Director: Henry King Starring: Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Ruth Nelson, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, William Eythe, Mary Anderson Studio: 20th Century Fox Genre(s): Drama Rated: Not Rated |
Contrary to what many may believe, the reality of a massive passion project in Hollywood completely bombing and becoming a public embarrassment is not new. In 1944, Darryl F. Zanuck - a producer on the level of Kevin Feige and Kathleen Kennedy in his time - was on the top of the world. He produced many massive Hollywood hits such as "The Jazz Singer" and "42nd Street," among countless other films. As a passion project, he envisioned bringing to life the story of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States.
While Wilson was not a saintly figure in real life (he was a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan), he was responsible for many of the laws that we take for granted today (like making an 8-hour shift the most you can work someone). He was also in power when World War I broke out, and did everything he could to see that through to the end. Zanuck, however, seemed to want to make "Wilson" to examine the man as a human being rather than as a leader. The movie opens not with a grandiose speech or event, but with the school he is a professor of losing a baseball game.
Despite writing many books and maintaining a comfortable job, losing a baseball game will certainly make anyone wonder if there is more to life. Through the suggestions of some friends (and pushing by his wife), he eventually enters politics to become governor. Impressed with his performance, he makes a run for the White House where he will eventually serve as the 28th President of the United States. During this time his wife will die, and in a scene that is as impactful today as it must have been back then, the president mourns his wife while he knows the weight of the world is on his shoulder.
Yet another moment comes when he asks a woman to marry him, with the curse that she see's him not as a man but as the President of the United States. That works out well for him, but as he is dancing with his new bride in the White House his political opponents watch and scheme about how they are going to defeat him come election time. In some ways, I suppose politics have always been a dirty game, and only recently has it been more obvious that this is an open secret rather than a "things were better in the old days" situation.
This may be to the film's benefit as "Wilson" has aged remarkably well even though the movie shies away from the uglier aspects of the president's life. Where the movie feels nostalgic is that the role of the President is still seen as a noble one and something worthy of respect and awe. That the world seems unable to ever get to that point again is a shame and tragedy. Movies like "Wilson" do show that the office was once respectful, and if in God's plan, we will get there again someday.
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