ironhorse_iv Review of Young Mr. Lincoln

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

A movie that gave great insight of the young Abraham Lincoln's early life as a lawyer. It was a pretty good movie.

[8/10 · 22 August 2013]

I love this film. First off, let's get this out of the way, in no way is this movie a historic accurate movie. Young Mr. Lincoln is a partly fictionalized biography about the early life of President Abraham Lincoln; played by actor, Henry Fonda. While the events were somewhat made up, the movie makes it seem like those events could had really happen to a young Mr. Lincoln. Henry Fonda originally turned down the role of Lincoln, saying he didn't think he could play such a great man, until he found himself looking like Abraham Lincoln in the makeup chair. He is transport into Abe Lincoln with his performance. It look like the real life Lincoln playing himself in the film. Henry Fonda did a great job, acting in this film. Directed by John Ford, most of the film focus on the famous 'Almanac Trial' of the murder of William 'Duff' Armstong that took place in 1858, not in 1837 as is implied in this movie. The real life trial was in a courthouse in Beardstown, Illinois not Springfield. The case in the movie was about, a man who was murdered in a brawl that took place at a July 4 celebration. Lincoln choose to defend the accused, two brothers, Matt (Richard Cromwell) and Adam Clay (Eddie Quillan) who were seen fighting with the man by the key witness, John Palmer Cass (Ward Bond). John was the friend of the victim who claims to have seen the murder at a distance of about 100 yards under the light of the moon. The family and Lincoln are pressured to save one of the brothers at the expense of the other's conviction. Alice Brady is wonderful as the mother of the two boys. Still, kinda young to portraying the mother. I like the Sophia's choice sub-plot that her character has to deal with. Still, I just wouldn't figure out, why she couldn't just tell the truth. Did she really wanted both to hang for the crime? It's seem foolish to me. For the most part, this movie isn't about Lincoln's rise as president as I thought it was about, coming in. It's mostly just a court room drama piece with a famous president being the lawyer. The courtroom scene is a piece of virtuoso directing and acting. The camera setups, the editing, the rhythm of footsteps and the cane on the floor, the lighting, smoke drifting in from the right of the frame, everything is perfect. One of the most flawless uses of space in film. The film does bring up some historic figures into the film. There was a romantic sub-plot that wasn't really explore or explain between Abe Lincoln and Ann Rutledge (Pauline Moore). Sadly, it was quickly cut off within the first 10 minutes of the film. I thought it needed to be fresh out. He really loved Ann. It nearly broke him and he remembered her always. By barely mentioning her in the film was pretty sad. Then there was Mary Todd's story (Marjorie Weaver). Rather than exploring more about their early relationship, the film has Mary Todd just playing cheerleader at the trial with her then jock like boyfriend, Stephen Douglas (Milburn Stone) who for the other side. A scene cut from the film involved Lincoln meeting a very young John Wilkes Booth, his future assassin. The movie has some great humor to it, but it hasn't aged well. The jokes were funny, but it might now seem really cheesy at the time. The Fourth of July scenes added great humor. It was funny, but really slow the pace of the film. Did the film really need that pie scene? One joke that didn't aged well was the drunk guy being allow in the jury and him, burping every time, they talk about alcohol. This is something, you see in a cartoon, not a court room drama by John Ford. The editing and pacing wasn't that good in my opinion. There are a few famous gaffes made in great movies over time. Not that big a deal I guess, but I did find it interesting that scenes don't match up with other scenes. The movie starts out with how wondering Lincoln was when he was President, but in no way, is this movie about him being President. The movie really should had focus more on the trial, then inter-cutting historic facts that has nothing to do with the trial plot. The music in the film is great. It's interesting to see Lincoln playing "Dixie" in one scene. During the Civil War, Lincoln was known to be partial to the tune, but it's unlikely he would have heard it in the 1830s. I do like the Ann Rutledge melody. Ford used the song again in 1962's "The Man who shot Liberty Valance". It's a sweet little tune. I love Alfred Newman's music work. The music that is used at Mary Todd's dance was also reused in 1946's My Darling Clementine and 1953's The Sun Shines Bright. Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought for control of the film, to the point where Ford destroyed unwanted takes for fear the studio would use them in the movie. There was also a radio adaptation of the movie that came out in 1946 with Henry Fonda reprising his role. In 2003, Young Mr. Lincoln was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. So, this movie will be around for a while, so check it out. I love Lincoln. He had a delightful humor around men, quite the story teller and people really admired him. He was a very good man, with a lot of virtue and integrity. This movie has all that.