John Ford’s bio pix of President Abraham Lincoln, Young Mr. Lincoln starring Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, and Arleen Whelan, premiered in Springfield, Illinois on this date.
Henry Fonda originally turned down the role of Lincoln, saying he didn’t think he could play such a great man. He changed his mind after John Ford asked him to do a screen test in full makeup. After viewing himself as Lincoln in the test footage, Fonda liked what he saw, and accepted the part. He later told an interviewer, “I felt as if I were portraying Christ himself on film.”
The Haus of Dcaligari 