The President's Lady

Moviecut—The President's Lady

source: The President's Lady

Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward star in The President's Lady about President Andrew Jackson and his wife a divorcée. Susan Hayward tugged at our emotions in her films and in a career noted for brilliant work the great Lady from Brooklyn gave a touching performance in this film. Ms. Hayward a strong woman needed strong male co stars and Mr. Heston fills the bill in this film. While Garbo, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck deservedly rank among the top female film stars Ms. Hayward's also deserves inclusion for her gallery of great performances among them I Want To Live her Academy Award Winning performance. Susan Hayward combined great sexy glamorous appeal, and was also one of the screen's top dramatic actresses during her stardom, and a worldwide box office star as well. As Daryl Zanuck noted "Susan Hayward is a our multi million dollar star"

Seeing how I had just started my usual Epics marathon a little earlier than Easter time this year and that it happened to be Andrew Jackson's birthday yesterday, I made it a point to catch up with both the original 1938 Cecil B. De Mille production of THE BUCCANEER as well as Charlton Heston's first stab at the role (the second would, of course, occur in the 1958 remake of the latter) in the film under review which, incidentally, I have missed out on several times on Italian TV over the years thinking it more a "woman's picture" than a historical epic. While the latter suspicion turned out to be true enough, it also proved more enjoyable and even compelling than I had initially envisaged. 20th Century Fox's current diva, Susan Hayward, plays the titular role of Rachel Donaldson and it is just one of many real-life women she vividly portrayed on the screen: from Bathsheba to Messalina, from Jane Froman to Lillian Roth, culminating in her Oscar-winning turn as Barbara Grahame in I WANT TO LIVE! (1958). The story, narrated in the first person by Hayward herself, starts with her very first meeting with Andrew Jackson, then a budding Nashville lawyer in partnership with an older one (John McIntire). The two fall for each other instantly and they do not shirk from displaying it to everybody else…even down to having Hayward's unpleasant husband returning unannounced to break up their square dance! This sets off a feud between Jackson and the Donaldsons (who also include matriarch Fay Bainter) on one side and the Robards (including a brother named Jason!!) that hounds the increasingly prestigious couple till the end of her days. In the eyes of the close-minded Nashville community, the feisty Hayward willfully destroyed her marriage to pursue the brash new-kid-in-town Heston – even if her husband had actually been having an affair with his Creole maid behind closed doors right under the nose of his dying mother (Margaret Wycherley)! Once Jackson's career as a lawyer takes off, he is soon appointed the regional Attorney General but still takes time off to romance Donaldson while employed as an Indian trapper on a treacherous riverside trip she is undertaking to escape from her husband's wrath. Reaching Natchez, they are mistakenly informed that her husband's plea for divorce had been accepted and they marry immediately; it turns out that divorce claim was premature and on and on they go to more public shunning (including after an all-important horse race Heston wins against Charles Dingle that leads to a fatal duel) and, ultimately, public shaming when Senator Jackson joins the U.S. Presidential race that, we are told here, he wins on the very day he lost his sickly wife. Indeed, we had previously watched a lonely Hayward undergoing many hardships while taking care of her two homesteads at the same time that Heston is battling the British in New Orleans or other senators in Washington. The barren woman had also had her adopted Indian child (brought back home by Jackson after one of his campaigns) die on her while she was engaged in yet another fruitless attempt to be accepted as an equal by the unforgiving female community! Although I have no clue as to how accurate the melodramatic events depicted here are or not (they are based on an Irving Stone book, whose later biographies of Vincent Van Gogh and Michelangelo were also filmed, the latter with Heston himself), the resulting film is good to look at and listen to: Leo Tover was the cinematographer, Alfred Newman provided the fine score and both the production and costume designs garnered Oscar nods.

I was surprised by Chuck Heston in this movie because I've mainly seen his post-Moses/God complex performances and thought he was a big bag of wind, but he was pretty good here. Susan Hayward was excellent as Rachel and gave this pretty standard biopic some heart. The performances were sincere and the black and white photography seemed at home with the subject matter. I would have found it dull in color. I'm a bit foggy on my Jacksonian history, but I don't think Rachel died before he set foot in the White House, but this is a movie, so why else can I expect? :D

Copyright 17 March 1953 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Astor: 21 May 1953. U.S. release: April 1953. U.K. release: 27 April 1953. Australian release: 28 May 1953. Sydney opening at the Century. 8,734 feet. 97 minutes. SYNOPSIS: The story of Andrew Jackson and Rachel Robards from their first meeting in 1789 to Jackson Jackson's inauguration as seventh President of the United States in 1829. NOTES: Nominated for prestigious Hollywood awards for Black-and-White Art Direction (lost to Julius Caesar); and Black-and-White Costume Design (lost to Roman Holiday). Boxoffice results were surprisingly healthy in the U.S.A., doubtless influenced by Hayward's previous successes, particularly With a Song In My Heart. COMMENT: Beautifully photographed throughout in rich, glowing translucent sepia by Leo Tover. This film is always a constant joy to look at, the whole thrust of the art direction, the costumes, the sets, the lighting and the compositions being to reinforce the warm brown tones employed. All this beauty and this artistry tends to take our attention away from the story a bit - which is just as well. The screenplay by John "Teahouse of the August Moon" Patrick is an historically inaccurate and only mildly interesting melange of familiar women's pseudo-historical movie themes from GWTW to Magnificent Doll with Susan Hayward running the gamut of every emotion from Scarlett O'Hara to Dolly Madison. The acting is only as adequate as the script is serviceable. At least we are spared one cliché - the hero doesn't have a permanent comic sidekick and what comic relief there is, is as mildly entertaining as the rest of the film. Levin's direction is serviceable. At least he lets the photographer have his head and the long tracking shot through the farmyard in the opening scenes gives promise of a fluid camera style that is otherwise not realized. Still it's competently put together and the action scenes are mildly exciting (making sometimes skilfull use of stock footage printed up on sepia stock in montage routines so that its age is not so apparent). Made on a big budget all the same.

This is one of his "Earliest Best!" It's also his 2nd in which he plays, ultra-convincingly by the way, Andrew Jackson and both he and Susan Hayward should have gotten Academy awards for their performances. It is an absolute GEM. Also, the actress who plays their servant is so convincing as well, in one of the last scenes with Rachel and Andrew, she really moves you to tears. It's one of Chuck's best as Old Hickory (The other being THE BUCANNEER) but I think only the latter is available on tape, so look for THE PRESIDENT'S LADY on FMC or AMC untill they wise up and get it out on tape and DVD-It's a 10 star winner!!!!!!!!!

Despite my brother's endless supply of interesting presidential trivia, I'm not always able to remember everything he teaches me. With regards to Andrew Jackson, I knew about the War of 1812 and the Trail of Tears, but nothing more. After I watched the biopic The President's Lady, I asked my brother, "Did you know ___?" "Yep," he replied. "How about ____?" "Of course!" If you're a walking political encyclopedia like my brother, you won't be as surprised about the plot as I was. If you don't really know anything about Andrew Jackson, you'll be sucked into this historical drama as soon as you see Charlton Heston step onto the screen. Not only does he look like him, but he does a very good job expressing all of Jackson's volatile emotions. This man had a temper! Brawls, duels, arguments-even if he didn't become President of the United States, he would still have had an interesting enough life to make a movie about. In fact, the movie is about pre-President Jackson, his youthful days and early foray into politics. Alfred Newman wrote a lovely and fitting score, that's light and romantic at times, and dramatic and sad when necessary. He wasn't nominated for an Oscar for this movie; instead, he won an Oscar in 1954 for his score to Call Me Madam, another political film. Set and costume designs were honored during the 1954 season for The President's Lady, but although Susan Hayward wore some beautiful gowns in the film, Audrey Hepburn's gown in Roman Holiday captured the Academy's attention instead. I enjoyed watching The President's Lady, even more so because I didn't really know anything about Andrew and Rachel Jackson. The acting and technical aspects are surprisingly good, and it's one of the rare classic biopics that doesn't feel cheesy or melodramatic. For fans of Charlton Heston, Susan Hayward, President Jackson, early American politics, or historical biopics, this is a great one to add to your list.

This movie is basically factual. It gives an excellent portrayal of two complex historical characters. Heston is excellent as a strong Andrew Jackson and Hayward gives strength with a touch of humanity to Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson. You can get a feel for the ruggedness of a young Tennessee with Jackson as a person who will ascend to historical significance. It is the style of movies that you do not see anymore. One reviewer questioned whether Rachel died before Jackson became President. Yes she died before he was sworn in as President. Many feel her health deteriorated rapidly as she faced the negative comments made about her during the election of 1828. She was ostracized because of her divorce from Robards. This mistreatment was cause for several hotheaded reactions from Andrew Jackson. This is hard for our current culture to understand since by all accounts it was likely an abusive marriage. I know there is much disagreement regarding colorization of older movies but I would really like a colorized version of this excellent historical biography. It is a classic of this style of film.

This film is only about a small portion of Jackson's life--when he met, courted and married his wife, Rachel. It doesn't talk about his career as a general, the Trail of Tears, the Battle of New Orleans, his invasion of Spanish Florida, his closing the National Bank or many of his other exploits and only BRIEFLY talks about the rest of his exciting life. This isn't surprising, as in the 1950s Jackson was a revered figure and they just wanted to present a romantic version of his life. Today, there's a push to take him off the $20 because of changing sensibilities. My how times change! I should be honest about this film. I resisted watching it for years because I am a retired history teacher and consider Andrew Jackson the most evil and awful president in US history. The reasons are many but it all boils down to his being an extremely trashy person--prone to acting rashly and selfishly and NEVER looking at what's best for the country. He was a great man...but very, very flawed, that's for sure. But IMDb is not a place for me to rant about Jackson. I'm mentioning this because it does show that I have a strong predisposition to dislike the film and I only saw it (finally) because I like Charlton Heston's movies. So, the fact that I actually LIKED the film and thought it very well made says something! The acting is very nice (particularly by Hayward whose performance was surprisingly restrained), the script actually very close to the truth and the direction nice. Who would have figured?!