Young Mr. Lincoln
Composite Score: 85.7
Starring: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan, Pauline Moore, Richard Cromwell, Donald Meek, Eddie Quillan, Spencer Charters, and Ward Bond
Director: John Ford
Writer: Lamar Trotti
Genres: Biography, Drama, History, Legal
MPAA Rating: Passed
Box Office: N/A
Why should you Watch This Film?
Young Mr. Lincoln is the 1939 film loosely based on a murder case defended by Abraham Lincoln when he served as a lawyer before becoming president. The film stars Henry Fonda as the titular lawyer and future president, joined by a slew of supporting performers that fill out the cast as suspects, witnesses, perpetrators, and fellow legal practitioners in the case. While it serves first and foremost as a myth-building film for Abraham Lincoln, it also offers a compelling legal drama that examines the flaws of mob justice and, more implicitly, the death penalty. It received a nomination at the twelfth Academy Awards for Best Story and has also received recognition for John Ford’s directorial vision and Fonda’s strong leading performance.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
I’m not fully sure whether to put this as a negative or not, and I guess it’ll depend on your personal preferences here, so I’m putting it as a strike against the film: Young Mr. Lincoln unfolds very much like an extended episode of Perry Mason – the old one, not the HBO remake – except that it has to make sure not to transmit any flaws to its protagonist because of his mythological nature in American history. On the one hand, it’s a pretty solid legal drama with interesting and impassioned twists and turns, but on the other, the lack of any real external struggle for Mr. Lincoln can get a bit grating at times. Is he up against a mob that disagrees with him? Yes. Does he have the best grasp of the ins and outs of litigation? Probably not. Is the evidence stacked against his clients? Absolutely. Nevertheless, he’s able to come out of every situation with very limited effort or resistance, and that’s what holds this film back, in my opinion. It’s almost afraid to make it look like Lincoln could have lost for fear of reducing his legend in the minds of the audience, which simply doesn’t make sense to me, as a president who consistently ranks among the top three for just about every American ever.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Much as the near deification of Lincoln might be off-putting for the story, Fonda’s performance and the legal drama underneath make for an excellent film anyway. The film’s scathing critique of mob mentality certainly feels welcome in an era where all too often the loudest aren’t always the most correct, and seeing Lincoln stand in the minority against a much more vocal opposition certainly does something for that case. Likewise, the case itself makes for an interesting study of the American legal system with the outsiders coming under immediate suspicion for the murder of a local “good ole boy”, which is what leads Lincoln to take the case in the first place. He got to watch firsthand throughout the day leading up to the crime the misogynistic and antagonistic antics of the victim and his associate that lent to there being something fishier going on than just country folk and city folk getting into a violent brawl. It’s a complex underpinning that makes you forget for a few moments that you’re watching a film dramatizing and mythologizing the life of an American president.
At the same time, Fonda’s portrayal of the young politician fits the part perfectly, and his omission from that year’s Best Actor performances in favor of Mickey Rooney for Babes in Arms remains one of the more dubious snubs of the era. It’s a powerful performance that reminds audiences just how good Henry Fonda can be, given the proper script, and he is operating at peak here. From his simple and doomed campaign speech at the film’s start to the revelatory line of questioning at the end, he commands the screen thanks to his own presence and some quality makeup design that would undoubtedly have garnered some recognition had those awards existed at the time.
Between Henry Fonda’s excellent portrayal of the iconic president’s early years in law and the fascinating case study presented in the film’s legal drama, Young Mr. Lincoln cements an easily rewatchable spot among the Greatest Films of All Time. The drawbacks of the film’s era and its unwillingness to even be perceived as portraying Lincoln as anything but saintly does detract a bit from some of its more complex story beats, but overall, it’s a solid film with an excellent leading performance. You can currently stream this film on Tubi if you’d like to check it out.
