Rating: - Poignant-History Repeating Itself in 2008
Metaldiva confession: I love good classic movies, this is a gem! This movie begins in the depression and 1933 presidential election of a political party figurehead, Walter Houston, who won making deals and assurances not to knock the status quo. The character is a shrewd politician unwilling to make any changes to alleviate the plight of the men in "unemployed camps", people having their homes foreclosed, stamp out bootleggers nor help to get the economy going for the middle classes and poor (sound familiar?) He is a single man, satisfied that his rich peers stay rich and even flaunts an illicit ... Read More
Rating: - Franklin Roosevelt's Blueprint?
Daisy Suckley was a cousin of FDR. She spent a great deal of time with him prior to the Presidency and again from 1941 to 1945, after Missy LeHand had a debilitating stroke.
Daisy died in 1995 and her diaries--unread until her death--were made into a book called "Closest Companion," which is a treasure trove of FDR info. Among the details: FDR told Daisy--in vague terms--about the Manhattan Project!
I reference "Closest Companion" because in it, Daisy tells about watching "Gabriel Over the White House" with FDR prior to his being inaugerated. She says in her diary that ... Read More
Rating: - A precode in a class by itself
I call this a precode in an unusual sense of the term. "Precode" usually drums up visions of movies like "Baby Face" and "The Divorcee" - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - Wish you were here
It starts out with this mean man (Newly elected President) that you nearly applaude at his getting into a car wreck, and him dying. But wait all is not lost. Gabriel (who is an archangel, who was in the Bible and announces the birth of Christ); takes over the dead Presidents body and begins changing things. He has to get rid of His cronies that were his supporters and backbone. Then He gets started getting programs going to help and feed the poor and jobless. Jump to the end and He finishes it off by threatening/promising the other nations that the United States will stop at nothing to end all warring ... Read More
Rating: - If you like "offbeat" classics....
...then by all means, check out this delightfully bizarre and obscure film.
Firstly, I want to stress my disappointment with the outrageously negative reviews that proceeded my post. It seems certain people can not separate a politically charged fantasy film from their current and modern perspectives concerning politics. They blast this harmless little film because of its content, never once commenting on the entertainment value as a movie. They write harshly against the film as a whole because it goes against their personal political beliefs, yet, these same type of people will profusely praise films ... Read More
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