He's a crafty, charming country lawyer, willing to be vulgar if it wins him points with townspeople and jurors. Self-taught and very talented. Filled with a kindness and an integrity that can't be supressed. Henry Fonda embodies all that.
There's a moment when the defendants' mother is on the stand and Mr. Lincoln talks to her and about her, tears of compassion in his eyes, and I welled up, too.
I know enough about Abraham Lincoln to know that the movie got a lot wrong: names are changed (witnesses, defendants, victim and even "Abe," no one called him "Abe" in those days); Ann Rutledge and Mr. Lincoln were likely never involved; he was ambitious and didn't need to be persuaded to study law; Mr. Lincoln was already a wealthy and well-established lawyer when he took this case, not the novice he's portrayed ... but I don't care. This movie captured his spirit and soul.
Each day in August you are to
post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it
doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a
great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in
our lives, our communities, and the world.
