The correct title of this (reissue) print is 'The Abe Lincoln of Ninth Avenue'.

I do sometimes get bothered somewhat that these old films often portray people like Lincoln as a man with utterly no flaws at any time in his life when we know as fact he had as many as anyone else did. The log cabin and writing on a slate to candlelight bit was over the hill and taken straight out of mythology, but the film with all its sappiness still is able to pull tears out of this cynical old geezers eyes when Gimpy, what a name nods off after the dinner while the others sing Silent Night. Yeah, sappy as sappy gets, but it worked.

In the genre of the Boy's Town and Dead End Kids stories of morality fought under hard circumstances, a great movie. It was a treat to see Jackie Cooper a little older in this compared to his work in the Little Rascals years earlier, he does well. The one drawback..rough edits & blackouts abide in this print but the charm holds through them.

Idealistic story with likeable characters -- the problem is there are some cuts out of the film in bad places that leave us hanging -- what happened to the hero's rival on the street? We can only guess. It would be nice to see a restored version of this.

I really enjoyed this movie. It had a good story, some very emotional moments, and, of course, good won out over evil. It's worth watching.

I'm not going to describe the movie because others have done a wonderful job of that; however, my opinion of it is, this story is about real heros, which seem so lacking in the world today. It's a beautiful movie and welcome respite in a time when a hero is nothing more than a big sandwich. We need more role models such as are depicted in this flick.

Hmmmm...after reading the reviews for this film, I felt compelled to watch it. The reviews were quite varied and piqued my interest.

Well, this Is my humble opinion: The film was about ideals. Not neccesarily EVERYONE'S ideals nor philosophies. The hero needed no help from past,nor future, heros. His heroism stood, FIRMLY, on it's own merit. Jackie Cooper, played his role well. His character was honest, caring and he was protective of, and loyal to, his own set of values. He showed compassion for the less fortunate AND, did one of the most difficult things one can do; Stand up in opposition to a loved one, who was choosing the "easy" path. One wrought with dishonesty and the selfish disregard for the lives of others.

Even if you don't celebrate nor believe in holidays, as such, the need for faith, in a faithless world, is no more apparent than it is today. I give this film 5 PLUS stars!! KUDOS!

Well, this was quite a surprise. Jackie Coogan plays the hell out a kid trying to make a name for himself and also trying to influence the other kids on his block to look up to him. Seeing that most of the kids in the area are Dead-End-Kid Wannabes, you can tell itÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs not going to be easy. His main focus is a kid his family has taken in since both of his parents are dead. The kid is disabled too. His name? Yes! ItÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Gimpy!
After a somewhat slow start what with CooganÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs character successfully getting the neighborhood kids out of a charge of gambling with Dice, and getting into a long winded conversation about how Abe Lincoln was the greatest person alive, the film shifts mostly to CooganÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs relation to Gimpy. Gimpy doesnÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂt have a lot going for him, and Coogan wants that to change, so when Christmas comes around, he wants it to be the best ever for Gimpy! (Bring a Kleenex for these scenes (I needed one!), Soon a subplot involving CooganÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs gangster older brother comes into play, and guess who gets caught in the middle! (Hint, bring more Kleenex).
I REALLY liked Coogan in this one, his performance here is so underplayed, powerful and strong.

It's great to see Jackie Cooper when he was young.I have seen some older shorts when he was even younger and I always enjoy them.

A so-called holiday picture that culminates in the execution of mobster, who has been captured with the help of his own brother, ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂthe Abe Lincoln of 9th AveÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ.
Firstly, this flick encourages glorifying dead American statesmen. (We even hear of a book about the ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂhumourÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ of Lincoln.) Secondly, it portrays law breakers as evil spirited, and, thirdly, encourages turning these in, even if one has some emotional connections to these.
All three elements are, one would think, obligatory for propaganda movies from totalitarian societies.
That the main character does not want to be the ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂKim Il Sung of the 9th AvenueÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ, and his brother is not an evil criminal against the just society of North Korea, and therefore deserves to be executed, does not make the movie any better. Three thumps down.

This film should replace some of the tired holiday films that are over played on TV each year. This is a film that portrays a message of hope for the human condition and the holiday spirit too.

A really good flick. One part, I think one of the main scenes toward the end (with Spike), had a section missing, but the movie is well worth watching. Even has a feel-good Christmas scene. Recommend for everyone.

This is an excellent film interesting to all ages. It has a good blend of drama and comedy mixed in. The cut is a little rough at one or two spots, but overall good.

This might not be the best print, but this was a great flick. Jackie Cooper stars as an idealist from the bad part of town. His mom's dead, his dad a gambler, his brother a gangster, and his news stand under attack by Spike, a local thug. Still, he sees the good around him, and taking night courses in hopes of becoming a lawyer. He always has a few coins for the poor box, and he wants to do right by the cynical street kid who looks up to him.

Gritty, hard headed and soft hearted, the movie is a good character study, and Jacky Cooper does a good job in the hero's role. It's the supporting cast I really liked. Yeah, there's some ellipsis, which is what film buffs call pieces of the film that have been cut out or lost, but it makes a good Christmas film on top of it all.

Teachers at law schools in prestige Universities are using films such as "to kill a mocking bird" for discussion on law topics. Could "abe lincoln......" be used by teachers to discuss present day teenage problems such as crime, bullying,etc. Shown to pupils in age range of 10 to 15, perhaps?. The film could be re-edited to make a Teaching Version. These are just ideas for using this excellent film. It is also good family viewing entertainment EDIT after a further viewing, I have amended the rating to the highest of 5. THIS IS A FILM FOR THESE TROUBLED TIMES