Young Mr. Lincoln

Henry Fonda wore specially made boots that made him appear taller.

The trial of William "Duff" Armstrong, on which the fictionalized defense of Matt and Adam Clay shown in this movie is based, actually took place in 1858, when Lincoln was a successful railroad attorney and soon to be a nominee for the Senate. The other person accused of murder had been convicted in a separate trial several months earlier.

Henry Fonda originally turned down the role of Lincoln, saying he didn't think he could play such a great man. He changed his mind after John Ford asked him to do a screen test in full makeup. After viewing himself as Lincoln in the test footage, Fonda liked what he saw, and accepted the part. He later told an interviewer, "I felt as if I were portraying Christ himself on film."

John Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought an extended battle over control of the film.

Ford even had unused takes of the film destroyed so the studio could not insert them into the movie. One scene that Ford insisted on cutting was a scene where Lincoln met his future assassin, a very young John Wilkes Booth.

Final film of Alice Brady.

Cast of Young Mr. Lincoln

Henry Fonda Abraham Lincoln

Alice Brady Abigail Clay

Marjorie Weaver Mary Todd

Arleen Whelan Sarah Clay

Eddie Collins Efe Turner

Pauline Moore Ann Rutledge

Richard Cromwell Matt Clay

Donald Meek Prosecutor John Felder

Judith Dickens Carrie Sue

Eddie Quillan Adam Clay

Spencer Charters Judge Herbert A. Bell

Ward Bond John Palmer Cass