Young Mr. Lincoln

Watchable, but ultimately disappointing. Ford's strengths as a director are curiously missing. Instead, it's a courtroom drama that lacks tension as well as historical film that swapped out any sense of realism for pure sentimentality. Capra films are less saccharine than this. Thankfully, Ford did manage to get some good performances. Though Fonda is the only thing that truly stands out; his Lincoln is surprisingly endearing, despite being written as a "simple country boy".

Oh it's a very enjoyable film, really tightly paced and Fonda is spellbinding. But it's also so patently ridiculous that it's more of a comedy than a drama. The trial that makes up the second half is one of the most ludicrous things I've ever seen in a serious film.

There are plenty of reasons I shouldn't like this: an unrealistic, saintly depiction of Lincoln, its simple morality, and a trial sequence that is non-procedural, makes many leaps, and has odd comedic relief. I couldn't help myself, though. Even if his role lacks nuance, Henry Fonda is completely endearing, and Ford's craftsmanship immerses the viewer in the period. A flawed but enjoyable movie.

Fonda is hypnotic as Lincoln, and the movie trucks along like a sonofabitch, making its 100 minutes feel more like 40. I also liked the balance between the Capra-esque good old country folk and the uglier side of the time and place. But a few things bother me. I prefer my historical dramas to shoot for accuracy, and Ford is going more for straight mythology. And things take a nosedive during the courtroom drama, a predictable affair that opens some wide plot holes. Enjoyable but not great.

On the one hand it's a well-crafted and quite entertaining movie with a lot of nice little touches, but on the other hand I found the Lincoln presented here to be a very unappealing character. That anti-intellectual, pragmatic "I may not know much about the law, but I know what's right", jus'-a-good-ol'-country-boy attitude he sports throughout bothered me enough that it severely limited my appreciation of the movie. It may have been the point, but I'm not so sure about that.

Sporadically charming and amusing bit of Americana, although the laughter of the courtroom at some of Abe’s jokes was out of all proportion to their hilarity. In the end, his confidence during the trial was a bit difficult to understand, given that ultimately his strategy was based on the idea that if he harangued a guy on the witness stand, eventually he’d be bound to confess.

I thought that since my fondness for Ford, especially the way he uses sentiment in his films, had deepened, I'd see something here that I had not seen before. Not really. It's a well-made film with good performances, especially from Fonda and Ward Bond, but it all seems in the service of bland hagiography. Perhaps if I bought the myth, I'd feel it, but I don't have very strong feelings about Lincoln.

Ford delivers a well-paced drama with visual flourish, and Fonda's performance as America's rising star is genuinely human, if not occasionally hokey. Unfortunately, the film's final punch leaves a lot to be desired, robbing it of the greatness it might have achieved.

I appreciate its small scale and dreamy imagery early on.

If you can excuse the over-the-top-ness of it all (the homespun stories, the judicial drama turned comedy routine, even Fonda's nose), there's a nice sentimentality about having human heroes (even -- or especially -- country folk) rise to the occasion.

Frankly a bit overrated. The film finds redemption and solace in the impeccable - albeit a little robotic - Henry Fonda in this enjoyable, but forgettable flick about the early life of Lincoln. Some great cinematography throughout, plus good performances of some of the supporting cast (notably Alice Brady), in an otherwise mediocre film with a lackluster finale. Still worth a watch because of Fonda.

As far a fictionalized biographies good this was pretty good. The acting is very stage like as is the entire production. The comedic bits were mostly tolerable.

88.00

More myth than history, but a nice pace and a mostly entertaining courtroom sequence make this worth a look. Fonda really shines here as Lincoln, a shy man who is capable of some great feats of oration once he puts his mind to it. Or at least his performance distracts one from the sappy and exaggerated dialogues.

Ford's mix of folksy wisdom and low humour is often a mixed bag, and some of the humour in Young Mr.Lincoln is corny, but it's nonetheless an extremely appealing, albeit largely fictitious, account of history that explores the mythic origins of the modern 'American spirit'. It captures Lincoln in the process of 'becoming', when he was on the path to greatness that was not yet known. Fonda is great in the titular role, and the symbolic storm finale is wonderfully evocative.

Fonda is a damn good Lincoln. The aw shucks country livin' dialogue does eventually wear thin.

Star Rating: ★★★★

The aw shucks sappiness is grating, even by 1930s Hollywood standards.

John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). Or should I say Henry Fonda's Young Mr. Lincoln? For it's Fonda that embodies Abraham Lincoln so well that he really takes us back to the environment he lived in. So laid back, dry and blunt. Almost magical in it's Americana. I did feel they could have done more with the stories they had picked to tell, but in a way it was also refreshing that they didn't select too much to narrate, drowning the movie like so many of the old historic pictures of the 30s did.

whole lotta Ford, whole lotta Fonda, whole lotta hagiography

As a piece of history, Young Mr Lincoln is representing Buncombe County. As a piece of film-making, it is exceedingly good. As a documentary part of cultural history, it is non-pareil. The 1930s were the decade of the common (white) man, for obvious reasons, and much of America's sense of itself today still owes everything to people like Ford, Capra and Will Rogers. Watch this, to understand.

The sort of cornball mediocrity that epitomizes most of Hollywood's history.

so wait, both sergei eisenstein *and* the cahiers critics loved this revolting piece of american mythology? wtf?

88.000

This is, by far, the weirdest shit I've ever seen.

Fonda is terrific and the set up was phenomenal. His soliloquies by his first love's grave carry an emotional resonance that isn't quite matched the rest of the film. Sure, the two boys each up for hanging provides some tension but it's clear from the beginning what's going to happen, apart from a few specifics. Still, it's a nice film with a sub-par courtroom sequence.

Young Mr. Lincoln Goes to Washington

I didn't figure I'd be so stunned by such an "authentic" depiction of a 19th century statesman, but damn. Fonda just nails Lincoln, or at least the perpetuated myth of him, in a way I couldn't expect. The film is better earlier on, with Lincoln's lonely pontifications on law, lying next to a tree, moments of characterization that punch deep both in their meaning and familiarity. The trial stuff is okay, at the very least humorous, but I just can't stand for that kind of treatment of Ward Bond.

Somewhat irritating. Did people really act like this? That judge was a fricken buffoon!

#567

Henry Fonda's very watchable performance aside this just isn't that good.

It's amazing how many great films came out in 1939, with this being one of them. The more movies I see of Fonda the more I like him. And as always John Ford is amazing as a director.

watched: 2011, 2016, 2018

My visceral dislike of Henry Fonda has now being coupled with a new-found dislike for our 16th president. I have lost patience for this type of patriotic mythological hokum.

Bullshit. A whole lot of "down home" stuff with the implicit message that them folks in America's heartland has purer hearts, I reckon. Actually, if you use too many big words around such people 6 or 8 times, they decide you're a heretic or something and lynch you. The eleventh-hour save Lincoln manages in the big court case is a twist you can see coming a mile away. I don't buy Fonda as Lincoln at all, and Weaver is far too pretty to be Mary Todd. I could go on and on...

529

As fictionalized it is, except for the minor distraction of Henry Fonda's funny nose, entertaining once the courtroom drama took off.

A very entertaining court room drama type movie with some humor mixed in. Fonda was excellent in the title role.

461

Surprisingly not THAT cheesy. pray for a good remake.

A film steeped in iconography and mythology. Such a poetic and nuanced film What the fuck.

Very solid effort from Ford. Fonda was fantastic as the often awkward Lincoln. I appreciated the simplicity of the way he approached difficult matters, and always felt there were actual smarts underneath. Loved the use of humor and I can really appreciate the importance of this film as a piece of American mythology.

# 491