Young Mr. Lincoln

Fledgling lawyer Abraham Lincoln (Henry Fonda) defends two brothers accused of murder.

Young Mr. Lincoln, once you get past Henry Fonda’s almost laughable prosthetic nose, is an entertaining enough popcorn movie.

The film is almost entirely fiction, and though director John Ford does take pains to ensure an authentic feel in the sets and costumes, he makes no attempt to elevate it to any sort of docu-drama, even though he clearly has an affinity for the titular character. Young Mr. Lincoln is about the things might have been, which makes for an infinitely more entertaining film than the way they probably were.

Ford and screenwriter Lamar Trotti do take things a bit too far at times, though. The court room scenes age very poorly, as they include just about every legal cliché you can imagine, and the early scenes with Pauline Moore are practically wasted, since the payoff feels trite and doesn’t pack anywhere near the emotional impact the filmmakers intended.

Still, while not a great movie, Young Mr. Lincoln is a hard film to hate. Nose aside, Fonda is perfect for the role, and the story moves along at a fairly brisk pace.