It's interesting to read the reviews here of this film. For the most part, either quite positive or quite negative. And I have to come down on the negative side.
First, the film is so historically inaccurate. What else could it be when you include anything positive about the subject, but exclude anything negative about the subject. And with Wilson -- despite the fact that I'm a middle-of-the-road Democrat, there's a whole lot of rather unsavory racial issues and a sense that a president should be autocratic and above it all, that is left out of this film. There is no mention of his racial beliefs. There is no mention that he felt that his decisions were made through him by God. This is the sort of Wilson biography you might expect to read in an elementary school history book back in the 1950s...that all Presidents were good or even great.
And then there's the fact that the film is just playing boring...or should I say tedious? Perhaps the only parts that I truly enjoyed were the scenes at the convention. Not sure how accurate that was, but it was interesting to see how conventions might have been a hundred years ago. And what about his health? Throughout the film there is no mention of health issues, and then suddenly he's not supposed to go on his speaking tour because of his ill health. No groundwork had been laid for that.
Alexander Knox was a fine actor, but it seemed as if Hollywood never quite knew what to do with him. He does well here as Wilson. The film has a pretty good cast, but beyond Knox, on one has a particularly strong part. If I had been Thomas Mitchell or Charles Coburn, I would have been particularly disappointed in their weak parts here. Perhaps Geraldine Fitzgerald as the second Mrs. Wilson did deserve a mention.
Production standards were high, and it shows. Rather lavish. The award winning photography was hard to see in the version being shown on TCM...it really needs restoring of the clarity and crispness.
I'm glad I saw it, but I'll never watch it again.
First, the film is so historically inaccurate. What else could it be when you include anything positive about the subject, but exclude anything negative about the subject. And with Wilson -- despite the fact that I'm a middle-of-the-road Democrat, there's a whole lot of rather unsavory racial issues and a sense that a president should be autocratic and above it all, that is left out of this film. There is no mention of his racial beliefs. There is no mention that he felt that his decisions were made through him by God. This is the sort of Wilson biography you might expect to read in an elementary school history book back in the 1950s...that all Presidents were good or even great.
And then there's the fact that the film is just playing boring...or should I say tedious? Perhaps the only parts that I truly enjoyed were the scenes at the convention. Not sure how accurate that was, but it was interesting to see how conventions might have been a hundred years ago. And what about his health? Throughout the film there is no mention of health issues, and then suddenly he's not supposed to go on his speaking tour because of his ill health. No groundwork had been laid for that.
Alexander Knox was a fine actor, but it seemed as if Hollywood never quite knew what to do with him. He does well here as Wilson. The film has a pretty good cast, but beyond Knox, on one has a particularly strong part. If I had been Thomas Mitchell or Charles Coburn, I would have been particularly disappointed in their weak parts here. Perhaps Geraldine Fitzgerald as the second Mrs. Wilson did deserve a mention.
Production standards were high, and it shows. Rather lavish. The award winning photography was hard to see in the version being shown on TCM...it really needs restoring of the clarity and crispness.
I'm glad I saw it, but I'll never watch it again.