Diez pasos inmortales

"Sunrise at Campobello" enacts early events in the personal life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt with fine production values, including solid performances.

Certainly both Ralph Bellamy and Greer Garson had their work cut out playing, respectively, Franklin and Eleanor. They got their characterizations down pat, and their work is of a high calibre.

The talented supporting cast is headed by Hume Cronyn as Franklin's best friend and Ann Shoemaker as his doting mother. Jean Hagen is seen as a good-natured secretary.

It may be that Dore Schary's script from his play was too lengthy, or that Vincent J. Donahue's direction was too slow. Whatever the case, running at 144 minutes this seems a pretty long haul for the average viewer.

Bellamy's work is consistently exectued, with all of the famous FDR mannerisms--it is also slowly-paced. Garson's Eleanor captures her distinctivly slow, deliberate speech cadence. Likewise, both principals' makeups are subtely effective.

The script begins in 1921 when Franklin was 40 and wisely ends just three years later with his politically important nominating speech for Al Smith. While there may be some dramatic modifications of factual material, the basic flavor of the period and characters are well handled.

Fraklin's overcoming of physical adversity to become a four term US president is a story of great interest, from both a human and professional perspective. "Sunrise at Campolbello" skillfully presents this inspired period of American history.

In 1921, while summering at his Campobello estate, future U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy) is stricken with "infantile paralysis" (also known as polio). Though the use of his legs is permanently lost, Mr. Roosevelt perseveres, combining inner strength with the support of wife Eleanor (Greer Garson) and political pal Louis Howe (Hume Cronyn). Ex-MGM production chief Dore Schary's "Sunrise at Campobello" began its life as a Broadway hit, and is a little too lengthy and theatrical as a motion picture. Still, it's an important story, about what may well wind up being the most important world leader of the twentieth century.

The film also features what has become regarded, in many circles, as a legendary portrayal of FDR by Mr. Bellamy, reprised in Dan Curtis' mammoth mini-series "The Winds of War" (1983) and follow-up "War and Remembrance" (1989). Bellamy's FDR won a "Tony" award, but was oddly overlooked for an "Oscar" (the five nominees as "Best Actor" were also deserving, however).

Ms. Garson did receive an "Academy Award" nomination as "Best Actress" for her portrayal of Eleanor; at the time, the role was considered a stretch, which Garson pulled off. Her vocal work often sounds too affected; but, so was the real Mrs. Roosevelt's voice, many would argue. Garson outright won the dramatic actress award from both the "Golden Globe" and the "National Board of Review" groups. Other organizations noted Mr. Schary's film was one of the year's best, with Vincent Donohue (Director), Bellamy, Garson, and Mr. Cronyn (Supporting Actor) among the honorably mentioned. The real Mrs. Roosevelt seems to have agreed.

******* Sunrise at Campobello (9/28/60) Dore Schary : Vincent J. Donehue ~ Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, Hume Cronyn, Tim Considine

Before Franklin D. Roosevelt could lead the nation in overcoming economic depression and fascist aggression, he had to overcome one of the greatest of personal challenges any would be president ever had to overcome. The years 1921 to 1924 in his life are the subject of Dore Schary's play Sunrise At Campobello which won a Tony Award for Best Play and for Ralph Bellamy as FDR.

Bellamy and Alan Bunce as Alfred E. Smith are the only ones who repeated their stage roles in this film. Bellamy, a most respected player was certainly not a leading man in a traditional sense nor any kind of box office. Mary Fickett who played Eleanor Roosevelt on stage was replaced by Greer Garson. I'm not sure why Henry Jones who also won a Tony for playing Louis McHenry Howe was replaced, but Hume Cronyn certainly did an admirable job as the asthmatic, cigar smoking former reporter who became FDR's devoted acolyte and one of the very few whom he vested 100% trust in during his life.

You can read the various biographies of Roosevelt by James McGregor Burns, Frank Freidel, Emil Ludwig and a host of others and most recently by British author Conrad Black and you'll find that Schary sticks very closely to what exactly happened in those four years. For people who grew up in the Roosevelt era like Schary, like my parents, Roosevelt approached almost deification in their minds. I would have expected nothing less than that from Dore Schary, a certified New Deal liberal in his politics.

One summer after spending a day swimming in the Bay of Fundy on Campbello Island where the Roosevelts had a summer home, Roosevelt was taken down with chills which quickly developed into paralysis, infantile paralysis, a dread scourge back in those days.

Roosevelt's career was thought to be over. At the time the disease struck him he was contemplating his next move after having run for Vice President with James M. Cox in 1920 on the Democratic ticket. It was thought he was finished then, he would retire to his estate at Hyde Park with people occasionally remembering what might have been. That was certainly what mother Sara, played by Ann Shoemaker wanted.

It's not what Eleanor wanted and definitely not what Louis Howe wanted who gave him the spark to overcome the limitations the disease put on him, if not the disease himself. That's the story of Sunrise At Campobello.

Sunrise at Campobello got four Oscar nominations, Best costume design, best art&set direction, best sound and for Greer Garson, best actress. Greer unfortunately was up against a sentimental vote for Elizabeth Taylor who had battled back from disease herself that year for Butterfield 8.

However the film is best remembered for Ralph Bellamy as FDR. He became the actor most identified with the role even though many like Dan O'Herlihy and Arthur Hill have played FDR in other venues. Bellamy got to repeat his portrayal of FDR in the acclaimed mini-series The Winds Of War. It's certainly something better to remember him by than what he had done before in films, usually the earnest goof who loses the leading lady in the end.

I highly recommend this film, especially for younger viewers who want to get a glimpse of incipient presidential greatness. It holds up well and will continue to for centuries.

For anyone remotely interested in the history of U.S. presidents, SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO does an outstanding job of recreating the period of time during which Franklin Deleano Roosevelt coped with his victory over suffering polio in his forties, just as his political ambitions were taking shape.

RALPH BELLAMY repeats his stage role and makes you forget that all he ever played in his earlier movies were the hapless saps who lost the girl in the last reel. He gives a full-bodied portrait of the man and is ably assisted by an actress who seemed a most unlikely choice for her role--GREER GARSON as Eleanor Roosevelt.

With a striking supporting cast headed by HUME CRONYN as Roosevelt's closest friend and adviser, the only weak point of the whole enterprise is the length of time it takes to tell the story. 144 minutes is a long time to sit through a tale such as this, crammed as it is with some static scenes and full of dialog exchanges that go on for some length of time.

But all in all, it's a fascinating history lesson in that all of the events unfold using a lot of historical background as to the politics of the time. Oddly enough, Bellamy himself did not win an Oscar nomination but Greer Garson did. She also won awards from The National Board of Review and the Golden Globes as Best Actress.

Well worth seeing, although it seems to wear out its welcome during the last twenty-five minutes or so.

Sunrise is Campobello is a film adaptation of the play, which starred Ralph Bellamy as FDR and Mary Fickett, who became a soap opera star, as Eleanor. Here, Bellamy repeats his stage role, and Greer Garson is Eleanor. Bellamy would play FDR again in both The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.

The story takes place in 1921, when FDR first contracted polio. He believes that he will walk again. We do know he took pains not to be seen in a wheelchair, and he was a man of such power that no one ever refers to him as crippled. In War & Remembrance (I think) there is a very moving scene where Roosevelt walks onto a ship, with the aid of two crutches.

This film concentrates on FDR's young family and how the children, his wife, his good friend Louis Howe (Hume Cronyn), and his dedicated secretary Missy (Jean Hagen) cope with his illness. The family is portrayed as idyllic -- members of the family cooperated with the filming, and it's not surprising that darker aspects of his married life were not shown. It is hinted at, however, that FDR's mother was problematic in the marriage.

Ralph Bellamy had an amazing career spanning over 60 years in film, television, and theater, and here he does a great job portraying FDR's optimism, geniality, and charisma. I had a little more trouble with Greer Garson's portrayal of Eleanor. I think in 1960, when there were so many people who knew Eleanor Roosevelt's voice, that Garson didn't have any other choice but to mimic it, but today it comes off as put on and overdone. Jane Alexander did a better job with the voice in "Eleanor and Franklin." All in all, an interesting and sobering film, showing FDR's struggle with a debilitating illness that he brought with him to four terms as president. Interesting to note, FDR felt he had to serve a third time as the country was in the middle of the war, but he did not announce he would seek a fourth term. Instead, he was drafted by the convention and felt he had to serve. He died three months into his fourth term; it's obvious at the Yalta conference that he was extremely ill. A very rare kind of strength.