History Film / YoungMrLincoln

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: There really was a murder case in which Lincoln used an almanac, and pointed out what phase the moon was in, to discredit a witness. [[https://time.com/5257581/lincolns-last-trial-excerpt/ That case]], the William Armstrong murder trial, took place in 1858, a good 20 years after this movie's time frame, when Lincoln was a nationally known political figure. (And the witness Lincoln discredited wasn't the murder and didn't confess by ThePerryMasonMethod.)

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: There really was a murder case in which Lincoln used an almanac, and pointed out what phase the moon was in, to discredit a witness. [[https://time.com/5257581/lincolns-last-trial-excerpt/ That case]], the William Armstrong murder trial, took place in 1858, a good 20 years after this movie's time frame, when Lincoln was a nationally known political figure.

* LawProcedural: The second half of the film basically functions as this, depicting as it does Lincoln's defense of the Clay brothers in trial for Scrub White's murder.

Not exactly a {{biopic}}, the film offers a fictionalized depiction of the early adulthood of the future U.S. President, a period extending from roughly 1832 to 1837. It follows Lincoln's career as a rural Illinois shopkeeper and aspiring politician, his decision to study law, and the beginnings of his law practice in Springfield, where a challenging murder case soon provides the inexperienced lawyer with a chance to make a name for himself.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Lincoln quotes from the Beatitudes--"blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy"--when he is ShamingTheMob into leaving his clients alone.

''Young Mr. Lincoln'' is a 1939 American drama film directed by Creator/JohnFord and starring Creator/HenryFonda as, you guessed it, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln.

The film offers a fictionalized depiction of the early adulthood of the future U.S. President, a period extending from roughly 1832 to 1837. It follows the young Lincoln's career as an Illinois shopkeeper and aspiring politician, his decision to study law, and the beginning of his law practice in Springfield, where a challenging murder case provides the inexperienced lawyer a chance to make a name for himself.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0938.JPG]]

''Young Mr. Lincoln'' is a 1939 film directed by Creator/JohnFord and starring Creator/HenryFonda.

It dramatizes the early adulthood of, you guessed it, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, a period extending from roughly 1832 to 1837. The film follows Lincoln's career as a shopkeeper and aspiring politician, his decision to study law, and his move to Springfield, Illinois to go into law practice. A challenging murder case then provides the inexperienced lawyer a chance to make a name for himself.

Compare ''Theatre/AbeLincolnInIllinois'', a 1940 film adapted from a 1938 stage play that tells [[DuelingMovies basically the same story]]. Also Creator/StevenSpielberg's ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'' which was regarded by screenwriter Tony Kushner as a SpiritualSuccessor to this film.

* YoungFutureFamousPeople: Not just Lincoln as an aspiring lawyer in his twenties, but also a young Stephen Douglas as both Lincoln's political rival and his rival for the hand of Mary Todd.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: There really was a murder case in which Lincoln used an almanac to discredit a witness. That case, the William Armstrong murder trial, took place in 1858, a good 20 years after this movie's time frame, when Lincoln was a nationally known political figure.

''Young Mr. Lincoln'' is a 1939 film directed by Creator/JohnFord and starring Creator/HenryFonda. It dramatizes the early adulthood of, you guessed it, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, a period extending from roughly 1832 to 1837. The film follows Lincoln's career as a shopkeeper and aspiring politician, his decision to study law, and his move to Springfield, Illinois to go into law practice. A challenging murder case then provides the inexperienced lawyer a chance to make a name for himself.

* AndAnotherThing: Lincoln pulls this on Cass just before he leaves the court, where he reveals his knowledge about the lunar pattern on the night of White's murder and correctly deduces that [spoiler: Cass was lying about his version of the events].

* AssholeVictim: The man the Clay brothers are accused of killing, Scrub White, comes off as this. Whenever he's seen on screen, he's either harassing Adam Clay's wife or picking a fight with the Clay brothers.

* WorthyOpponent: At the end of the film, after Lincoln has [spoiler: won the case], Douglas admits that Lincoln has many talents and that he was wrong about his initial judgement of Lincoln's character. This is pretty significant, given the two's eventual intense political rivalry.

* ArtImitatesArt: As Lincoln leaves the courthouse, there's a shot framed to look quite a bit like the pose of the Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Memorial.

Compare ''Theatre/AbeLincolnInIllinois'', a 1940 film adapted from a 1938 stage play that tells [[DuelingMovies basically the same story]].

* DuelingMovies: Came out just a few months before ''Abe Lincoln in Illinois'', starring Raymond Massey.