him out royally, at their first meeting, and explained he wasn't portraying the Lincoln of Legend, but a young "jackanape" country lawyer facing his first murder trial. Humbled, Fonda took the role. (John Ford offered a different scenario of the events, but the outcome was the same!) Obviously, they found a chemistry together that worked, as nearly all of their pairings would produce 'classics'.
Unlike the introverted, melancholia-racked Lincoln of "Abe Lincoln in Illinois", Ford's vision was that of a shy but likable young attorney, who made friends easily, and misses the mother he lost, too young (resulting in a bond with a pioneer mother that becomes a vital part of the story). Injustice riles him, and he speaks 'common sense' to quell violence, interlaced with doses of humor. Both productions play on Lincoln's (undocumented) relationship with Ann Rutledge; in Ford's version, the pair are truly in love, and committed to each other. After her death, Lincoln would frequently visit her grave, to share his life with her 'spirit' (a theme Ford would continue in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon").
A murder trial is the centerpiece of the film, and shows the prodigious talents of the star and director. Fonda deftly portrays Lincoln's inexperience, yet earnest belief in justice tempered with mercy, and Ford emphasizes the gulf between the big-city 'intellectuals' (represented by pompous D.A. Donald Meek, and his slick 'advisor', Stephen Douglas, played by a young Milburn Stone), and the informal, rule-bending country sense of Lincoln. With Ford 'regular' Ward Bond as a key witness, the trial is both unconventional, and riveting.
With the film closing as Lincoln strides away into the stormy distance, and his destiny (dissolving into a view of the statue at the Lincoln Memorial), audiences could take comfort in the film's message that if a cause is just, good would ultimately triumph.
"Young Mr. Lincoln" is a truly remarkable film, from an amazing year!
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By Ted
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.
The Young Mr. Lincoln directed by John Ford is partially fictional account of Abraham Lincoln's life before he was president or in public office.
In the film he becomes an attorney and he defends two brothers accused of stabbing a man to death. Henry Fonda plays the role of Lincoln and it depicts him as a mild mannered man with much potential.
I found the film to be very good and having seen John Ford's film, "How Green Was My Valley" I've had a chance to compare the two.
The Criterion DVD hs some great special features which I really liked.
Disc one contains the film.
Disc two contains a 1992 BBC biographical feature of John Ford (showing excerpts of many of his films), a 1975 BBC talk show interview with lead actor Henry Fonda, audio interviews of John Ford and Henry Fonda, a slide show of production documents, and a dramatic audio presentation of the film with Henry Fonda playing Lincoln again. The audio is both on the DVD menu and in an MP3 file which can be accessed on a computer.
Also the liner notes have 32 pages of extra material.
This is one of the Best American films released by Criterion and I highly recommend it.
The Young Mr. Lincoln directed by John Ford is partially fictional account of Abraham Lincoln's life before he was president or in public office.
In the film he becomes an attorney and he defends two brothers accused of stabbing a man to death. Henry Fonda plays the role of Lincoln and it depicts him as a mild mannered man with much potential.
I found the film to be very good and having seen John Ford's film, "How Green Was My Valley" I've had a chance to compare the two.
The Criterion DVD hs some great special features which I really liked.
Disc one contains the film.
Disc two contains a 1992 BBC biographical feature of John Ford (showing excerpts of many of his films), a 1975 BBC talk show interview with lead actor Henry Fonda, audio interviews of John Ford and Henry Fonda, a slide show of production documents, and a dramatic audio presentation of the film with Henry Fonda playing Lincoln again. The audio is both on the DVD menu and in an MP3 file which can be accessed on a computer.
Also the liner notes have 32 pages of extra material.
This is one of the Best American films released by Criterion and I highly recommend it.
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful
By clutchhitter
Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase
The reviewer below criticizes the movie's historical inaccuracies which is certainly valid. I am in his/her debt to have learned the real story.
However, I do feel the movie was true to Lincoln's character and I can forgive Hollywood for adjusting the story to fit their idea of Lincoln. After all, it's not as if they claimed he got away from the Ford Theater and hid for several years.
Anyway, as a movie it is beautifully told, Fonda is brilliant and all the characters in the little town are nicely drawn.
A nicely-paced, humorous, touching and most importantly, entertaining movie. Great courtroom scenes also!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely a "classic".
Very well done movie on Abraham Lincoln's first years in public service.
A "classic", excellent acting by Henry Fonda, and excellent directing by
John Ford. Read more
A "classic", excellent acting by Henry Fonda, and excellent directing by
John Ford. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Theresa J Trejo
4.0 out of 5 stars
liked it
I thought Henry Fonda's performance was wonderful. He was so like what I imagine Lincoln to have been like. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Janet L. Leveque
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Of course, you know I'm just a sort of jackleg lawyer..."
The ghost of 1939 cinema strikes again. Rumor has it that Henry Fonda wanted no truck of playing Abraham Lincoln, finding the role too intimidating. Read more
Published 16 months ago by H. Bala
5.0 out of 5 stars
Young Mr. Lincoln
Henry Fonda's portrayal of Young Mr. Lincoln is truly magnificent. Director John Ford has turned in another great performance with his skilled directing. Read more
Published 17 months ago by John Hollingsworth
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder by Moonlight
Young Mr. Lincoln, 1939 film
This is the Hollywood history of a young Abraham Lincoln in Illinois. It tells about life in the new settlements of Illinois. Read more
This is the Hollywood history of a young Abraham Lincoln in Illinois. It tells about life in the new settlements of Illinois. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Acute Observer
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Why didn't your dog come at me with the opposite end?!"
YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (dir. John Ford, 1939) is a film that makes me giddy and simultaneously weepy for my youth. Read more
Published 19 months ago by E. Hernandez
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Film
An elegant film by John Ford. Henry Fonda does a great job as Lincoln (which was surprising). Just a great film overall.
Published 21 months ago by Campbelldropout
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's Moon-Bright!
You know, I'm sure glad that John Ford compelled Henry Fonda to act as young Abe Lincoln. Sure, it's a film filled with a lot of fluff and partial truths, and downright lies, as... Read more
Published 24 months ago by FrontPage
5.0 out of 5 stars
Young Mr. Lincoln
Amazing, classic tale of young Abe Lincoln from his early twenties and how he began his life in public office. Read more
Published on May 14, 2011 by R. Hernandez
5.0 out of 5 stars
brillant
This is a masterpiece of a film. A look back at young mr.lincoln's life is well told. A true gem for movie lovers. Watch it today.
Published on November 16, 2010 by Michele Greene
