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Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
In director John Ford's first collaboration with actor
Henry Fonda:
- the early scene of young and ambitious Abraham Lincoln
(Henry Fonda) in Illinois in 1832 reading aloud passages at the
foot of a tree, from Blackstone's mid-18th century published book: Blackstone's
Commentaries, when young and pretty Ann Rutledge (Pauline Moore)
happened to appear; in the bucolic setting (next to a river), a
budding romance began to develop between Lincoln and Ann as they
strolled along; he told her: "You gotta have education these
days to get anywhere. I never went to school as much as a year
in my whole life"; she reminded him: "Oh, but you've
educated yourself. You've read poetry and Shakespeare and - and
now law"; he interrupted her next thought by mentioning her
beauty: "You're mighty pretty, Ann"; she responded: "Some
folks I know don't like red hair"; he admitted openly: "I
do...I love red hair"
- after she walked off, he tossed a stone into the river
behind him; the ripples in the water dissolved into a wintry scene
of the ice-covered river with floating floes - to emphasize the passage
of time; he was at the snowy grave of his beloved Ann Rutledge who
had since died, and placing flowers next to her tombstone where they
had once talked; he was making a crucial decision about what career
to follow with his life - and due to Ann's earlier urgings, he chose
to pursue a law profession, delivered in a soliloquy: "Ice is
breakin' up. It's comin' in to spring. Well, Ann, I'm still up a
tree. Just can't seem to make up my mind what to do. Maybe I ought
to go into the law, take my chances. I admit, I got kinda a taste
for somethin' different than this in my mouth. Still, I don't know.
I'd feel such a fool settin' myself up as a-knowin' so much. Course,
I know what you'd say. I've been hearin' it every day, over and over
again: 'Go on, Abe. Make somethin' of yourself. You got friends.
Show 'em what you got in ya'. Oh, yes, I know what you'd say. But
I don't know. Ann, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll let this stick
decide. If it falls back toward me, then I stay here, as I always
have. If it falls forward towards you, then it's - well, it's the
law. Here goes, Ann. Well, Ann, you win. It's the law"
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At Snowy Gravesite of Beloved Ann Rutledge
- Deciding On a Law Career
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- with country-store, homespun logic, the scene of
Lincoln's dissuading of a lynch mob at Sangamon County jail door
from killing two Clay boys, Matt and Adam (Richard Cromwell, Eddie
Quillan) who were accused of murdering drunken deputy Scrub White
(Fred Kohler, Jr.) by stabbing him in the back ("...We seem
to lose our heads in times like this. We do things together that
we'd be mighty ashamed to do by ourselves...")
- the scene of Lincoln's playing of "Dixie" on
a mouth harp
- Lincoln's empathetic comparison of his Kentucky upbringing
with the Clay family homesteaders - before reading a letter from
the jailed boys
- the courtroom scene when defense lawyer Lincoln confronted
fellow lawman and alleged eyewitness John Palmer Cass (Ward Bond)
- and brought a laugh from the audience: ("I'll just call you
Jack Ass") - and tricked him - with page 12 of the Farmer's
Almanac with an account of the moon setting 40 minutes before
the killing took place: ("So, ya see, it couldn't-a been moon
bright, could it? You lied, didn't ya Cass? And you weren't tryin'
to save these boys' necks, were you? You were trying to save your
own, weren't ya?... And these two boys, Matt and Adam - they each
knew that he didn't do it. Therefore, each thought the other
did it"); Lincoln was able to get Cass to confess to the cold-blooded
crime himself; Cass divulged that he had drunkenly killed White with
Matt's dropped knife (when he came upon the scene and saw that White
was still alive): "I didn't mean to kill him!"
- the final celebrated scene when stove-pipe hatted
Lincoln was asked by Efe Turner (Eddie Collins): "Ain't you
goin' back, Abe?"; he responded: "No, I think I might go
on a piece. Maybe to the top of that hill" - and walked off
toward the hill in a gathering wind and rainstorm with lightning
(causing him to hold onto his hat) - to the soundtrack's playing
of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
- the film's conclusion (with a heavenly chorus now
singing the tune) - and a dissolve into a sideview shot of his statue
in the Lincoln Memorial
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Young Abe With Ann Rutledge (Pauline Moore)
Ripples in Water
Quelling a Lynch Mob at Jail Door
Courtroom Scene - Tricking John Cass and Forcing a Confession
Lincoln's Walk To the Top of a Hill
Dissolve Into Lincoln Memorial
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