Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) on Netflix
At his store, Abraham Lincoln reads a law book traded for groceries and, encouraged by Ann Rutledge, takes up the law. In Springfield, he defends the Clay brothers, accused of murder.
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Trailer
Plot summary
In 1832 in New Salem, Illinois, a family trades a barrel of old books, among them Blackstone's Commentaries, for groceries at Abraham Lincoln's store. He reads the law book through, and after Ann Rutledge encourages him, he chooses the law. Too poor for a horse, he rides a mule into Springfield and opens a practice with John Stuart in 1837. When Skrub White is killed after pulling a gun during an Independence Day fight, Matt and Adam Clay are charged with murder. Lincoln faces down the drunken crowd at the jail and takes the brothers as his first real clients. Mary Todd, who invites him to her sister's soiree, follows the trial; the brothers' mother, Abigail Clay, who saw the end of the fight, is pressed by the prosecutor to trade one son's life for the other's conviction.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director John Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought for control of Young Mr. Lincoln, and Ford destroyed unwanted takes so the studio could not use them in the finished film.
- The film draws on the real 1858 murder case against William "Duff" Armstrong at the Beardstown, Illinois courthouse, the only courthouse where Lincoln practiced law that is still in use; Lincoln used an almanac to prove the witness lied about moonlight, and Armstrong was acquitted.
