a somewhat fictionalized biographical portrait of abraham lincoln early year from director john ford and concentrate primarily on a trial in which the young lawyer defend two brother accuse of murder . the film offer an interesting portrayal of this important american figure and the film be well make and but seem somewhat incomplete without any of the great moment from his presidency or even his debate with stephen douglas . the obvious intent be to portray lincoln a young man develop the attribute that would make him the great man he would become . but the result for me be that while i admire the portrayal it just wasn not as satisfy a i think it could have be with a great scope . in the role of abraham lincoln we have henry fonda who effectively display a quiet strength . fonda performance include some gangly mannerism and other affectation which be fairly effective in present a portrayal of lincoln and particularly when combine with some effective makeup and the costuming which occasionally be a bit to overt . the support cast be solid and surprisingly do not include that many of ford regular support cast ( sometimes refer to a his stock company ) but we do have ward bond one of the most prolific character actor in hollywood . bond have appear in more of the afi top 100 film than any other actor and both the original and revised list . he have also appear in 11 best picture nominee . the film feature one scene that would seem to have inspire a quite similar scene in to kill a mockingbird and where it would be do even well than it be here and even though that scene be one of the most effective in this film .