Young Mr. Lincoln

Young Mr. Lincoln is one of those films that must be watched without any distractions. Having watched several biographical films both in Black & White and in color, this particular movie caught my attention because of the acting, the script and the directing. Actor Henry Fonda plays Lincoln and essentially steals the show, but it is expected that he will, not so much because he's the main character of the movie, but because Lincoln is known as being unassuming and having a warm presence. Journalist Noah Brooks states that even the "keenest critics and bitter opponents [couldn't] remain long an enemy or be anything but his friend" (Wilson & Davis 92). The audience does not have a choice in terms of whether they can love or hate Lincoln because the script is written in such a way that only allows for a love for the man who would end up becoming President of the United States.

The film covers the early life of Abraham Lincoln's foray into politics after he receives encouragement from Ann Rutledge. Lincoln. The director of Young Mr. Lincoln, John Ford, selects music that can be perceived as charming and helpful in driving the script. This is especially evident in the scene between Abraham and Ann at the beginning when they are talking about education and he comments that she is "mighty pretty" and that he loves "red hair" (Ford). The music fits nicely into the scene, but there are times it takes away from the script because of its loudness. Boltz (2004) writes that music plays a large role in film regardless of its volume. That "one common technique is to play music in parallel with a given episode to enhance or diminish its emotional impact" (1194). Despite its volume, Ford ensures that it moves along as the volume decreases during pivotal points in the movie such as Lincoln's arrival in Springfield and subsequent introduction to the townspeople as well as his first meeting of Mary Todd, who would later become his wife. One of the interesting aspects of the script is the usage of the word mighty. It is heavily used throughout the movie by Lincoln and in conversations that Lincoln has with others.

Young Mr. Lincoln is quite different from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in terms of the New Hollywood dynamic that was taking place. Perhaps this is why the script is so emotionally driven whether it's a scene where Lincoln is pleading with the townspeople to allow him to be the lawyer he wants to be saying that "he wants to have a legal pop and show" and "the trouble is when men start taking the law into their own hands" (Ford) when they are wanting to hang one of his clients. The director seems intent on showing his vision of Lincoln via the written word as opposed to offering any of the New Hollywood techniques with the exception of sound in general.

At the close of the 1920s, films with sound were becoming commonplace. In an article entitled "Talkie Terror, Late 1920s" the writer describes the state of film as a perfected pantomime and that once sound in film was achieved panic persisted for many years (1). Therefore, it stands to reason that although Young Mr. Lincoln emerged as a film in 1939, the overall effects of the silent film still were making its presence known, much as it had accomplished for the silent Western films of that time. Young Mr. Lincoln does not utilize any other New Hollywood techniques or tap into the subject matter of the time. The only aspect that Ford utilizes is the viewer's perception of sound and the impact music was making to film after the silent film era.

This use of music by Ford is definitely different than previous films he created as Ford was a silent film director for the most part. Many of his other films such as The Iron Horse or 3 Bad Men, both silent could only use Ford's style of being deceptively simple and having consistency in camera movements (Thompson & Bordwell 1) as opposed to the visual and aural themes he later became known for in his directing career. Three specific things that Young Mr. Lincoln offers that the silent films Ford made are the intense use of sound underneath the dialogue; a significant amount of vehicles in the film, which later became a trademark of Ford's and the efficiency of the script in that no dialogue feels out of place or wasted. The audience essentially is given just what they need to enjoy Young Mr. Lincoln, which is a rarity from most movies that seem to waste time in script dialogue instead of getting to the point to satisfy the viewer. This gives Young Mr. Lincoln, a film classic feeling.

Works Cited

Boltz, Marilyn G. "The cognitive processing of film and musical soundtracks." Memory & Cognition 32.7 (2004): 1194-1205. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. <http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/frames/music/Boltz04.pdf>.

"Talkie Terror, Late 1920s." The Pop History Dig, 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=silent-to-sound-film-era>.

Thompson, Kristin, and David Bordwell. "John Ford, silent man." Observations on film art. David Bordwell's website on cinema, 28 June 2010. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. <http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2010/06/28/john-ford-silent-man/>.

Wilson, Douglas L., and Rodney O. Davis, eds. Herndon’s Informants. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1997. Print.

Young Mr. Lincoln. Dir. John Ford. Perf. Henry Fonda. 20th Century Fox, 1939. Film.

My Criteria for A Quality Film

1. A great movie has characters that you can root for and be both sympathetic and empathetic to.

2. Films are meant to entertain audiences and viewers by either making them laugh, shocking them or making them cry. Whether the story is based on something real or false, movies should keep viewers wanting more and to know what will happen next.

3. Having concrete protagonists and antagonists is an important element to a movie despite its subject matter. Directors should not leave that up to the audience's imagination in terms of who's who unless the main character(s) is a combination of both protagonists and antagonists.

4. Acting is the foundation of a great film. While directing is one thing, the actors have to be believable as their character otherwise the film becomes absurd or boring.

5. Cinematography should be inviting and have an impact on how the viewer sees the film. In other words, the audience must be taken into the experience of the film with the various effects and techniques the director uses.

6. When touching on subject matter that many find off-limits, the director can overtly or subtlety bring the audience along for the journey without damaging the overall objective of the film.

7. Music must be included in films but it must not be too overpowering because it then becomes a distraction.

8. Biographical film scripts should take the audience on a journey. There should be no wasted dialogue in movies, but biographies in particular.