If you are looking at this film purely for its entertainment and production values, it's not bad. However, I heartily agreed with the quote from Henry Fonda (who played Lincoln) that "I felt as if I were portraying Christ himself on film." The bottom line is that the film loses a lot of credibility because Lincoln is a caricature in the film--a man too pure, too good and too unlike us have been a real person. This silly super-humanness is made worse by the script--one that is the exact opposite of the old TV motto from "Dragnet". Instead of changing the names the protect the innocent, this film keeps the names but completely changes the facts to suit a Hollywood need to make Lincoln a saint. This is true in this film and is even more apparent in films like D.W. Griffith's dull biopic of Lincoln (1930).

The myths are many, but a few I'll tackle are Anne Rutledge and the trial that took up about 75% of the movie. As for Rutledge, historians will agree that Lincoln knew this lady--but as for a romance between them, most doubt this ever occurred. At the same time, there is a lot that we DO know about Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd, but in this film she has almost no personality and has no impact on Abe. So, this is an odd case where a myth is promoted and a true story (the marriage) is omitted--even though it was VERY fascinating and could make a great movie in itself (Mary was an odd and rather crazy lady). As for the trial, it actually DID occur--but the events were very very different. And, you'd think that based on its title the film would have a lot more to do with Lincoln and his early life! So who is this film good for, then? Well, people who like somewhat dull biopics that are fictionalized would love this film and perhaps John Ford fans would like it--though ford himself was not happy about the project--much of it because the studio insisted on injecting some pretty sappy myths into it beyond what you already had in the original script. Frankly, I think a comic book version of Abe's life or even "Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" might be more informative!

There were quite a number of reasons for wanting to see 'Young Mr Lincoln'. Abraham Lincoln was one of the most fascinating and most important historical figures and a major part of American history. While Henry Fonda is not one of my favourite actors, he did give a number of fine performances and his best films such as '12 Angry Men' are milestones. Have for a long time thought very highly of John Ford. 1939 was also such a great year for film.

'Young Mr Lincoln' for me is not quite one of the best or most influential films of 1939 (close though), but it is both very enjoyable and interesting. Those that know little or nothing about Lincoln prior to watching and watched because of being a fan of classic film, Fonda and/or Ford, are likely to want to learn more about him. Anybody expecting historical accuracy are best looking elsewhere and it is understandable if some find it too hagiographic today. On its own merits, 'Young Mr Lincoln' is well worth watching and is a very good representation of both Fonda and Ford.

It's not without caveats. Some have found, or find, the first portion on the too slow side, and am going to include myself in this category where the story is a little too slight.

Not all the humour quite works, most of it does but some of it is silly and doesn't always fit easily with what happens or add much.

Fonda however is cast perfectly, the only debit being that distracting false nose through no fault of his own. He is very commanding throughout while never taking things too seriously (quite a lot of his delivery is playful). Alice Brady brings a lot of heart to her role and it was great fun seeing Donald Meek and Ward Bond playing their roles with authority and relish. Ford did not once seem uninterested or uncomfortable, lots of sensitivity and energy. The characters don't feel like caricatures and are easy to engage with.

While 'Young Mr Lincoln' is a slow starter, when it gets more eventful it is very involving and has a good deal more energy. The courtroom stuff not only has genuine tension and intrigue but is playful fun too, thanks to a mostly beautifully balanced and intelligent script that keeps sentimentality at bay and generally has some amusing humour. Not mixed uneasily mostly as well. The ending is powerful. 'Young Mr Lincoln' is beautifully filmed and typically stirringly scored by the great Alfred Newman.

Concluding, very good and interesting. 8/10

Young Mr. Lincoln marks the first film of the director/star collaboration of John Ford and Henry Fonda. I recall years ago Fonda telling that as a young actor he was understandably nervous about playing Abraham Lincoln and scared he wouldn't live up to the challenge.

John Ford before the shooting starts put him at ease by saying he wasn't going to be playing the Great Emancipator, but just a jack-leg prairie lawyer. That being settled Fonda headed a cast that John Ford directed into a classic film.

This is not a biographical film of Lincoln. That had come before in the sound era with Walter Huston and a year after Young Mr. Lincoln, Raymond Massey did the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Robert Sherwood Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Massey still remains the definitive Lincoln.

But as Ford said, Fonda wasn't playing the Great Emancipator just a small town lawyer in Illinois. The film encompasses about 10 years of Lincoln's early life. We see him clerking in a general store, getting some law books from an immigrant pioneer family whose path he would cross again later in the story. And his romance with Ann Rutledge with her early death leaving Lincoln a most melancholy being.

Fast forward about 10 years and Lincoln is now a practicing attorney beginning to get some notice. He's served a couple of terms in the legislature, but he's back in private practice not really sure if politics is for him.

This is where the bulk of the action takes place. The two sons of that family he'd gotten the law books from way back when are accused of murder. He offers to defend them. And not an ordinary murder but one of a deputy sheriff.

The trial itself is fiction, but the gambit used in the defense of Richard Cromwell and Eddie Quillan who played the two sons is based on a real case Lincoln defended. I'll say no more.

Other than the performances, the great strength of Young Mr. Lincoln is the way John Ford captures the mood and atmosphere and setting of a small Illinois prairie town in a Fourth of July celebration. It's almost like you're watching a newsreel. And it was the mood of the country itself, young, vibrant and growing.

Fans of John Ford films will recognize two musical themes here that were repeated in later films. During the romantic interlude at the beginning with Fonda and Pauline Moore who played Ann Rutledge the music in the background is the same theme used in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance for Vera Miles. And at a dance, the tune Lovely Susan Brown that Fonda and Marjorie Weaver who plays Mary Todd is the same one Fonda danced with Cathy Downs to, in My Darling Clementine at the dance for the raising of a church in Tombstone.

Lincoln will forever be a favorite subject of biographers and dramatists because of two reasons, I believe. The first is he's the living embodiment of our own American mythology about people rising from the very bottom to the pinnacle of power through their own efforts. In fact Young Mr. Lincoln very graphically shows the background Lincoln came from. And secondly the fact that he was our president during the greatest crisis in American history and that he made a singularly good and moral decision to free slaves during the Civil War, albeit for some necessary political reasons. His assassination assured his place in history.

Besides Fonda and others I've mentioned special praise should also go to Fred Kohler, Jr. and Ward Bond, the two town louts, Kohler being the murder victim and Bond the chief accuser. Also Donald Meek as the prosecuting attorney and Alice Brady in what turned out to be her last film as the pioneer mother of Cromwell and Quillan. And a very nice performance by Spencer Charters who specialized in rustic characters as the judge.

For a film that captures the drama and romance of the time it's set in, you can't do better than Young Mr. Lincoln.