Complete credited cast: | |||
Henry Fonda | ... | Abraham Lincoln | |
Alice Brady | ... | Abigail Clay | |
Marjorie Weaver | ... | Mary Todd | |
Arleen Whelan | ... | Sarah Clay | |
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Eddie Collins | ... | Efe Turner |
Pauline Moore | ... | Ann Rutledge | |
Richard Cromwell | ... | Matt Clay | |
Donald Meek | ... | Prosecutor John Felder | |
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Judith Dickens | ... | Carrie Sue |
Eddie Quillan | ... | Adam Clay | |
Spencer Charters | ... | Judge Herbert A. Bell | |
Ward Bond | ... | John Palmer Cass | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Eddy Waller | ... | Father (scenes deleted) | |
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Clarence Wilson | ... | Dr. Mason (scenes deleted) |
Ten years in the life of Abraham Lincoln, before he became known to his nation and the world. He moves from a Kentucky cabin to Springfield, Illinois, to begin his law practice. He defends two men accused of murder in a political brawl, suffers the death of his girlfriend Ann, courts his future wife Mary Todd, and agrees to go into politics. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Henry Fonda brilliantly captures what we have long believed Abraham Lincoln was like. It is a fooler. Through Fonda's performance we are led to believe (on the surface) that Abraham Lincoln was a country bumpkin. But, through his confrontation with the lynch mob and especially during the court proceedings, you can see that beneath the exterior posturings is a brilliant man who has a very good command of what is going on around him and how to influence the people around him.
In this movie Henry Fonda shows that he has a very good grasp of how to present humor. It is an aspect of him that has been lost over the years. When he is telling stories and jokes he has the timing down perfect. There is a sequence in the trial that had me laughing quite hard. He shows this gift again in The Lady Eve in 1940.
The ending by John Ford is absolutely brilliant with Henry Fonda going to the top of a hill and in the distance a tremendous storm symbolic of the Civil War. He goes forward into history. The movie is fiction but the insight into Lincoln is tremendous. Definitely worth seeing again.