WILSON (2oth Century-Fox, 1942) Fox Cinema Archive Collection
In his 1943
keynote address to the Writer’s Congress, 2oth Century-Fox movie mogul, Darryl
F. Zanuck called upon Hollywood’s wordsmiths “to lead the way. If you have
something worthwhile to say, then dress it in the glittering robes of
entertainment. Without them, no propaganda film is worth a dime! Is it possible
to make pictures which have purpose and significance, and yet, show a proper
return at the box office? I believe – it is. I believe the answer is
entertainment!” Zanuck, a writer a heart and always ten steps ahead in what
he fervently believed was Hollywood’s role in the reeducation of America’s
public agenda, would provide proof of the efficiency in this model with Henry
King’s Wilson (1944); a superior semi-biographical account of the
presidency of Woodrow Wilson that, sadly, failed to catch the zeitgeist and
inspiration of the American people. The most expensive picture to be made in
Hollywood since Selznick’s 1939 opus magnum, Gone With The Wind (and for
some time thereafter), and – at 153 minutes, one of the longest – Wilson
would be a testament to the glories and goodness of a great nation-building
humanitarian; re-imagining the president’s salient character against his own
formidable brand of internationalism, and, with an uncommon dignity and
remarkable percipience into the times in which he lived and governed.
Although the
enterprise was essentially ‘sound’ (at least, on paper) – Zanuck spent
profligately to ensure every inch of his personally supervised production
looked the part (his White House recreations are among the finest ever brought
to the screen). Yet, the ambition behind Wilson seemed grotesquely
flawed to nearly everyone except Zanuck, who compounded his commitments on the
picture by issuing the following statement to the press. “I am gambling $3 million
in an effort to prove that audiences are ready to accept something more than
straightforward entertainment. I am making one mighty bid to try and open the
floodgates of production toward the making of entertaining films that are
enlightening as well.” Screenwriter,
Lamarr Trotti assumed an intimidating responsibility in reconstituting the
facts of Woodrow Wilson’s life and times. His finished script is, quite
frankly, a miracle of narrative concision. Not only do we get a semi-accurate
account of Wilson’s eight years at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but a preamble from
his days as President of Princeton University. In keeping with Zanuck’s edicts
to remain focused on the deification of the man, Wilson – the movie –
omits the president’s counter-intuitive track record for military interventions
in Latin America, Panama and Haiti. Zanuck’s Wilson is a dyed in the
wool isolationist, reticent to plunge his country into any war. We also lose
Wilson’s racist viewpoint as a Southerner and committed segregationist.
Before embarking
further in this review, I suppose it would be prudent to share my own thoughts
on the Hollywood biopic. I have a certain affinity for fictionalized movie
biographies – done right, of course. For if one can set aside contemporary
prejudices requiring absolute adherence to the historical record, then there is
a far richer verisimilitude to be mined from the experience and infinitely more
rewarding ‘as entertainment’. One cannot expect biopics to evolve and/or
critique the historical record as – say – a documentary on the same subject
might (and, in fact, should). After all, historians continue to debate
moral/political ambiguities long after any era has passed; often with their own
biases and prejudgments inflicted upon the historical record. Wilson is
therefore not a soul-searching exercise; not a movie about the facts of Woodrow
Wilson’s presidency or even the man himself; but rather a grand and glowing
snapshot of the essence of both and the impact each had on America’s
socio-political fabric; something of a gushing epitaph to one man, made by
another who clearly holds his subject in incredibly high esteem. On that score,
Zanuck’s Wilson is a masterpiece, supremely satisfying in ways history
can only guess at, much less capture without the embellishments of a skilled
Hollywood wordsmith in the driver’s seat.
Research on the
film was prodigious. Zanuck had personally supervised and/or produced a good
many movies at Fox, giving more than his seal of approval and his name above
their title, but never with as much daily interventions on the set as on Wilson;
instructing art directors, James Basevi and Wiard Ihnen to spend whatever was
necessary to resurrect this period of brash American optimism preceding the
First World War. To helm such a gargantuan production, Zanuck turned to
Alexander Knox; a little-known Scottish actor who, despite obvious physical
discrepancies with his alter ego, nevertheless managed to convey the essential
qualities and overall tenor of the 28th president with pronounced spirit and
sincerity. The movie’s strength is derived from Knox’s central performance,
imbued with an inner forcefulness, intelligence and morality, graded with
translucent reserve. When Knox is given one of the president’s speeches to
grapple with, his delivery is marked by a distinct cadence of authenticity;
this figurehead of American might and determination, humanized through Knox’s
impressive ability to ring truer a singular note of benevolence as the
patriarch of a great nation. When Lamar Trotti’s prose takes over, Knox becomes
the embodiment of the affable family man, unerringly devoted to his two wives
and three daughters.
Wilson is an impressive
production to say the least, Zanuck’s verve to revive this bygone era reflected
in his superb casting of the picture with iconic actors in support. The rest of
the cast are all quite good; particularly Ruth Nelson, (as the first Mrs.
Wilson, a very tender and devoted wife and mother), Geraldine Fitzgerald (the
ever-devoted second Mrs. Wilson - nee Edith Bolling Galt, a socialite with a
heart); Thomas Mitchell (the president’s fiery private secretary, Joseph
Tumulty) and Marcel Dalio (as France’s wily diplomatist, Premier, Georges
Clemenceau). But the film is also
somewhat uneconomical wasting of such fine actors as Thurston Hall (as Senator
Edward H. 'Big Ed' Jones), Vincent Price (William Gibbs McAdoo), and Charles
Colburn (Professor Henry Holmes); all appearing in much too disposable cameos.
Clearly, Zanuck was taking no chances on Wilson. Even the cameos are
padded with exemplary talents who could do so much more with far less.
Our story begins
in 1909, Woodrow, his first wife, Ellen and their three daughters, Eleanor
(Mary Anderson), Margaret (Ruth Ford) and Jessie (Madeleine Forbes) attend the
homecoming football game at Princeton University. George Felton (William Eythe)
is the star athlete for the home team. However, his disappointing performance
on the field is met with a gentle hand and words of humility and encouragement
by Woodrow after the game. That evening, as the family gathers around the fire,
they are visited by Democratic bosses, Edward Sullivan (J.M. Kerrigan) and
Senator Edward. H. Jones. The pair placates Wilson with high praise for his
stance against special privileges. Moreover, they want him to run for governor
of New Jersey. Wilson is reticent to
accept, deferring to Ellen and his daughters who are overwhelmingly in support
of the plan. However, at the New Jersey Democratic Convention, Wilson’s
integrity is challenged by Joseph Tumulty, a stanch critic of the state’s
corrupt political machinery. Exercising his own moral convictions, Wilson
coerces Jones, who is also in attendance, into a promise not to run again. He
also hires Tumulty as his private secretary. It is the beginning of a lifelong
friendship. Winning the election by a landslide, Wilson is soon outraged to
learn Jones has already begun his re-election bid. In response, Wilson stages a
successful campaign to quash Jones’ chances. These early scenes are integral in
establishing Wilson’s own political/moral integrity; also, in affording
Alexander Knox the opportunity to excel at creating the Hollywood-ized public
persona of Wilson – the man, yet unfettered by all the speech-making prowess to
follow once Lamar Trotti’s screenplay inevitably segues into its second and
third acts, book-ended by the presidency and a more stringent adherence to the
historical record.
As the 1912
presidential election approaches, Wilson’s candidacy is popularized across the
country and his name selected along with two others for the nomination. After
the convention deadlocks, Wilson is rewarded with the nomination, campaigning
for equal opportunity against the privileges of big business. He easily defeats
Republican incumbent, William Howard Taft and the independent, Teddy
Roosevelt. Now, the movie segues into
Zanuck’s meticulously researched recreations of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and
Wilson’s arrival in Washington. Although much of Wilson was photographed
by Leon Shamroy, Ernest Palmer is responsible for this sequence; using low
angles to show off the finely detailed cornices and coves and matte paintings
subbing in for actual ceilings; each room softly lit with handsomely diffused
sunlight filtering past the window sills; the camera taking its time to meander
with the Wilson clan through the upstairs family quarters, with particular
attention paid to the room where Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It
is a beautifully orchestrated sequence, followed by a montage to expedite the
sweeping legislation Wilson is able to pass within his first ninety days; the
Anti-Trust and Federal Reserve Bank acts; also, the Federal Trade Commission.
Buoyed by his mandate, and unwilling to bend against the principles on which he
was elected, Wilson’s resolve is pressed into service by rancorous Republican
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (Cedric Hardwicke). Affairs of state are interrupted
when Ellen Wilson suddenly falls ill, afflicted with Bright’s Disease. During
these trying times Wilson is inconsolable. Ellen’s death on Aug. 6, 1914 comes
as Germany is beefing up its military might, launching a series of submarine
attacks, culminating with the sinking of the Lusitania.
Congress clamors
for war. Sensing the American people are not yet ready for the conflict, Wilson
delays; his opponents seizing on his decision to suggest it as a form of
inherent weakness and promoting the rumor Wilson is ineffectual and misguided
as a leader. Nevertheless, Wilson’s quest for peace on peaceful terms of
negotiation is persuasive enough to get Germany to temporarily cease its
submarine warfare. Henry Cabot Lodge and his cronies are incensed by the press’
renewed adoration for the president; also, more than a little chagrined their
propaganda has backfired. More than ever the public rally to Wilson’s side,
hopeful to keep the nation from getting involved in the European conflict. A
year passes uneventfully. Wilson becomes reacquainted with Edith Bolling Galt,
a distant cousin and newly widowed. The family is astonished when a polite joke
told by Edith stirs the more recently grim Wilson to good humor; something he
has not been able to experience since Ellen’s untimely passing. Not long
afterward, Wilson and Edith take a stroll along the White House balcony in the
moonlight. He makes an impromptu proposal of marriage, citing her charm and
grace as reasons which have resurrected his hopes for the future. She agrees
there is more than a benign friendship between them, but declines to marry him
at once. Alas, Henry Cabot Lodge and his cronies take umbrage to Edith’s
presence in the White House, insinuating an illicit affair to help sway popular
opinion.
Wilson is
incensed by these rumors, as is Edith, who realizes the only way she can quash
them now is to accept the president’s proposal of marriage. It is all kept top
secret, even to the White House Press Corps until after the quiet ceremony has
already occurred. In the meantime, Wilson prepares for a gala at the White
House, the momentum of his new marriage interrupted by his second election in
1916, narrowly beating out Charles Evans Hughes, despite the fact the New York
Times have prematurely declared Hughes the winner. The Californian electoral
votes push Wilson over the top, much to Cabot Lodge’s chagrin and renewed
frustrations. Wilson, however, has bigger fish to fry. When the German
Ambassador, Count Von Bernstorff (Tonio Selwart) informs Wilson that Germany
has every intention of reinstating its submarine warfare, the president breaks
into a tirade. Whether real or wholly imaged by Trotti’s gifts as a
screenwriter, this diatribe, immaculately infused with ample portions of
flag-waving patriotism by Alexander Knox is both relevant to Wilson’s own time
and the then present circumstances of the Second World War, with only the
slightest alteration made – from Kaiser to Hitler. It is also, arguably, the
first moment where we see Wilson’s relatively mild-mannered intellectualism
give way to genuine passion and fury.
“For more than
two years this government has exercised every restraint to remain neutral…but
you and your military masters are determined to deny us that right. Everywhere
we turn, we run into a blank wall of German cruelty and stupidity. Every time
we think we’ve escaped you blindly and deliberately block us with some new
outrage. Won’t you Germans ever be civilized? Won’t you ever learn to keep your
word? Or to regard other peoples as men, women and children…and not as
inferiors to be treated as you see fit; all in the name of your discredited
German culture of race superiority…Is your Kaiser so contemptuous of American
military prowess? Does he think we are so weak and disunited just because we prefer
peace to war that we will not fight in any circumstances? Or is he so drunk with power that he cannot
understand such action will unite this nation as never before in its
history…and that he has made it clear that this is, at last, a fight for truth
and decency against the most evil and autocratic power this world has ever
seen?”
Forced into an
impossible scenario, Wilson’s subsequent declaration of war is greeted with an
outpouring of support in Congress. At a railway station, Wilson and Edith
attend a gathering of soldiers waiting to be shipped out – who are frankly
baffled and amused to have met their President and First Lady in the flesh,
serving them with ‘victory’ coffee and donuts. It’s a moment wholly contrived
by Zanuck and Trotti in their brilliant attempt to personalize the plight and
commitment of the ‘every man’, dedicating himself to the war effort, their
sacrifices on Wilson’s behalf paralleling the strength of conviction of then
current U.S. president, Franklin Roosevelt and his now legendary fireside
chats. There is little to deny that in Zanuck’s zealousness to resurrect the
stature of Woodrow Wilson he has created a decidedly and occasionally fanciful
disconnect between the reality of the man and his own investment in the film as
pure art. And yet, Zanuck has been clever and careful enough not to overly
sentimentalize either. And Alexander Knox is very much less of a mime and more
of the man himself, doling out sage advice and benevolence, miraculously honing
his particular brand of diplomacy into the fine art of political negotiation.
If Wilson does
have a flaw, it is the rather heavy-handed way its’ thus far carefully
constructed narrative seems to momentarily derail into a series of testimonials
and speeches; some more potently handled than others. A montage of actual
B&W clips excised from Fox newsreels of this period is interpolated with
various Technicolor snippets expressly orchestrated for the movie: a rather
beefy songstress warbling popular wartime hymns, ballads and rebel-rousing
songs, employed as a connecting device. Perhaps increasingly conscious of the
epic length of his storytelling, Zanuck truncates Wilson’s last act –
severely - the movie expediting the complications of war in favor of some
fairly lengthy addresses, beginning with Wilson’s declaration of war to
Congress The speech itself is inspirational, but it brings Trotti’s subtly
nuanced and seamless construction to an abrupt – if patriotic – halt: Wilson,
on the podium declaring:
“With a profound
sense of the solemn and even tragic character of the step I am taking and of
the grave responsibilities which it involves, I advise that the congress
declare the recent course of the imperial German government to be, in fact,
nothing less that war against the people and government of the United States
and that it formally accept the state of belligerency which has just been
thrust upon it. In so doing, let us make clear to all the world what our motive
and objects are. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest. No dominion.
No material compensations for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but
one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those
rights are made secure. It is a fearful thing to lead this peaceful people into
war.
We shall fight
for the things we have always carried nearest our hearts: for democracy: for
the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own
government: for the rights and liberties of small nations: for a universal
dominion of right. By such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and
safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we
can dedicate our lives and our fortunes. Everything we are and everything that
we have. With the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is
privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her
birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she
can do no other.”
In the midst of
turmoil, Wilson outlines his ‘fourteen point’ proposal for world peace; its’
centerpiece, the League of Nations. As U.S. casualties mount, Tumulty delivers
news by telegram that Germany has accepted Wilson’s terms, formally
surrendering on November 11, 1918. Against the advice of his cabinet, Wilson
attends the conference in Paris; negotiating with France’s Premier Georges
Clemenceau, King George of England and Italy’s Prime Minister, Vittorio
Emanuele Orlando (Antonio Filauri). Alas, Wilson’s great success at diplomacy
abroad does not extend to his own backyard; Cabot Lodge, along with
thirty-seven senators, opposing the League and its ratification as part of the
Versailles Peace Treaty. Forced to defend his plan at home, Wilson launches
into an aggressive cross-country goodwill tour. Despite his ailing health, he
makes almost forty stops and seventy appeals for the preservation of the
League’s ideals; the toll eventually resulting in a complete collapse from
exhaustion in Pueblo, Colorado and shortly thereafter, a debilitating stroke
paralyzing his left side.
Edith is called
upon to act as the president’s buffer. Her efforts are briefly skipped over;
perhaps Trotti and Zanuck already painfully aware their opus magnum has
outlasted the audience’s patience. Wilson’s
last act is a rush job at best. The Democrats nominate Governor James M. Cox to
run against Warren Harding; an outspoken opponent of the League of Nations.
Harding’s overwhelming landslide victory signals a change in the times: also,
the end of Wilson’s dream for securing world peace. Hardly embittered, though
enfeebled, Wilson bids a tender farewell to his cabinet. “I am not one of
those who have even the slightest anxiety about the eventual triumph of the
things I’ve stood for. The fight’s just begun. You and I may not live to see it
but that doesn’t matter. The ideals of the League are not dead just because a
few obstructive men, now in the saddle, say they are. The dream of a world
united against the awful wastes of war is too deeply embedded in the hearts of
men everywhere. And I’ll even make this concession to providence. It may come
about in a better way than we proposed.”
Wilson remains an
engrossing, rich and fairly rigorous account of the high points of Woodrow
Wilson’s presidency; the consolidation of nearly eight years of diplomacy and
heartache into a little over three hours, impressively mounted to say the
least. If the film lacks humor and understanding, neither Alexander Knox’s
performance, nor Zanuck’s ambition to rearrange history can rightfully be
blamed. While critical reception to Wilson was praise-worthy for the
most part, the public failed to find reasons to attend. Lamar Trotti’s broad
canvas paints a glowing portrait of Wilson – the man – to be sure, with
occasional vignettes as a husband and father sandwiched between more lavishly
appointed scenes dedicated to the progression of world events and Wilson’s own
political ambitions. It is a tasteful representation, if, at times, veering
wildly from the truth. Either from
necessity for narrative concision or perhaps, Zanuck’s verve to deify this man
to whom he so obviously feels a kinship, and for better or worse, Wilson makes
several glaring omissions to the historical record. Otherwise, the picture’s general construction
is undeniably proficient in every way. Cribbing heavily from the music of this
period, time-honored hymns extolling the virtues of American patriotism, Alfred
Newman’s superb underscore elevates Trotti’s prose to another level of
melodrama entirely, as does Leon Shamroy and Ernest Palmer’s superior use of
Technicolor, adding mood, flavor and that zest for visual opulence for which,
undoubtedly, Zanuck has partly angled his dreams of success for the picture.
Better still, is
Alexander Knox heartfelt and sincere performance as the man of the hour;
effortlessly graduating from pragmatic college president to intellectually
stimulated politico and, finally, visionary idealist; the architect of a
tenuous détente for the nations of the world. Thriving in the cutthroat
political arena, even rising above the fray to look after the interests of the
average American, gave the real Woodrow Wilson rare insight into the machinery
of government. Zanuck’s Wilson merely vacillates in the machinations of
an obstinate fanatic. Yet, at the height of another world war, Zanuck’s Wilson
harks back to the stymied political ambition of this elder statesman –
qualified, ethical and nobler than most in his unaffected pursuit of humanity’s
self-preservation. Alas, then as now, audiences prefer men of action to those
of conscience. Wilson’s spectacular implosion at the box office is
rumored to have caused Zanuck to decree no one at the studio ever speak of it
again. And yet, for the rest of his life, Zanuck regarded Wilson with a
personal affection as the one film nearest his own heart.
Perplexedly, Wilson
is a movie impossible to digest at intervals. Leaving the theater for a
bathroom break, pausing the video at home, or, observing it incrementally with
commercial interruptions via standard television broadcasts all but destroys
both its continuity and its striking emotional impact. Yet, taken in one fell
swoop inside a darkened room, one is apt to be overwhelmed by the magnitude,
scope and content in this production. Wilson is a great film, superbly
cobbled together from the historical record and Zanuck’s impassioned covet to
make a supremely fine testament about his hero. Radiating ample portions of
wisdom and ethics, Wilson does not so much invent its moments of
scrupulousness as it finds the estimable and splendid qualities in its subject,
ably bringing these characteristics to light. The balancing act is, in no small
part, an authentication of Zanuck, Trotti, editor, Barbara McLean and director,
Henry King’s efforts; each contributing to the story’s incalculable entertainment
value. Considering the ambition and enormity of its exposition, Wilson rarely
devolves into a weighty invective. Pictorially, it is practically peerless;
James Basevi and Wiard Ihnen set design, seamlessly married to evocative matte
paintings and endless gatherings of real live people for the staggeringly
impressive ‘crowd scenes’. In the final analysis, Wilson is a
tragically underrated masterpiece. Its’ failure at the box office deeply
wounded Zanuck. But the film is purely his vision and unequivocally one of his
enduring works of genius.
Alas, I cannot
say the same of Fox’s Cinema Archive incarnation. We must first digress a
moment herein to explain a sad, unholy truth affecting virtually all of 2oth
Century-Fox’s back catalog of Technicolor movies. In the mid-1970’s, executive
logic was ostensibly at an all-time low. The Zanucks had departed the studio
and, in their wake, the new management sought to economize and streamline their
asset management and holdings. The assessment basically amounted to this: too
much vault space was ‘needlessly’ occupied by original film elements from the
old days that had no re-sale value. As the new custodians of this movie art
were not entirely heartless – though ever more so misguided – they opted to
instigate a program of false ‘preservation’ by which original Technicolor
records would be combined to produce one master dupe negative printed on then
current Eastman/Kodak color stock. No one thought to first inspect the original
Technicolor elements for differential shrinkage, fading, or other age-related
anomalies, to cull from the best possible surviving sources the best elements from
which these new fine grain masters were to be created. So, the transfer of
original elements was simply ‘recorded’ to the new film stock with all
their baked in imperfections: zero inspection afforded at the start and
virtually no follow-up to confirm the integrity of the new print master once it
had been created and archived, standing in as the only surviving copy of each
movie for generations to come. Once this process was completed, all original
elements were destroyed. Unfortunately, after the purge, a most un-welcome surprise surfaced. The new dupes were not only misaligned and fuzzy, but
severely compromised in their reproduction of color fidelity. Worse, the film
stock they had been printed on proved to have an even shorter shelf life than
the original elements – already in a state of decay. So, that unique use of
Technicolor in Fox’s heyday, to have typified Fox movies with a particularly
bawdy and bold use of its vibrancy, was gone and for all time; replaced by wan copies that in no way came anywhere close to achieving the same level of
razor-sharp detail or color accuracy. Are we ready to cry and/or throw things
at the screen just yet?!?
If there was any
artistic justice in the world today, then Wilson would already have made
the necessary leap to hi-def Blu-ray – afforded a complete digital clean-up and
resurrection – in so far as one is possible before porting the image to hi-def.
In my review of another MOD-DVD Fox masterpiece, Forever Amber I
complained about the studio’s short shrift of its classic catalog. But in
viewing Wilson even Forever Amber’s thoroughly lackluster
transfer seems more like an ephemeral miracle of loveliness. What on earth?!? Wilson’s
DVD transfer is so hopeless marred by atrociously substandard elements the
movie is virtually un-watchable for most of its run time. Where to begin?
First, overall color fidelity. This transfer has none. From shot to shot the
Technicolor veers wildly from marginally accurate and/or acceptable to woefully
under-exposed and severely faded. Next, to contrast levels: these are anemic in
the extreme and at best. Third: a barrage of age-related artifacts chronically
plagues every inch of this presentation. At times, they grossly distract. Last,
but certainly not least; I will expose this transfer for what it is: a careworn
NTSC scan, derived from a very old VHS master with excessive amounts of
video-based noise baked in and wreaking havoc on virtually any and all fine
details inherent in the visuals. Wilson on Fox’s MOD DVD looks about as
far-removed from its original theatrical release as it can. The audio is mono
and passable without ever distinguishing itself as anything but present and
accounted for.
I would not have
expected such an abomination from a fly-by-night bootleg operation, much less
one of the cornerstone studios of old-time and present-day Hollywood. What could the powers that be, be thinking in
giving us this disc – a Frisbee by any measure of quality and one for which I
am quite certain NO standards of quality were ever applied! As a biopic, I
would sincerely recommend Wilson as one of the all-time greats. It
deserves a Blu-ray release via Criterion or Twilight Time. But as a DVD I can
only say ‘don’t waste your money or your time on this one!’ Wilson
on MOD-DVD is undeserving of both! Very sincere regrets!!!
FILM RATING (out
of 5 – 5 being the best)
4.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
0
EXTRAS
0
Comments