Sunrise at Campobello

source: Sunrise at Campobello

For anyone remotely interested in the history of U.S. presidents, SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO does an outstanding job of recreating the period of time during which Franklin Deleano Roosevelt coped with his victory over suffering polio in his forties, just as his political ambitions were taking shape. RALPH BELLAMY repeats his stage role and makes you forget that all he ever played in his earlier movies were the hapless saps who lost the girl in the last reel. He gives a full-bodied portrait of the man and is ably assisted by an actress who seemed a most unlikely choice for her role--GREER GARSON as Eleanor Roosevelt. With a striking supporting cast headed by HUME CRONYN as Roosevelt's closest friend and adviser, the only weak point of the whole enterprise is the length of time it takes to tell the story. 144 minutes is a long time to sit through a tale such as this, crammed as it is with some static scenes and full of dialog exchanges that go on for some length of time. But all in all, it's a fascinating history lesson in that all of the events unfold using a lot of historical background as to the politics of the time. Oddly enough, Bellamy himself did not win an Oscar nomination but Greer Garson did. She also won awards from The National Board of Review and the Golden Globes as Best Actress. Well worth seeing, although it seems to wear out its welcome during the last twenty-five minutes or so.

If it wasn't in high school on a rainy day, all us big kids at heart remember watching this classic on black and white tv one weekend afternoon or another. No actor could play FDR better than Ralph Bellamy, who just had it nailed down. Period. There remains the great debate, particularly among seasoned film buffs, as to which Bellamy was the best. The young and dashing actor of the 30s and 40s (usually playing detectives!), or the more mature actor of the 50s and 60s (playing elder statesman and, yes, detectives!). Wherever you draw the line, Ralph Bellamy gave a memorable performance, and case in point, with SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO. His portrayal of Franklin Roosevelt is uncanny, to say the least. And it is safe to say that the character was best played in his later years as an actor. This film also launched a series of bios of the legendary president, but remains truly unforgettable in terms of acting and production. Likewise Greer Garson is a superb Eleanor Roosevelt, who not only fully assumes the future first lady's personality, but also her features --a big smile and a matching set of teeth, which was her trademark! Critics were first to point this out, but after all, she was a Roosevelt long before her marriage to FDR, bringing to mind Theodore Roosevelt --with the same trademark! This is a film that is a labor of love, with all the dramatic elements you can ask for. Unfortunately, as years passed it was seen less on tv as it was eclipsed by so many other made for tv bios and series, but it is always a treat to see it's re-emergence and a host of dvd re-issues. Not just for history buffs! One of the must see's to add to your top shelf collection.

'Sunrise at Campobello' is an adaptation of the Broadway stage play that was a success back in the day, detailing Franklin D Roosevelt's (one of America's most interesting and prolific presidents) battle with polio. It was very interesting seeing Ralph Bellamy in a very different and more dramatic role to usual, when thinking of Roosevelt Bellamy doesn't automatically come to mind looking at him and his previous roles but there have been plenty that have played against type and done brilliantly. While not a film that blew me away, though Bellamy's performance did, 'Sunrise at Campobello' is an interesting film and a moving one that does really well at showing Roosevelt's struggles in an accessible way. It may not be a perfect translation from stage to film, but in this regard considering how many films based on stage plays struggled making their source material more cinematic this is a worthy effort that is to be applauded in my view. It isn't perfect, with its stage origins being betrayed in some static character interaction, some creaky pacing and parts where it gets a bit too theatrical. Especially in the rather overstretched and meandering last half an hour. However, a lot is great. Bellamy is extraordinary in an authoritative and deeply felt performance that makes Roosevelt a compellingly real character and not a caricature. Not at least nominating him for an Oscar was a big mistake. Greer Garson, who was nominated, supports him more than ably and sympathetically and the supporting cast are just as on the money. Hume Cronyn being particularly first class. The script is also very intelligent and thoughtful, without being too talky. Although the storytelling isn't perfect, it does a great job making Roosevelt's struggles with polio and how he copes with it very poignant and inspiring, as a disabled person this aspect resonated with me. It is a well filmed and far from static or overblown looking film, a lot of it being sumptuous. The direction is generally very skilled and the music doesn't come over as melodramatic or stock. Concluding, well executed and worth seeing for particularly Bellamy. 7/10.

When I was reading about "Sunrise at Campobello", I read a word I'd never heard before....'hagiography'. Well, I thought I could guess what it meant...and was shocked I got it right! Apparently, a hagiography is a biography that is too idealized to be real...elevating the subject to almost sainthood. Well, I wouldn't go that far to say this about "Sunrise at Campobello"...though in some ways this term is quite appropriate. It clearly is a biography, and sometimes a moving one, but also presents the most idealized view of the man possible during much of the movie. In other words, watch it by all means...just don't assume every single thing about it is gospel. The film covers the period of time between Franklin Roosevelt contracting polio and his returning to the political world for the 1928 election...where he personally nominated Al Smith for president. In between, you see his struggle and his family's reaction to his struggle. No mention is made of his affairs nor anything particularly negative other than his losing his patience once or twice during the film. Considering he was paralyzed, this did seem a bit unreal. Despite the problems with the film, I must admit that the movie is exceptionally moving and very well made. It is worth seeing...just understand that it's not completely accurate...less a biography and more a celebration of the best of him. And, as a former US History Teacher, I didn't adore everything about the film but certainly respect it and enjoyed it.

Ralph Bellamy turns himself into FDR. Anyone who has ever watched film from that era can tell that Bellamy's acting is spot on. This is the result of his realization in the 1940s that he would never be anything but a second banana unless he stopped taking the inferior roles he was offered and ventured out into the world of authentic acting, which led him to the Broadway stage and this excellent movie. It's tragic Bellamy did not win the Oscar for this performance. This was acting at its finest. He will be remembered as a finer actor than those he worked with as "second banana" in the 1940s. Greer Garson was a strange choice for Eleanor, Garson, who had been picked for the role and had not faced Broadway audiences, was accustomed to presenting Greer Garson in her movie roles. In Sunrise at Campobello, she does a better job, although no one would mistake her for Eleanor Roosevelt, who was still living at the time of the movie's release and was still fresh in the minds of Americans, through her newspaper columns and work at the United Nations. Perhaps the actress who played her on the Broadway stage would have been a better acting choice, or someone like Myrna Loy, who had more genuine warmth and middle-class sentiment, yet still was a star for driving up the box office take. What seems wrong with Garson's portrayal of Eleanor is Garson's upper-class (notice the British accent?) inclinations and the lack of genuine warmth and affection Eleanor developed for everyone -- but especially for the lower classes. She went out of her way to help black people, for example, in an era in which this was considered extremely inappropriate. Garson did not have the genuineness or warmth that Eleanor conveyed, even through film accounts. However. she went beyond her usual skill set and actually acted in this film, so credit should be given her. The supporting cast is magnificent and the Dore Schary script hews closely to reality. Complaints about length of the movie do not take away from its greatness. It's too bad owners of properties like this are so short-sighted. Permission should be granted to a legitimate filmmaker to edit this film down professionally before it gets into the public domain and is mangled to death.

While COVID-isolated, I've been watching a number of movies that I've never seen before. I just watched Vincent J. Donehue's "Sunrise at Campobello", and it was a bit of a surprise to hear them reference the Spanish flu while the coronavirus still dominates the news. As for the movie itself, it's an impressive piece of work, focusing on Franklin Roosevelt as he started to succumb to polio. There's not much indication of the policies that FDR would enact as president, but it's nonetheless a captivating look at the early life of the man who would go on to launch the New Deal. Tensions arise between characters throughout, and the whole thing has the feel of a play. The movie earned some well deserved Oscar nods the following year. It's a pity that it's not that well known. Everyone should see it. And here's where I'll mention some of the cast: Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, Jean Hagen, David White and Herbert Anderson. In other words: Randolph Duke, Kay Miniver, Lina Lamont, Larry Tate and Dennis the Menace's dad (I can't think of a defined role for Hume Cronyn).

It is easy to look at politics and politicians as an exercise in skulduggery; like Sarah Roosevelt, the politician just a little above the garbage collector. This movie documents FDR's affliction with what was surmised than as infantile paralysis, at the relatively young age of 39; a paralysis that left him incapacitated for the rest of his life. It ends in 1924 when he walks using braces and crutches to the podium to nominate Al Smith as Democratic Presidential Candidate. But the film shows Roosevelt not only battling his handicap, but battling his mother, battling his family, battling Louis Howe, battling the politicians--the film shows a strong willed person standing up to anyone who looked at him as 'handicapped'. It is that strong will that led to the Governorship of New York in 1928 and to the Presidency in 1932. I saw the movie when it came out in 1960, was impressed then, and am still impressed. it caught the family dynamic pretty much as it was reported in various books about Roosevelt. His mother was domineering, Mrs. Roosevelt tolerated her but barely. Louis Howe (excellently portrayed by Hume Cronyn) was looked on as something of a charlatan by both Eleanor and Sarah. But most importantly it caught that intangible something that goes into the making of a politician who is expected to lead the nation, and not let the nation wallow in self-destructive behavior. Many years later, after this event, when Roosevelt was President, still in the early stages of the Great Depression, Roosevelt made the assertion that something had to be done or there would be no democracy. (Paraphrasing roughly) When Roosevelt said in his first Inaugural address, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" he went on to mention the fear as something that paralyzes people... Roosevelt knew what he was talking about re the metaphysics of paralysis. And the nation knew what he was talking about re the metaphysics of paralysis because the President and the Nation had been there. There are those who say that Roosevelt gained a human touch as a result of his paralysis and that made him a successful politician able to create practical solutions to real problems. In 1960 Kennedy became President. Much later, his brother made the assertion: "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" That quote is in the progressive tradition of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Sunrise is Campobello is a film adaptation of the play, which starred Ralph Bellamy as FDR and Mary Fickett, who became a soap opera star, as Eleanor. Here, Bellamy repeats his stage role, and Greer Garson is Eleanor. Bellamy would play FDR again in both The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. The story takes place in 1921, when FDR first contracted polio. He believes that he will walk again. We do know he took pains not to be seen in a wheelchair, and he was a man of such power that no one ever refers to him as crippled. In War & Remembrance (I think) there is a very moving scene where Roosevelt walks onto a ship, with the aid of two crutches. This film concentrates on FDR's young family and how the children, his wife, his good friend Louis Howe (Hume Cronyn), and his dedicated secretary Missy (Jean Hagen) cope with his illness. The family is portrayed as idyllic -- members of the family cooperated with the filming, and it's not surprising that darker aspects of his married life were not shown. It is hinted at, however, that FDR's mother was problematic in the marriage. Ralph Bellamy had an amazing career spanning over 60 years in film, television, and theater, and here he does a great job portraying FDR's optimism, geniality, and charisma. I had a little more trouble with Greer Garson's portrayal of Eleanor. I think in 1960, when there were so many people who knew Eleanor Roosevelt's voice, that Garson didn't have any other choice but to mimic it, but today it comes off as put on and overdone. Jane Alexander did a better job with the voice in "Eleanor and Franklin." All in all, an interesting and sobering film, showing FDR's struggle with a debilitating illness that he brought with him to four terms as president. Interesting to note, FDR felt he had to serve a third time as the country was in the middle of the war, but he did not announce he would seek a fourth term. Instead, he was drafted by the convention and felt he had to serve. He died three months into his fourth term; it's obvious at the Yalta conference that he was extremely ill. A very rare kind of strength.

. . . though Murray's HYDE PARK ON THE HUDSON is a much snappier film than SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO. The problem is that after SAC writer\producer Dore Schary won the Tony award for his original play, he decided to rest on his laurels, making few changes in the movie script, thinking he could just sit back and wait for the money to roll in. Unfortunately, he forgot the reason a play is so long is because there are intermissions scheduled to allow patrons to go to the concession stands and the bathroom. Like many Broadway moguls, he apparently didn't realize movie patrons are poorer than theater goers, and generally cannot afford multiple trips to the concession stand (unless it is for free refills on the way home). Plus, cinema folks have healthier bladders. SAC as a movie runs 144 minutes, 30 to 60 minutes too many, given its lack of action. Who is going to take a date to sit for nearly 2 and a half hours, watching FDR do his muscles exercises, update his stamp collection, and rebuff the KKK?! That said, Greer Garson is great here and deserved Oscar much more than Liz Taylor in her lame Holly Golightly wannabe BUTTERFIELD 8 role!