It is an amazing film. Anybody seen it?
never heard of it ..hummmmm
Never heard of it either.
Watched it, pretty good movie.
We had never heard of it either. Watched it last night and loved it.
The president driving himself at over 100 mph and outrunning the press was hilarious until, he wrecked.
Here's the IMdb's review: "Newly elected president Judson Hammond is shown to be a lackey of his party, willing to follow the party line even if it's not in the best interest of the people. Showing off by driving his own car to a political meeting, he crashes at high speed. Comatose, he is not expected to recover. But on regaining consciousness, he is a changed man. Dismissing his cabinet and defying Congress, he assumes near-dictatorial powers in order to cut through red tape and institute sweeping measures to reduce unemployment. He even goes so far as to gently threaten nations owing the United States money from World War I to find a way to repay their debts by reducing their arms races. Having brokered this important safeguard for the world's peace, Hammond is stricken down, his work done."
For those who want to see a really great 1930's movie about the American political system, see "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." James Stewart as the naive young senator is one of the finest performances ever put on film. The central theme of "Mr. Smith" is stil very relevant today -- check out this film if you want to see what a real filibuster was like, versus the corrupt version used by the senate these days.
Could this movie have given cover to FDR? Read up on the NRA (not the pro-gun organization) and some of his other un-Constitutional acts...
*ping*
Thanks for the post.
I always check TCM to see what's playing - - I love old movies, especially old movies from the '30s ans '40s which show the contemporary America of the period.
I first saw it long ago and luckily tapped it. You never see Gabriel, but do see the Oval Office drapes sofly rustle and the comatose presidents face glow a bit as well as the far-off sounds of trumpets when the Angel comes. I took it to mean that Arch Angel Gabreal himself took over the presidents body. An excellent movie and the ending is quite moving.
I see that Dickie Moore was in 'Gabriel'. He showed up in a lot of movies from that period.
I once watched a movie on TV (about 30 years ago) which made a terrific impression on me. It was 'Peter Ibbetson' starring Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, and Dickie Moore. Incredibly, this amazing movie HAS NEVER BEEN AVAILABLE on either VHS or DVD. It's a Gary Cooper movie, for crying out loud! Apparently it has been lost to the ages, which is a real shame. Great, great movie.
I'm sure the ACLU was cringing the whole time.
ping!
Let's see... what other political movies from the 1930s have I seen?
There's a movie ("Cash"? "Gold"?) which was, IIRC, about how a big pile of gold only causes problems for the people who have it. Their final solution is to give it to the dentist for making fillings. IIRC it was made to help sell the people on FDR's idea of removing gold from circulation.
Our Daily Bread. A city couple moves to the country, and starts a socialist commune (since they have no money to run a profit-making farm).
Techno-Crazy. This short concerns a young man who's a fanatic believer in a political movement called "technocracy". He asks the mayor for his daughter's hand in marriage. When the mayor asks him about his prospects, he says he doesn't have a job, but he's going to be receiving $20,000 soon. "Just as soon as America adopts technocracy!"
Somehow he ends up getting chased by the police. In one scene he hides out in a crowd of anarchists, who all look like Lenin. The leader of the anarchist meeting is shouting, "Down with capitalism! Down with everything and everybody!" Hilarious.
There must be more overtly political films from the '30s out there. Or the '40s & '50s for that matter.
I first saw this move several months ago and my guess is that this film had been locked up the vault for quite awhile.
I may not have watched it except that I read the plot line and I am a big Walter Huston fan.
Yesterday was only the second time this picture has been shown because I had been looking for a repeat to tape and watch again.
If nothing else this picture is great social commentary on the times it was made.
You have to admit that Walter Huston was great in the role.
Saw it during a class in college on the Great Depression and the Reinventing of America. Don't remember a lot about it, just the core facts in the article.