Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

Director:

John Ford

Writer:

Lamar Trotti (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 June 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The story of Abraham Lincoln that has NEVER been told!

Plot:

A fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.

Plot Keywords:

Springfield Illinois | Murder | Illinois | Abraham Lincoln | Lawyer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Abraham Lincoln
Alice Brady	...	Abigail Clay
Marjorie Weaver	...	Mary Todd
Arleen Whelan	...	Sarah Clay
Eddie Collins	...	Efe Turner
Pauline Moore	...	Ann Rutledge
Richard Cromwell	...	Matt Clay
Donald Meek	...	Prosecutor John Felder
Judith Dickens	...	Carrie Sue
Eddie Quillan	...	Adam Clay
Spencer Charters	...	Judge Herbert A. Bell
Ward Bond	...	John Palmer Cass
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tiny Jones	...	(scenes deleted) (as Elizabeth Jones)
Eddy Waller	...	Father (scenes deleted)
Clarence Wilson	...	Dr. Mason (scenes deleted)
Ernie Adams	...	Man with Lynch Mob (uncredited)
Sam Ash	...	Extra Dancing at Party (uncredited)
Arthur Aylesworth	...	New Salem Townsman (uncredited)
Virginia Brissac	...	Peach Pie Baker (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Loafer (uncredited)
George Chandler	...	Loafer (uncredited)
Cliff Clark	...	Sheriff Gil Billings (uncredited)
Frank Dae	...	(uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	Sam Boone (uncredited)
Harold Goodwin	...	Jeremiah Carter (uncredited)
Charles Halton	...	Hawthorne (uncredited)
Herbert Heywood	...	Tug-o'-War Contest Official (uncredited)
Robert Homans	...	Mr. Clay (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Adam Clay as a Boy (uncredited)
Jack Kelly	...	Matt Clay as a Boy (uncredited)
Fred Kohler Jr.	...	Scrub White (uncredited)
Kay Linaker	...	Mrs. Edwards (uncredited)
Robert Lowery	...	Juror Bill Killian (uncredited)
Jim Mason	...	Juror (uncredited)
Louis Mason	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Edwin Maxwell	...	John T. Stuart (uncredited)
Sylvia McClure	...	Baby Clay (uncredited)
Ivor McFadden	...	Juror (uncredited)
Tom McGuire	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Dave Morris	...	Loafer (uncredited)
Frank Orth	...	Loafer (uncredited)
Jack Pennick	...	Big Buck Troop (uncredited)
Steven Randall	...	Juror (uncredited)
Russell Simpson	...	Woolridge (uncredited)
Milburn Stone	...	Stephen A. Douglas (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Ninian Edwards (uncredited)
Harry Tyler	...	Barber (uncredited)
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Apple Pie Baker (uncredited)
Billy Watson	...	Boy on Right of Bean Shooter (uncredited)
Delmar Watson	...	Admiring Boy in New Salem (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Lamar Trotti		(screenplay)

Produced by
Kenneth Macgowan	....	associate producer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	producer

Original Music by
Alfred Newman
David Buttolph		(uncredited)
Louis Silvers		(uncredited)
Paul Van Loan		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Bert Glennon
Arthur C. Miller		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Walter Thompson
Robert Parrish		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Richard Day
Mark-Lee Kirk

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Royer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Eugene Grossman	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)
Robert Parrish	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Louis Silvers	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Rosemary Benét	....	poet: poem "Nancy Hanks"

Production Companies

• Cosmopolitan Productions (for)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1939) (France) (theatrical) (as Les Productions Fox-Europa)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Key Video (video)
• Media Cooperation One (MC-One) (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #5216)

Filming Locations:

Sacramento, California, USA

Company:

Cosmopolitan Productions

Trivia:

Final film of Alice Brady.

Quotes:

[Lincoln and Felder are picking jurors for the trial of Matt and Adam Clay]
Prosecutor John Felder: Mr. Lincoln should know that the mere fact that a prospective juror knows counsel for the state does not disqualify him.
Abe Lincoln: I know that, John. What I'm afraid of is that some of the jurors might NOT know you... and that'd put me at a great disadvantage.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fonda on Fonda (1992) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Dew Is On The Blossom

YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (John Ford, 1939) ***1/2

This film was not only one of John Ford's own personal favorites but also numbered directors Sergei M. Eisenstein and Bertrand Tavernier among its high-profile admirers. Ironically, I've just caught up with it myself via Criterion's recent 2-Disc Set after missing out on a couple of original language screenings of it on Italian TV many years ago and again a few times on TV while in Hollywood!

The film marked Ford's first of nine collaborations with Henry Fonda and is also a quintessential example of Ford's folksy Americana vein. A beautifully made and pictorially quite poetic piece of work, the courtroom sequences (and eventual revelation) in its second half still pack quite a wallop, apart from giving stalwart character actor Donald Meek a memorably meaty role as the prosecuting attorney.

Fonda is, of course, perfectly cast as a bashful, inexperienced but rigorous and humanistic lawyer who was destined to become President; Fonda would go on to portray other fictitious politicians on film - most notably in Franklin J. Schaffner's THE BEST MAN (1964) and Sidney Lumet's FAIL-SAFE (1964) - and it's surprising now to learn that he was reluctant at the time about accepting the role of Lincoln since, in his view, that was "like playing God"!

It is interesting to note here that Ford had previously tackled Abraham Lincoln (tangentially) in THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND (1936), a superb but perhaps little-known gem which has, luckily, just been released as a Special Edition DVD by the UK's veritable Criterion stand-in, Eureka's "Masters Of Cinema" label. Besides, I also have two more Abraham Lincoln films in my DVD collection which I've yet to watch and, incidentally, both were directed by D. W. Griffith - THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) and ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1930) - and, had I not just received a bunch of films I've never watched before just now, I would have gladly given them a spin based on my highly-satisfying viewing experience with YOUNG MR. LINCOLN.