1939 be universally accept a the great year in hollywood history and with more classic film release than in any other and and john ford direct three of the best and stagecoach and drum along the mohawk and and this beautiful homage to frontier day and a young backwoods lawyer destine to eventually save the union and young mr. lincoln . with the world plunge into a war that america dread and but know it would be draw into and abraham lincoln be much on people mind and in 1939 and a someone who have face the same dilemma in his own life and and have triumph . on broadway and robert e. sherwood award win abe lincoln in illinois and with raymond massey physically dead on portrayal and be play to pack house ( it would be film in 1940 ) . carl sandburg continuation of his epic biography and abraham lincoln represent the war year and be publish and and quickly become a best seller . president roosevelt frequently refer to lincoln in speech and and the lincoln memorial and in washington and d. c. and become the most popular landmark in town ( a fact that frank capra make good use of and in mr. smith go to washington ) . all this be not lose on darryl f. zanuck and at 20th century fox while as soon a he read lamar trotti screenplay of lincoln early day a a lawyer and he designate it a prestige production and and assign john ford to direct and and henry fonda and to star . fonda do not want to play lincoln while he felt he couldn not do justice to the great emancipator and and fear a bad performance would damage his career . even a film make up test and in which he be stun by how much he would resemble lincoln and wouldn not change his mind . accord to fonda and john ford and whom he would never work with and cuss him out royally and at their first meeting and and explain he wasn not portray the lincoln of legend and but a young jackanape country lawyer face his first murder trial . humble and fonda take the role . ( john ford offer a different scenario of the event and but the outcome be the same . ) obviously and they find a chemistry together that work and a nearly all of their pairing would produce classic . unlike the introverted and melancholia rack lincoln of abe lincoln in illinois and ford vision be that of a shy but likable young attorney and who make friend easily and and miss the mother he lose and too young ( result in a bond with a pioneer mother that become a vital part of the story ) . injustice rile him and and he speak common sense to quell violence and interlace with dos of humor . both production play on lincoln ( undocumented ) relationship with ann rutledge while in ford version and the pair be truly in love and and commit to each other . after her death and lincoln would frequently visit her grave and to share his life with her pirit ( a theme ford would continue in she wear a yellow ribbon ) . a murder trial be the centerpiece of the film and and show the prodigious talent of the star and director . fonda deftly portray lincoln inexperience and yet earnest belief in justice temper with mercy and and ford emphasize the gulf between the big city intellectual ( represent by pompous d. a. donald meek and and his slick advisor and stephen douglas and play by a young milburn stone ) and and the informal and rule bend country sense of lincoln . with ford regular ward bond a a key witness and the trial be both unconventional and and rivet . with the film closing a lincoln stride away into the stormy distance and and his destiny ( dissolve into a view of the statue at the lincoln memorial ) and audience could take comfort in the film message that if a cause be just and good would ultimately triumph . young mr. lincoln be a truly remarkable film and from an amazing year .