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The President's Mystery

  • 1936
  • Approved
  • 1h 20min
NOTE IMDb
5,6/10
219
MA NOTE
Betty Furness, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Henry Wilcoxon in The President's Mystery (1936)
Drame

Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueA millionaire with a crumbling personal life comes up with an idea on how he can disappear, start a new life without anyone knowing who he is and be able to take all his money with him.A millionaire with a crumbling personal life comes up with an idea on how he can disappear, start a new life without anyone knowing who he is and be able to take all his money with him.A millionaire with a crumbling personal life comes up with an idea on how he can disappear, start a new life without anyone knowing who he is and be able to take all his money with him.

  • Réalisation
    • Phil Rosen
  • Scénario
    • Franklin D. Roosevelt
    • Rupert Hughes
    • Samuel Hopkins Adams
  • Casting principal
    • Henry Wilcoxon
    • Betty Furness
    • Sidney Blackmer
  • Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro
  • NOTE IMDb
    5,6/10
    219
    MA NOTE
    • Réalisation
      • Phil Rosen
    • Scénario
      • Franklin D. Roosevelt
      • Rupert Hughes
      • Samuel Hopkins Adams
    • Casting principal
      • Henry Wilcoxon
      • Betty Furness
      • Sidney Blackmer
    • 14avis d'utilisateurs
    • 2avis des critiques
  • Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro
  • Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro
  • Photos5

    Voir l'affiche
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    Rôles principaux33

    Modifier
    Henry Wilcoxon
    Henry Wilcoxon
    • James Blake
    Betty Furness
    Betty Furness
    • Charlotte Brown
    • (as Betty Furness - courtesy MGM)
    Sidney Blackmer
    Sidney Blackmer
    • George Sartos
    Evelyn Brent
    Evelyn Brent
    • Ilka Blake
    Barnett Parker
    Barnett Parker
    • Roger
    Mel Ruick
    • Andrew
    Wade Boteler
    Wade Boteler
    • Sheriff
    John Wray
    John Wray
    • Shane
    Guy Usher
    Guy Usher
    • Police Lieutenant
    Robert Homans
    Robert Homans
    • Sergeant
    • (as Robert E. Homans)
    Si Jenks
    Si Jenks
    • Earl
    Arthur Aylesworth
    Arthur Aylesworth
    • Joe Reed
    Harry Antrim
    Harry Antrim
    • Inspector A.R. Lahey
    Byron Foulger
    Byron Foulger
    • Undetermined Supporting Role
    • (non confirmé)
    Roy Barcroft
    Roy Barcroft
    • Townsman
    • (non crédité)
    Clem Bevans
    Clem Bevans
    • Bus Passenger
    • (non crédité)
    Horace B. Carpenter
    Horace B. Carpenter
    • Townsman
    • (non crédité)
    John Dilson
    John Dilson
    • Banker
    • (non crédité)
    • Réalisation
      • Phil Rosen
    • Scénario
      • Franklin D. Roosevelt
      • Rupert Hughes
      • Samuel Hopkins Adams
    • Toute la distribution et toute l’équipe technique
    • Production, box office et plus encore chez IMDbPro

    Avis des utilisateurs14

    5,6219
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    Avis à la une

    3bkoganbing

    FDR pitches a story idea

    Reading some of the information about how The President's Mystery came into being it seems like that story would make a far better film than The President's Mystery itself. Even if I had seen the director's cut which was originally 80 minutes. Sad to say about 3/8 of this film seems to have been gutted and I had to fill in a lot of blanks.

    Another president named Warren G. Harding had a campaign song that came about just about like this film. At the famous Republican convention of 1920 several prominent songwriters did a collaborative effort and came up with a campaign song that featured such gems as "we need another Lincoln to do our country's thinking, Mr. Harding we're behind you". None of the writers which included Irving Berlin and George Gershwin took copyright credit.

    Here Franklin D. Roosevelt pitches a story idea about whether a rich man could liquidate his assets and just disappear. Six prominent authors of the time and their names are listed on the credits of The President's Mystery wrote a collaborative story. Of course when have that much variety in the mix the result can be bland.

    This film can't make up its mind whether it's a screwball comedy, a murder mystery, or in the end a Capra like populist song for the common man. Henry Wilcoxon is our protagonist who does liquidate his assets and leaves an unhappy marriage with Evelyn Brent and moves down south and finds a company town where the cannery is shut down and everyone on relief as they called public assistance back in the day. He gets the place started again, but some old enemies in the person of Sidney Blackmer try to defeat his plans. It turns out someone murdered Evelyn after Wilcoxon left town and he's looking good for it.

    Betty Furness is the country girl who wins Wilcoxon and Barnett Parker is his former butler who saves the day.

    The film was shut on a nickel and dime budget by the even tighter than usual fisted Herbert J. Yates and Republic Pictures. Since the overhead was cheap, FDR's Warm Springs Foundation for Infantile Paralysis I'm sure got a nice check from Republic where the picture credits say all profits went to.

    Maybe the film might be higher rated if we could see the whole thing, but we have to go with what we have.
    3Leofwine_draca

    Only of interest for one reason

    THE PRESIDENT'S MYSTERY is a 1936 potboiler solely of interest for having a story written by none other than Franklin D. Roosevelt, the only time a film in history can boast being written by a president as such. Whether it's a good story or not is another question, one that only the viewer can decide.

    The film's protagonist is a millionaire who has made some bad decisions in life, leading him to decide to just disappear and reappear elsewhere with a new, assumed identity. Intrigue proceeds to follow him. There's some mystery and comedy but the film never really succeeds in either genre, instead coming across as bland and instantly forgettable.
    6JoeytheBrit

    The President's Mystery review

    A millionaire believes he has successfully disappeared with his fortune intact, but his past comes back to haunt him. The only movie to boast a co-writing credit for a serving President (Franklin D. Roosevelt) is a socially conscious but scrappy affair from Republic. The 'remastered' version I saw was missing almost half-an-hour from the original running time - and it shows. At least it's different.
    5F Gwynplaine MacIntyre

    F.D.R., don't quit your day job...

    "The President's Mystery" isn't really a mystery, but it's a well-made B-picture with an interesting premise. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was fond of reading murder mysteries. On 12 May 1935, at a White House luncheon, FDR offered his lunch guests an idea for a mystery: How could a millionaire disappear and start a new life for himself, under a new identity, yet manage to take his wealth with him? One of the guests at that luncheon was magazine editor Fulton Oursler, who wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym 'Anthony Abbot'. Intrigued by FDR's idea, Oursler contacted five other authors (including S.S. Van Dine, creator of the popular Philo Vance mysteries), and they set out to write a novel that could answer FDR's question. This was published as "The President's Mystery Story", with FDR listed as co-author (although he contributed only the premise). It is not a very good book, due to its patchwork structure: the various chapters are written by different authors of radically different styles and widely varying talent. But largely due to its novelty appeal and FDR's personal popularity, "The President's Mystery Story" became a best-seller.

    This movie is the film version, with a title card in the opening credits explaining FDR's participation. The screenplay was written by Lester Cole and the grossly overrated Nathanael West, who brings none of his own sardonic viewpoint to this movie.

    Industrialist James Blake (the underrated actor Henry Wilcoxon, who later submerged his career into C.B. DeMille's) has messed up his personal life and he wants to start over in a new identity ... but he doesn't want to lose the fortune he's already compiled. He hits upon a very clever plan which might actually have worked in the 1930s, but which nowadays (with computer databases and biometric I.D.) couldn't possibly succeed. Blake locates a crooked investment firm run by two con men (one of them is played by Charles Williams, the meek little actor who played Eustace Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life"). Claiming to have enough evidence to put the crooks in prison, Blake bullies them into abandoning their investment firm without dismantling it. Blake then secretly takes over the brokerage without any paperwork to document the transfer. Operating in the open, he then proceeds to invest his own fortune in the crooked brokerage house ... thus neatly robbing himself! (But how does he withdraw the money after he deposits his cheques?)

    Because Blake is publicly perceived to lose his fortune, nobody is surprised when he vanishes ... an apparent suicide. He establishes a new identity with plausible ease (again, this was before high-tech I.D.) and it looks like he's accomplished his goal. But then something goes wrong...

    There are several good performances here, most notably Wilcoxon's, Sidney Blackmer's and a comic turn by Barnett Parker in his usual silly-ass Englishman mode, and a performance by the underrated John Wray. Byron Foulger gives his usual inept performance as a milquetoast. Betty Furness is dull and unattractive, as usual for her.

    I'll rate this movie 5 out of 10. FDR's participation is almost nonexistent, and co-screenwriter Nathanael West's influence on the material is minor. But this modest film has some genuine merits and an unusual story; I recommend it.
    4planktonrules

    About as subtle as a nudist at a Baptist picnic!

    The background for this film is given in a prologue. Apparently, the President himself (FDR) challenged several writers to come up with a story that is believable about a rich man disappearing and staying incognito despite having millions. This movie, apparently, is the result of the challenge and Franklin Roosevelt is listed among the writers of this film! Sadly, the story is NOT believable and seems like a politically motivated bit of public relations. For this, and that is all, the story is mildly interesting.

    James Blake (Henry Wilcoxon) is a mega-millionaire who has little to do with himself as he's loaded with money and his holding run themselves. One day, he goes on a fishing trip and discovers a small town in trouble...in trouble thanks to industrialists like himself. So, he decides to pretend to be just a regular Joe and moves to the town in order to re-start its dead canning industry.

    Unfortunately for Blake, his less than loving wife has been accidentally killed...and folks think HE is responsible. This means that remaining in disguise might be a good idea...though he doesn't have access to his immense fortune.

    The film comes off like a Depression era fairy tale--with some stereotypes and obvious messages are inserted liberally. I think had the story been less heavy-handed and more believable, it could have worked, as one of the best films of the 1930s was "The Millionaire"...a film from 1931 starring the wonderful George Arliss. It's also about a man who is essentially like Blake--who goes back to work and gets his hands dirty because being a millionaire is so dull and non- productive.

    Histoire

    Modifier

    Le saviez-vous

    Modifier
    • Anecdotes
      This is the only film where a sitting President of the United States has been credited as a writer.
    • Gaffes
      Blake's dog accompanies him on the fishing trip, then doesn't appear when he goes into the meeting hall or any time after that.
    • Citations

      Opening Titles: Forward. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, talking with a magazine editor on one of his favorite subjects ~ mystery stories ~ advanced the question: "How can a man disappear with five million dollars of his own money in negotiable form and not be traced?" Challenged by this, the editor enlisted the aid of six famous authors. The result was a thrilling story. The same problem intrigued the producers of this photoplay, and in another form is now brought to the screen. The proceeds of the sale of the plot, both for publication and motion picture rights, have been given voluntarily by the publisher to the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation.

    • Crédits fous
      President Franklin D. Roosevelt, talking with a magazine editor on one of his favorite subjects--mystery stories--advanced the question: "How can a man disappear with five million dollars of his own money in negotiable form and not be traced?" Challenged by this, the editor enlisted the aid of six famous authors. The result was a thrilling story. The same problem intrigued the producers of this photoplay, and in another form is now brought to the screen. The proceeds of the sale of the plot, both for publication and motion picture rights, have been given voluntarily by the publisher to the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation.
    • Connexions
      Featured in Red Hollywood (1996)

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    Détails

    Modifier
    • Date de sortie
      • 28 septembre 1936 (États-Unis)
    • Pays d’origine
      • États-Unis
    • Langue
      • Anglais
    • Aussi connu sous le nom de
      • One for All
    • Lieux de tournage
      • Republic Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californie, États-Unis
    • Société de production
      • Republic Pictures
    • Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro

    Spécifications techniques

    Modifier
    • Durée
      1 heure 20 minutes
    • Couleur
      • Black and White
    • Rapport de forme
      • 1.37 : 1

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    Betty Furness, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Henry Wilcoxon in The President's Mystery (1936)
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    By what name was The President's Mystery (1936) officially released in Canada in English?
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