Producer Darryl F. Zanuck had high hopes that Wilson would immortalize him in the manner that Gone With the Wind did for David O. Selznick. The notion of bringing the life story of Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States, to the big screen was a labor of love for Zanuck, and accordingly the producer lavished all the technical expertise and production values he had at his disposal. Though Alexander Knox seems a bit too robust and overnourished for Wilson, his is a superb performance, evenly matched by those of ...
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Producer Darryl F. Zanuck had high hopes that Wilson would immortalize him in the manner that Gone With the Wind did for David O. Selznick. The notion of bringing the life story of Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States, to the big screen was a labor of love for Zanuck, and accordingly the producer lavished all the technical expertise and production values he had at his disposal. Though Alexander Knox seems a bit too robust and overnourished for Wilson, his is a superb performance, evenly matched by those of Ruth Nelson as Wilson's first wife Ellen, Geraldine Fitzgerald as second wife Edith, Thomas Mitchell as Joseph Tumulty, Sir Cedric Hardwycke as Henry Cabot Lodge, Vincent Price as William Gibbs McAdoo, Sidney Blackmer as Josephus Daniels, and the rest of the film's enormous cast. The story begins in 1909, a time when Wilson is best known as the head of Princeton University and the author of several books on the democratic process. Urged into running for Governor of New Jersey by the local political machine, Wilson soon proves that he is his own man, beholden to no one-and that he is dedicated to the truth at any cost. From the governor's office, Wilson is nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, an office he wins hands-down over the factionalized Republicans. The sweetness of his victory is soured by the death of his wife Ellen, but Wilson ultimately finds lasting happiness with Edith Galt. When World War I breaks out in Europe, Wilson vows to keep America out of the conflict, despite pressure from such political foes as Henry Cabot Lodge (who is depicted as a thoroughly unsympathetic power broker). After being elected for a second term, however, Wilson finds it impossible to remain neutral, especially in the wake of the Lusitania sinking. Reluctantly, he enters the war in April of 1917. Deeply disturbed by the mounting casualties, Wilson decides that, after the Armistice, he will press for a lasting peace by helping to organize a League of Nations. Unfortunately, the isolationist congress, urged on by Lodge and his ilk, refuses to permit America's entry into the League. His health failing, Wilson nonetheless embarks on a whistle-stop tour, imploring the public to support the League of Nations and Wilson's 12-point peace program. During this campaign, he is felled by a stroke, whereupon Mrs. Wilson begins acting as liason between the president and the rest of the country (the commonly held belief that Edith Galt Wilson virtually ran the nation during this crisis is soft-pedalled by Lamar Trotti's script). All hopes for America's joining the League of Nations are dashed when, in the 1920 election, the Republicans gain control of the White House. The film ends as the ailing but courageous Woodrow Wilson bids farewell to his staff and walks through the White House doors for the final time. Idealistically ignoring the negative elements of the Wilson regime (notably his attitudes toward racial relationships), Wilson is not so much a biography as a paean to the late president. Though too long and overproduced, the film survives as one of Hollywood's sturdiest historical films of the 1940s. However, audiences did not respond to Wilson as Zanuck had hoped; the film was a terrific flop at the box office, so much so that it was for many years forbidden to speak of the project in Zanuck's presence. Still, Wilson garnered several Academy Awards: best original screenplay, best color art direction (Wiard Ihnen), best color cinematography (Leon Shamroy), best sound recording (E. H. Hansen), best film editing (Barbara McLean) and best color set decoration (Thomas Little). Hal Erickson, Rovi
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Seller's Description:
Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Cedric Hardwicke. Good. 1944 Run time: 153. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Satisfaction 100% guaranteed.
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Seller's Description:
Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Charles Coburn, Alexander Knox. New. Run time: 153. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
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Seller's Description:
Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Charles Coburn, Alexander Knox. New. Run time: 153. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
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Seller's Description:
Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Cedric Hardwicke, Ruth Nelson. Run time: 154 mins. Originally released: 1944. Language: English. (m12) VHS movie is in near Mint condition, with box in Fine" condition with light wear at corners, from a private collection, not an ex-video club copy.
David Levering Lewis' new book, "The Improbable Wendell Willkie" led me to this 1944 film of the life of Woodrow Wilson. Willkie was the surprise Republican candidate for president in 1940. After losing the election to FDR, Willkie stayed in the public eye for the remaining four years of his life. In 1942, he was elected chairman of the board of Twentieth Century Fox Corporation and worked at the studio to pursue goals important to him in internationalism and civil rights. Levering describes Willkie's role in "Wilson" as follows:
"The idea of an ambitious life-and-times of Woodrow Wilson film seems to have occurred to Wendell immediately. Improbably, then, when Twentiety Century Fox released Wendell's pet technicolor film project to praise (positive and stilted) two years later, "Wilson" (directed by Daryl Zanuck) would gather ten nominations and win five Oscars. Race, it is true, was completely unaddressed in the film. International peace and solidarity were its premises." (Levering, 216))
I was unaware of this film or of Willkie's role in it. Primarily through my interest in Willkie and in Levering's book, I took the opportunity to watch "Wilson".
Produced by Daryl Zanuck directed by Henry King and written by Lamar Trotti, "Wilson" was a high-budget film with an all-star cast. Alexander Knox starred effectively as the title character while Geraldine Fitzgerald played Wilson's second wife, Edith, and Sir Cedrick Hardwicke gave an outstanding performance as Wilson's nemesis, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. The film covers Wilson's life from his presidency of Princeton University through the governorship of New Jersey, through his two terms as the 28th president, with the United States' involvement in WW I. The film ends with Wilson leaving the presidency and with the rejection of United States participation in the League of Nations. The film was for the most part a critical success but it flopped at the box office.
For the most part, I liked the film. Its characterizations of Wilson, Edith Gault, and Lodge are effective and it captures something of Wilson's personal relationships with his family. The movie also shows Wilson as a strong, idealistic, if rigid, internationalist who reluctantly took the United States into war and who worked ceaselessly for what he hoped would be lasting peace and international cooperation at the end of the war.
The trouble with the film is that it moves slowly and on its large issues is superficial. For the most part, "Wilson" is conclusory and brief on the political issue of war and peace that mattered to Wilson and on his domestic agenda. Watching the film only gives the bottom-line for Wilson's work and little of the specifics. It is not so much that the film is inaccurate but rather that it only skims the surface. In addition, while many of the scenes are small and lovely, the film as a whole is slow. The best and most informative part of the film is original grainy black-and-white footage of the American soldiers going off to war. These scenes actually capture more of the themes of "Wilson" than does the scripts. The film is good in depicting Wilson's relationship with his two wives and with the relationship between the president and his wife following his incapacitation. The movie also spends a great deal of time with the music and entertainment of the era. Much of this part of the film is fascinating in itself but it goes on too long and detracts from the focus of the movie on Wilson and his accomplishment
I enjoyed getting to know "Wilson"; but given the film's connection to Willkie, I am sorry I didn't enjoy it more. Still, this movie is historically significant in that it shows Hollywood's portrayal of an American president and his era during the time when the United States was engaged in the second great conflict of the twentieth century. Those interested in the portrayal of American history and of political themes on film will enjoy seeing "Wilson".
