18 Aug Sunrise at Campobello
Sunrise at Campobello, Movie starring Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, and Hume Cronyn
(1960) Not a World War II movie, but the early life of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his struggle with infantile paralysis/polio was a huge influence in his presidency and later, the war.
This movie could be a companion piece to the movie “Warm Springs” which is more the accounting of Roosevelt’s trips to rural Georgia and the “Little White House” that he set up there, near the healing mineral spring waters where he and others with polio would swim and exercise. It was there that Franklin, from such a privileged family himself, learned how hard it was for much of the country to get along.
The world, with the exception of those at Warm Springs and the President’s closest associates, was never shown any but the merest hints of his disability. During the war, it would not do for our enemies to see any weakness in our President. This movie, and the 1958 Broadway play that preceded it, must have surprised many audiences with its honest portrayal of his struggles.
Ralph Bellamy and (one of my favorites) Greer Garson plays Franklin and Eleanor. It was Hume Cronyn who played Louis Howe, Roosevelt’s close friend and political advisor, who stole the show. Cronyn was another of my favorites along with his wife Jessica Tandy.
Sunrise At Campobello at amazon.com
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