Young Mr. Lincoln
Short description
Young Mr. Lincoln follows Abraham Lincoln's early years in Illinois, before he became president. Raised in a log cabin, he is encouraged toward the law by Ann Rutledge, whose death shapes him deeply. He settles in Springfield, opens a practice, courts Mary Todd, and takes on the defense of two brothers charged with murder, a case that tests his legal skill.
John Ford directed the film, the fifth of the thirty-one features he made, arriving between Stagecoach and The Grapes of Wrath. Lamar Trotti wrote the screenplay, and Kenneth Macgowan and Darryl F. Zanuck produced it for 20th Century Fox and Cosmopolitan Productions. Henry Fonda plays Lincoln, with Marjorie Weaver as Mary Todd, Pauline Moore as Ann Rutledge, Alice Brady as Abigail Clay, Arleen Whelan as Sarah Clay and Eddie Collins as Efe Turner. Fifty performers are credited.
The film runs 100 minutes and was released in June 1939. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.5 from roughly 9,900 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 7.2 from about 195 votes. The two audiences are close in their assessment, indicating a solid and fairly consistent reception for this historical drama.
What's left behind the scenes
- Henry Fonda's makeup was based on photographs of Lincoln at approximately 45 years of age, when he had lost weight due to the hardships of his legal career and his longing for Ann Rutledge (1813-1835), who had died of typhus. These were the earliest photographs of Lincoln known at the time of filming. A photograph of Lincoln at around 25 years old was discovered by chance only many years after the film's release. The photo had been taken in 1844.
- Director John Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979) constantly had to fight with studio management over their vision for the film. Ford even destroyed film reels containing outtakes to prevent the studio from secretly inserting them into the movie. It was he who insisted on cutting the scene where Lincoln first meets his future assassin, the young John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865).
- Initially, Henry Fonda (1905-1982) refused the role of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), stating that he could not possibly portray such a great man. He only changed his mind after conducting a screen test in makeup at the request of director John Ford (1894-1973). Upon seeing the results of the test, Fonda agreed to the filming.
- Henry Fonda wore specially made shoes that made him appear taller than he actually was.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
