Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

jacobs-greenwood Directed by Gregory La Cava (Walter Wanger and William Randolph Hearst were its uncredited producers), with a screenplay by Carey Wilson (additional dialogue by Betram Bloch) that was based on T.F. Tweed's British bestseller Rinehard, this interesting if flawed fantasy drama features Walter Huston as newly elected President (of the United States) Judson 'Judd' Hammond who, after an automobile accident and apparently divine influence (though his possession and/or actions are more demonic than angelic at times), solves all of the nation's (and then the world's) problems.Hammond becomes an FDR-like POTUS that helps the country get back on its feet and out of its Depression by putting jobless veterans to back to work through construction projects, usurping Congress's power by declaring martial law, defeating (then executing) Prohibition's gangsters (there was talk of repealing the 18th Amendment), and even solving World Peace (by forcing the disarmament of all the other nations, who were in debt to us)!Karen Morley and Franchot Tone play the President's secretaries, Pendola 'Pendie' Molloy and Hartley 'Beek' Beekman; both are initially disappointed with Judd (aka the Major), after his inauguration and before his transformation, during which they fall in love with one another.Arthur Byron plays his campaign manager come Secretary of State Jasper Brooks, whose party ties force Hammond to fire him. Dickie Moore plays the President's young nephew Jimmy Vetter. C. Henry Gordon plays mob boss (naturally) Nick Diamond, David Landau plays the unemployeds' (and "Million Man March") leader John Bronson; Jean Parker (without a line to speak? in only her third credited role) plays Bronson's daughter Alice. Samuel Hinds plays the President's physician H.L. Eastman. Even Mischa Auer appears (uncredited) as a reporter who's initially disillusioned by the President's cavalier attitude (before he changes after his driving the Presidential limo too fast and causes his own life altering accident).A most unusual political film!

vincentlynch-moonoi I'm not always a big fan of movie remakes, but every once in a while a film comes along that is just screaming out to be remade...and it seems to me that this is one of those films. The primary reason I think that is because the historical perspective that allows this film to make sense is missing. Few Americans today know of the Wilson-era march on Washington by WWI soldiers, as well as a number of other events that helped frame this movie when it was made back in 1933.Other reviews here outline some of the tapestry of the time -- FDR, the New Deal, and William Randolf Hearst -- so I won't go into that pertinent history, but I do recommend that you read one of the historical blurbs about this film BEFORE watching it...that will clear up a lot of confusion about exactly what's going on here. The Wikipedia synopsis of the film does this quite well, as one example.Another problem with this film, was that it is like so many Pre-Code films where production values were not very sophisticated. Here you will see too-long silences where today they might be some background music.This is not to say that this film will not interest movie lovers, but a modern audience may find it a bit stodgy. I enjoyed it because I have long felt that Walter Huston is a much-forgotten fine actor. Most who do recognize him today see him more as a character actor, but he was a true star at one time, and his performances are almost always quite stellar (including here). It's never totally clear in the film whether the President is receiving divine guidance from Gabriel (or God), or not...though it is clearly implied...and certainly has a sinister note to it...but then again, you must consider William Randolph Hearst's influence here. Spooky!

calvinnme I call this a precode in an unusual sense of the term. "Precode" usually drums up visions of movies like "Baby Face" and "The Divorcée" - films filled with sexually controversial situations and language for that period of time (1928-1934). However, precode was more than this. It also involved political ideas that were over the top and the existential doubts that made the fine horror films of Universal Studios in the early 30's. This film is definitely a political precode. The censors would have never allowed such a film to be released just 18 months later. At this point I quote Wikipedia, which gives some context for the film: "Filmed during the 1932 presidential election on the orders of media magnate William Randolph Hearst, the film was intended to be an instructional guide for Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency. Hammond as he exists prior to his accident is an amalgamation of caricatures of Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover, Roosevelt's immediate predecessors. After his accident, he is Hearst's idealized image of the perfect president, the president he wanted Roosevelt to be." Hearst always had great sway at MGM, with him also directing the career of his mistress, Marion Davies, at that same studio. President Judd Hammond in his "idealized" form is much more of a fascist than a socialist, though, declaring martial law and putting people in charge of trials because they have a grudge against the defendant. It is also interesting that Pres. Hammond after his transformation not only has a new interest in the welfare of the citizens, but he is rendered sexually neutral, addressing his former mistress as Miss rather than by her first name. It is like Judd Hammond has had some supernatural being possess his body more than it seems that Hammond has had some kind of transformation of his own world view.Definitely recommended. I don't think I've ever seen a film quite like it.

sdave7596 I recently caught this film on TCM and was fascinated with it. "Gabriel over the White House" was released in 1933. Walter Huston plays the newly elected President, who sees himself as merely a figure head, one member of his party, as he tells his personal secretary (Karen Morley). Well, it takes a car accident and a coma to "change" this President from an indifferent man to one who becomes a champion of the poor and downtrodden. What is amazing about the film is it tackles the Great Depression head on, and does not shy away from it at all (not many films of that time did so in such a frank manner, at least not MGM films, which wanted audiences to forget their troubles). The "changed" President (apparently guided by an angel "Gabriel") tackles Congress, asking for money to help the poor. Naturally, they balk. The film has its flaws - plenty of them. Scenes of a gangster "Nick Diamond" shooting up the White House (right through the windows! - not bloody likely, even in 1933, when security might not have been as tight), and scenes of the President asking foreign countries to pay their debts, and big tanks supposedly blowing up bootleggers headquarters, and on and on. The script at times jumps all over the place. But the saving grace of the film is the great actor Walter Huston, who lends amazing credibility to what must have been a tough role. With his deep booming voice of authority, he sounds quite presidential. Fanchot Tone plays the secretary of state in a somewhat thankless role, and Karen Morley is sweet as the woman who believes in the President. Much has been discussed about whether this film is about Franklin Roosevelt, who took office in March 1933. The release date of this film is also 1933, but tough to say when it was actually filmed. Either way, the film is obviously made as a tale of moral uplift, to give Depression weary Americans hope. To analyze it beyond that is probably not necessary.