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 (Pauline Moore). Too poor to own even a horse, he arrives in Springfield on a mule and soon establishes a law practice with friend John Stuart (Edwin Maxwell). At a July 4th celebration, a man is murdered in a brawl, and the accused are Matt and Adam Clay (Richard Cromwell and Eddie Quillan), two brothers of a family that Lincoln knows. After saving the two men from a lynch mob, Lincoln becomes their defending attorney, a difficult task since each man claims guilt to spare the other. Admiring his courage, Mary Todd (Marjorie Weaver) invites him to her sister's soiree and expresses an intense interest in his future. More pressing is his meeting with Abigail Clay (Alice Brady), who understandably refuses to tell Lincoln which of her sons is the killer. Although entirely fictional, Ford's fable conveys the essence of the great man's character: honesty, humor, wisdom, and a shrewdness that knew how to take a back road to reach the high road. A triumph of acting, writing, and direction, YOUNG MR. LINCOLN features one of Fonda's greatest screen performances.

This biography provides a glimpse into the fascinating life Abraham Lincoln led before he became a politician, focusing especially on Lincoln's prowess in his first career as a lawyer as he defends two brothers accused of murder in what becomes a very incendiary trial.

Additional cast: Judith Dickens (Carrie Sue); Kay Linaker (Mrs. Edwards); Cliff Clark (Sheriff Billings); Clarence Hummel Wilson (Dr. Mason); Billy Watson (Young Matt Clay); Delmar Watson (Young Adam Clay); Harry Tyler (Barber).

DVD Features:

Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital Mono - English
Subtitles - English - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Interviews - 1. John Ford and Henry Fonda - Director, Star
Text/Photo Galleries:
Stills Gallery
Essay - 1. Geoffrey O'Brien - Film Critic
DVD-ROM Features:
MP3 File - 1. Academy Award Theatre Radio Dramatization

Henry Fonda: Oscar winning actor, ON GOLDEN POND
Alice Brady: American Actress
Marjorie Weaver: American Actress
Donald Meek: Scottish Character Actor
Pauline Moore: American Actress
Arleen Whelan: American Actress
Richard Cromwell: American Actor
Ward Bond: American Character Actor
Charles Halton: Actor, worked with Wilder, Lubitsch, and Wyler, '10s-'50s

John Ford: American Director, THE SEARCHERS (1956)

Kenneth MacGowan: 
Darryl F. Zanuck: Studio Head, Producer, Source Writer, Director

Lamar Trotti: 

Alfred Newman: Composer/Conductor/D.1970

Walter Thompson: Editor/Associate Producer

"[T]he small-town whimsy here is undercut with real darkness..."
"The tone shifts smoothly from folksy humour to suspense, reaching an epic note in the iconic final shot..."
"Henry Fonda manages plainspoken eloquence in this visually simple, morally complex movie, a too rarely emulated model for political filmmaking." -- Grade: A
"[A] cornerstone of the director's loving but critical perspective on American myth and history."
"Ford's dual vision of Lincoln leads him to one of the most extraordinary closing acts in American film..."