NFR Project: 'Young Mr. Lincoln' (1939)

 

NFR Project: ‘Young Mr. Lincoln’

Dir: John Ford

Scr: Lamar Trotti

Pho: Bert Glennon

Ed: Walter Thompson

Premiere: June 9, 1939

100 min.

The life of Abraham Lincoln has proved fascinating for generations of Americans. Books, plays, movies, and even musical compositions have made him their subject.

John Ford was a director who loved America, and who examined the secular myths and legends of American history. This he did with Young Mr. Lincoln.

He chose one of America’s most iconic actors, Henry Fonda, to play him. Using makeup and prosthetics, Fonda was transformed into a reasonable facsimile of the great future President.

The story itself is mostly bushwa, an unconvincing collections of details about Lincoln’s early life turned into a screen story. Some basic facts are represented truly, but the bulk of the film is taken up with a made-up murder trial Lincoln is supposed to have served as a defense attorney. Lincoln is presented as an amiable, soft-spoken, thoughtful young man, awkward in the company of women.

Fonda makes a powerful impression of the title character, and he is surrounded by Ford’s usual cast of regulars, playing his friends and neighbors. The cinematography is excellent. One particular scene, in which the smoke from a pistol rises over a body like a soul departing, is memorable. Ford knew how to create myth on screen.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Rebecca.