Product Details

• Actors: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan, Eddie Collins
• Directors: John Ford
• Writers: Lamar Trotti
• Producers: Darryl F. Zanuck, Kenneth Macgowan
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: August 31, 1994
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301798783
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,706 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

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Even though he was the subject of some 158 films, this movie perhaps defines Lincoln on screen--despite the fact that Young Mr. Lincoln was released in what was perhaps film's finest year, 1939. It certainly endured stiff competition: Destry Rides Again, Gone with the Wind, Gunga Din, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, and Wizard of Oz. Young Mr. Lincoln explores Lincoln's budding interest in politics (he accepts a law book as payment at his grocery store), a bittersweet relationship with a girl to whom he shares his dreams, his first law office, and as he meets Mary Todd. The film's highlight is the court trial. Even in his earliest performances, Fonda easily switched between comedic and dramatic. It's remarkable this was actually one of his earlier films--what an onus of responsibility to play the country's most revered president! Fonda succeeds, and performs valiantly and credibly. His portrayal is kindly, respectful, admirable, and brilliant. No president could ask for more. --N.F. Mendoza

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Young Lincoln Gets the 'Ford' Treatment!, July 2, 2006

By	Benjamin J Burgraff (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: Young Mr. Lincoln: The Criterion Collection (DVD)

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!

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Well, this is mighty generous of you, Ma'am", August 22, 2000

By	clutchhitter (Boca Raton, FL USA) - See all my reviews

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!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent film, May 28, 2006

By	Ted M. "Ted M." (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: Young Mr. Lincoln: The Criterion Collection (DVD)

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.