Henry Fonda as Abraham Lincoln

Lynch mob scene from Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford.

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[jpowell180]

Abe Lincoln in Illinois is a much better film than this one...this one seems dumbed down by comparison, and Raymond Massey made a much better Lincoln (even one of Lincoln's sons said he sounded just like the man)..

[maxpowers518]

You sure about that? Robert T. Lincoln died many years before the play and both movies.

[grabit1]

That "director" won more Oscars than any other (when they mattered), and for whom the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award was invented. And, of course, the first winner.

The poet laureate of American Films. (Hope I spelled that right!)

Ask Orsen Welles how many times he watched "Stagecoach" before he shot "Citizen Kane."

[Matt Diestel]

If Robert Lincoln saw Raymond Massey on stage prior to his death in the 1920s, he would have had to see the Canadian actor in a performance in London for Massey first Broadway appearance was in 1930 in a comedy when first came to his country. Prior to that time there is no record of Massey having been in this country other than in 1917-18 when the wounded artilleryman taught would be American officers after the U..S entered World War I.

[jpowell180]

It's true he died before the film was made, however he did, in fact, see Raymond Massey perform on stage.

[Matt Diestel]

Fox stopped John Ford from filming the title character in "Judge Priest" stopping a mob of whites from lynching an innocent black youth because it might offend white Southerners. But in "Young Mr. Lincoln" Ford could shoot a scene of the title character stopping a white mob from lynching two innocent white men. Ford did shoot his Judge Priest lynch mob in 1953's "The Sunshine Bright."

[Matt Diestel]

Contemporaries said Lincoln had a rather high-pitched, reedy voice which was perfect for having his words flow over the heads of the large outdoor crowds which, for example, massed for the Lincoln-Douglas debates, for example. Robert --- the only one of the president's children to reach adulthood --- died in 1928, a full 12 years before the 1940 film "Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

[CountryBoyRoby]

And Lee killed Northeners, neither liked nor were they proud of it. Lincoln sympathized with the South and desired peace, but certain others, particularly those owning the cotton machine factory, bribed too many people to allow that. If you want to blame anyone, blame those damned corporations they are who started the whole mess and refused to allow the South to secede peaceful as was their right as stated by the Constitution. The only people who wanted a war were those who made money off it.

[HeyMrKong33]

Henry Fonda was the finest actor ever to appear on film. When ever I think of Abe Lincolin, I think of Henry Fonda in this movie.

[theloveman11378]

Hey JP I tend to disagree, this is Young Abe Lincoln, the Raymond Massey version is an older Lincoln, so it's all a matter of opinion, you like apples, I like peaches, so you have your opinion and I mine, but if you came here it was worth the time, cos this was a blockbuster movie and helped make Fonda one of the best...

Thanks, Jimmy

[grabit1]

I suggest that you watch more John Ford. He might not even disgree.

But he'll always know that he made a masterpiece. You can go on now.

[Matt Diestel]

Henry Fonda twice tried to back out of taking on the role of playing Lincoln because he did not consider himself good enough to play the 16th president. Finally, he was sent to Director John Ford who soon set the young actor straight. "Who do you think you are going to play up there on the screen --- the Great Emancipator? You're going to be playing a young rough and tumble jackleg lawyer," Fonda gave in and played to role just that way.

[Michael Stratford]

One of John Ford's most memorable films, and not at all the tedious bummer that the title suggests. Fonda is funny and poignant as the drawling, awkward young lawyer, and this scene is one of the best in the film. I rather think Harper Lee borrowed the idea for Atticus Finch's jailhouse standoff in To Kill a Mockingbird from this scene. Marvelous throughout!