Young Mr. Lincoln (1940)
95 %
Reviews Counted: 19 Fresh: 18 Rotten:1 Average Rating: 8.1/10
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Synopsis: John Ford's film on the early career of Abraham Lincoln, which centers on an apocryphal murder trial, impressed even the great Sergei Eisenstein. It stars Henry Fonda as the title character, who opts for the law after receiving encouragement from his early, ill-fated love, Anne Rutledge... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Donald Meek, Pauline Moore
Director: John Ford
Screenwriter: Lamar Trotti
Producer: Kenneth MacGowan, Darryl F. Zanuck
Composer: Alfred Newman
Screenwriter: Lamar Trotti
Producer: Kenneth MacGowan, Darryl F. Zanuck
Composer: Alfred Newman
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Reviews
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
A superb motion picture, and one in which Ford's obsession with Americana and the forces and emotions that made this country what it is are plainly in view.
Comment
10/17/07
What, no chance meeting with John Wilkes Booth while hunting for beaver pelts? How about a rail-splitting contest between Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, bragging rights and a crumpled five-dollar bill to the winner?
06/28/07
This first product of the Ford-Fonda partnership -- reputedly a favourite not only of Ford but of Eisenstein too -- today commands classic status.
06/24/06
One of John Ford's most perfectly realized works, an effortless jelling of his bawdy sense of humor, his patriotism, his mythical sense of history and his gorgeous, cinematic poetry.
06/02/06
Fonda's physical presence throughout the film is a thing of magic, as he seems to glide from one position to the next, never looking awkward even when he is bent in three places to fit within the frame.
03/08/06
Top Critic
Rangy, folksy, slow-spoken and self-deprecating, Fonda embodies the young Honest Abe persona as comfortably and naturally as the frontier clothes he wears.
02/12/06
interesting from a historical perspective, if it's not quite the masterpiece some adherents have made it out to be
02/02/06
One of the decade's most significant works, the film was admired by Soveit director Sergei Eisenstein for its embodiment of the era's spirit and by the French critics of Cahiers du Cinema for its convergence of ideology and style.
01/26/06
Top Critic Top Critic
Apesar da bela atuação de Henry Fonda (quase irreconhecível graças à ótima maquiagem), o filme exagera ao retratar o bom-mocismo de Lincoln e nada revela de importante sobre sua juventude, optando por transformar-se em um drama de tribunal.
05/25/03
The subject matter lends the film extra resonance but you don't need background knowledge to appreciate Fonda's funny, moving and expertly nuanced performance.
05/24/03
Henry Fonda's characterization is one of those once-in-a-blue-moon things: a crossroads meeting of nature, art and a smart casting director.
05/20/03
Top CriticA masterpiece.
01/01/00
Top Critic1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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