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Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan, Richard Cromwell ... see more see more... , Pauline Moore , Donald Meek , Eddie Collins , Judith Dickens , Eddie Quillan , Charles Tannen , Ward Bond , Spencer Charters , Francis Ford , Fred Kohler Jr. , Kay Linaker , Milburn Stone , Cliff Clark , Russell Simpson , Clarence H. Wilson , Edwin Maxwell , Eddy Waller , Delmar Watson , Harry Tyler , Charles Halton , Arthur Ayleswofth , Virginia Brissac , Paul E. Burns , George Chandler , Herbert Heywood , Robert E. Homans , Tiny Jones , Jack Kelly , Robert Lowery , Louis Mason , Ivar McFadden , Frank Orth , Dorothy Vaughan , Dick Jones , Jack Pennick , Dave Morris , Dorris Bowdon , Harold Goodwin

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... read more read more... 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. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

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20 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: John Ford

Release Date: June 9, 1939

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DVD Release Date: February 14, 2006

Stats: 175 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (175)

  • moonrivers
    April 21, 2012
    moonrivers
    John Ford's Young Mr.Lincoln is less biopic than a courtroom drama as the young lawyer's first big case is defending two men accused of murder ... but this lawyer is Abraham Lincoln, the greatest president. And so this intelligent work is only flawed by the "humble reverence" un... read moredercutting every scene, telling us to love instead of allowing us to do so. Otherwise a commendable piece.
  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    A perfect film and an amazing portrayal of Lincoln by Fonda. The scene of the killing contains some of my favorite images on film.
  • jjnxn
    August 29, 2010
    jjnxn
    Solid if a bit overemphatic story of some of Lincoln's early years and a trial that raised the country's awareness of him and started him on the path to renown. Fonda is excellent as Lincoln in a finely judged performance that has both humor and gravitas. Alice Brady also makes a... read more fine impression in her last role as a down to earth farm woman faced with an impossible choice.
  • mjgildea
    August 5, 2010
    mjgildea
    The word "badass" (not in the Bourne or Bond sense, more like George Bailey if that makes any sense) generally isn't associated with the name Abraham Lincoln but not surprisingly, John Ford was the man to make the marriage between the two. Henry Fonda plays the 16th president i m... read more p e c c a b l y and in such a way that you'll wonder why the hell you don't have a portrait of Lincoln on your wall. And of course, Fonda yet again shows why he was one of the greats. (The distracting makeup kind of fades into the background after a short time.) Ford's direction is as always spectacular as is the entertaining cast. While watching Young Mr. Lincoln, I couldn't help but feel how much of an influence it had on To Kill a Mockingbird. And one of the final shots of Lincoln walking up the hill is haunting. I seriously want to kick my own ass for not seeing this sooner...
  • itbegins2005
    November 6, 2010
    itbegins2005
    Henry Fonda IS Atticus Finch IN Young Mr. Lincoln! Seriously, if this movie wasn't made a good twenty-one years before Harper Lee's multimedia sensation, I would swear that John Ford's film was just a slightly reworked version of To Kill a Mockingbird, the director dropping the w... read morehole childhood angle and the racism polemic while subbing in Ford's Lincoln for Gregory Peck; but as it happens, this film was made in 1939 (at which point Lee would have been thirteen and likely not in the habit of writing novels), and the events portrayed herein were based (very, VERY loosely, I should point out) on an actual case worked by Lincoln during his years as an attorney- the most famous criminal case of his career. Truthfully, I wasn't going in to a film called Young Mr. Lincoln expecting a courtroom drama, but once you get past the rote trappings of a biopic, that's what this movie is; and sure, they fudge a few facts here and there, but this IS a Hollywood production, you know. In fact, all the old troupes from the silver age of cinema are there: cartoonishly evil villains, saintly, blameless heroes, cheesy blue-collar comic relief, and the triumph of good ol' common sense morality over the ambiguous, fallible established system. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. Ford is a purveyor of classic Hollywood storytelling, and Young Mr. Lincoln is an example of the better work from this era. Actually, it kind of reminds me of Frank Capra's work (since it's not in Ford's traditional milieu, the western), but the difference comes down to the characters: Capra characters, at some point before the end of the story, are always overcome with tremendous self-doubt and angst, which is usually the biggest obstacle that they inevitably overcome; Ford characters, on the other hand, have total faith in themselves up to the very end, and the dramatic complications in his films come from the circumstances, not the people. Actually, it's ironic that Abraham Lincoln would be one of those characters, considering that, during the Civil War, he doubted and examined his actions ceaselessly- maybe that's why Ford chose not to show us the presidential Lincoln, but the confident, if humble, young man who would grow to earn the office.

    In one of the most perfect casting choices anyone could possibly have come up with, Henry Fonda plays the young Mr. Lincoln, his slight resemblance to the great man enhanced by deliberate lighting choices and the judicious application of shadowing make-up. As I said, he's kind of a proto-Atticus Finch character, but on the other hand Lincoln isn't quite as solemn as Mr. Finch, because he doesn't have the luxury; in the film, Lincoln can only command the attention of the slack-jawed idiots he's tasked with swaying the minds of through his country-spun sense of humor, getting on the good side of a lynch mob at one point by joking that, if they hang the accused, he'll have no client to defend in court, and that he's such a novice that he needs the practice. Fonda has a tremendous amount of presence as the character; his Lincoln is a soft-spoken, thoughtful man, and often the best moments in his performance are the quiet ones in which we sense the wheels turning behind his inscrutable expression. As for the rest of the cast... well, no one really stood out to me. There were the brothers that were accused of murder who didn't do much of anything and had a grand total of three lines between them for the latter half of the movie; there was the respective girlfriend and wife of the two accused who both look all sad and fearful for most of the movie; there's also the two brothers' mother, who saw the whole thing and has to go through the incredibly trite dilemma of choosing which of the two will live, and which will die; there's Donald Meek, a guy I've seen in a bunch of classic cinema, as the prosecutor, a Mr. Potter-type (It's a Wonderful Life Potter, not Harry) whom Lincoln befuddles to the amusement of the crowd; another oldie regular, Ward Bond (who actually was in It's a Wonderful Life), plays J. Palmer Cass, friend to the deceased and the only other eyewitness, who is subjected to Lincoln's famous use of an almanac to discredit his testimony; and for some reason unfathomable to me, Pauline Moore plays Ann Rutledge, Lincoln's first fiance, for one whole scene- after which (in fact, in the very next scene) she is very dead, and serves no further use to the plot.

    The script is a little... awkward. It starts like a biopic, then slows way down once Lincoln becomes a lawyer, and inexplicably turns into a courtroom melodrama halfway through its run time. Furthermore, the details of the actual case the film's based on have been pretty blatantly altered for dramatic purposes. For one thing, there was only one defendant in the original case, not two; his mother did NOT have to testify against him; Lincoln was asked to take the case by a friend- he didn't just take it because "it was the right thing to do"; the murder weapon was a blackjack, not a knife; and, oh yeah, the defendant ACTUALLY COMMITTED THE CRIME. There was no elaborate frame-job. Lincoln didn't pull out a last-minute revelation of the killer's true identity. He defended a man whose culpability for the crime he committed was questionable (today we'd call it "manslaughter" or "self-defense"), and he did it by raising that one thing that juries are supposed to look for during a trial: reasonable doubt. This being a Hollywood production, however, moral ambiguity was a big no-no, so instead we get an ending that ties everything up in a neat little bow, then slathers it with dreadfully overwrought patriotism. Thankfully John Ford was the man behind the camera, and he gives the film a light touch that makes the bits of banality easier to stomach. The black and white cinematography serves to remind the viewer of old photographs from the time, and like I said, the lighting choices are carefully made to emphasize Fonda's resemblance to Honest Abe. My only complaint is that the costumers put him in the stovepipe hat too often. Did he really wear the thing that much? It comes off as a little cheeseball.

    While it probably wouldn't be counted as one of John Ford's finest accomplishments as a filmmaker, or among the most memorable performances of Henry Fonda (if only because he's done so many great ones), Young Mr. Lincoln was a perfect fit for the talents of both men. It's a slice of pure Americana, both in its subject matter and its execution; a more perfect illustration of the strengths and weaknesses of American cinema at the time would be hard to find. And while it may not be the most historically accurate or entirely serious depiction of the past that Hollywood would come to crank out over the years, Young Mr. Lincoln is a solid piece of movie-going entertainment put together by one of the old masters of cinematic storytelling. And for God's sake, it's Henry Fonda as Abraham Lincoln! It doesn't get any more epic than that.
  • fb25827189
    September 13, 2010
    fb25827189
    Henry Fonda was fantastic! He took on the monumental task of playing Abraham Lincoln and gave one of the greatest performances of all time. Beautiful cinematography, and a great collection of actors makes for one of the greatest films of all time!
  • Dracula787
    August 4, 2008
    Dracula787
    This was one of about four very highly regarded films John Ford made in a period of two years (the other three being Stagecoach, Grapes of Wrath, and Drums Along the Mohawk). This is a movie that really needs to be viewed in the context of its time, there are some very corny scen... read morees and the acting is very old fashioned. The catch is, that within the traditions of old fashioned acting, the performances here are excellent. Henry Fonda looks like he was born to play honest Abe, his work here is really solid. The story is not about Lincoln?s early political career, it?s about his career as an Illinois lawyer presiding over a self-defense case of two brothers. This is an odd choice of era, narratively the fact that this guy would go on to be the greatest president in American history is almost incidental. I wonder what would have happened to John Ford if he had kept working with Henry Fonda instead of hanging around with John Wayne and devolving into republican bullshit. It's really just a movie you have to be able to take on its own terms, and looked at the right way it's a lot of fun.
  • kenscheck
    January 1, 2012
    kenscheck
    Abraham Lincoln's pre-Presidential days are the subject of this wonderful biopic starring Henry Fonda. The make-up on Fonda is so wonderful...the man just looks like Lincoln. The cinematography is great in beutiful black and white. The story is a wonderful piece of Americana, a... read morend more so than that, it is a solid story with this piece of hope in the end.
  • placeinthesun455
    July 9, 2011
    placeinthesun455
    really not too fond of this film, though that's not a knock on its overall quality. solid direction from Ford and an exceptional performance from Fonda--simple, yet refined. I'm not crazy about the script--I think it's much too saccharine with not much dramatic potency or humou... read morer. just because a courtroom full of people finds Abe Lincoln hilarious doesn't mean I do. I didn't see much character development either. Lincoln always had that "country boy/small-time hero" quality and never really shakes it. this is an ok film, I suppose, but it just didn't pull me in.
  • PinkMinkPrincess
    July 5, 2011
    PinkMinkPrincess
    I was hoping for more about his life, but it was just about his 1st trial .It was good, but it was not what I was expecting, I wanted more about the young life that made him the Great Man he became(as the title lead me to believe), so I was a bit disappointed

View All Young Mr. Lincoln Reviews

Critic Reviews

Douglas Pratt
March 8, 2006
Douglas Pratt, Hollywood Reporter

Fonda's physical presence throughout the film is a thing of magic, as he seems to glide from one position to the next, never looking awkward even when he is bent in three places to fit within the frame.

Emanuel Levy
January 26, 2006
Emanuel Levy, Variety

One of the decade's most significant works, the film was admired by Soveit director Sergei Eisenstein for its embodiment of the era's spirit and by the French critics of Cahiers du Cinema for its conv... Full Review

Frank S. Nugent
May 20, 2003
Frank S. Nugent, New York Times

Henry Fonda's characterization is one of those once-in-a-blue-moon things: a crossroads meeting of nature, art and a smart casting director. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

A masterpiece. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
February 1, 2011
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media

Outstanding, inspirational story of Honest Abe's early days. Full Review

Tim Brayton
June 29, 2009
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

John Ford produced greater films, but perhaps not a single one that was more perfect or more Fordian... [there's] a confidence of purpose and a unity across all the elements of its creation. Full Review

October 17, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A superb motion picture, and one in which Ford's obsession with Americana and the forces and emotions that made this country what it is are plainly in view. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
May 21, 2007
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

This just might be Fonda's most spellbinding performance. Full Review

June 24, 2006
Time Out

This first product of the Ford-Fonda partnership -- reputedly a favourite not only of Ford but of Eisenstein too -- today commands classic status. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
June 2, 2006
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

One of John Ford's most perfectly realized works, an effortless jelling of his bawdy sense of humor, his patriotism, his mythical sense of history and his gorgeous, cinematic poetry. Full Review

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