The Remarkable Andrew

The Remarkable Andrew is a charming and whimsical fantasy with strong Frank Capra like overtones. A pair of Andrews are involved here, the 7th president of the United States Andrew Jackson played by Brian Donlevy and Andrew Long a city bookkeeper in Shale City, Colorado whose ancestor saved Jackson's life at the Battle Of New Orleans.

William Holden plays Andrew Long who finds a discrepancy in the city books and he resists pressure to whitewash and cover up the discrepancy. For that he's framed to take the fall for the discrepancy.

The ghost of Andrew Jackson comes to pay an old debt which causes a few comical moments for the audience, not for Holden especially with his fiancé Ellen Drew. When Holden is jailed Jackson brings reinforcements with the ghosts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Benjamin Franklin, and Jesse James. Obviously Jesse has talents that can be put to use the others lack and does. And there is poor Private Henry Smith played by Jimmy Conlin who came along for the ride.

The courtroom scene is a classic reminding one so much of Mister Deeds Goes To Town when Gary Cooper's sanity is called into question. Or Jimmy Stewart fighting his expulsion from the Senate is Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

In fact Bill Holden who said that he admired Spencer Tracy and Fredric March as actors gets to deliver a long Tracy like speech to the court. He did the same kind of speech at the board meeting climax scene in Executive Suite in the next decade. His ghostly friends provide him the ammunition to clear himself.

Directed by Stuart Heisler the script was adopted by Dalton Trumbo of the Hollywood 10 from his own novel. If this was the stuff that got him blacklisted it's a frightening prospect.

The Remarkable Andrew is a real gem among the early films of William Holden.

I first saw "The Remarkable Andrew" on television during my senior year in high school in 1967. I had been studying the Blacklist era, particularly since our beloved teacher, John Stewart, had been targeted by innuendo and nearly lost his job. I remember thinking how strange that this was evidence of Dalton Trumbo's communist conspiracy. It is full of the love for America and its ideals. I am glad that the new film, "Trumbo" is helping to set the record straight and to illuminate the ugliness of the HUAC. As Paul Robeson said to them, "You are the un-Americans". The other twist is that we owned the 78 RPM "Ballad For Americans", sung by Robeson and used to sing it as a family. Another communist or "fellow traveler", singing such a patriotic song?

Andrew Long (William Holden) works as an accountant for his town. When going over the books, he discovers a discrepancy of $1240 and brings it to his superiors' attention...who essentially tell him to forget about it. But he can't...and soon various dead American heroes come to help him with this predicament...including George Washington and Mr. Long's namesake, Andrew Jackson! As I mentioned in the summary...what a weird film! Later, all sorts of Revolutionary period characters come to visit him...and everyone in town thinks he is a nut because they can't see these ghosts that Andrew is constantly talking to.

When you think of William Holden's films, you don't think of "The Remarkable Andrew"...probably because it's slipped into obscurity. I also think it was a film he hoped would slip into security. The plot is dopey and Holden mostly spends the film looking befuddled and it's not exactly a master class in acting. It's earnest..but badly written and with an absolutely ludicrous premise. It's also a bit embarrassing to watch.

This is another one of those gems from Hollywoods golden era of film-making. They just don't make 'em like that anymore and never will either. It is a shame this isn't available on VHS or DVD. Our star William Holden gets into serious legal troubles and is visited by the ghost of Andrew Jackson, who in turn bring along a whole group of famous founding fathers to solve the problem with, of course, very funny situations. Great movie, I haven't seen it in years so forgive the somewhat fuzzy plot summary but trust me it is great film. It has been shown on AMC I believe in the past. This is a early William Holden film and he is in fine form. Brian Donlevy plays Andrew Jackson with Montague Love as Gen. George Washington (great character actor). Let's hope this gem will be available soon

William Holden (Andrew) gets out of bed and launches into exercises with way too much vigour. He's a tw*t. His day follows a routine in which he is obsessively punctual - to the extent that he doesn't start work until his designated start time and sits watching the clock until this time arrives. He is also an accountancy jobsworth and refuses to follow the advice of his boss to stop nosing around a discrepancy which he is asked not to worry about. He is even offered an increased salary. The film follows him to a courtroom where he must defend himself against corruption charges. However he has the help of the ghost of Andrew Jackson as played by Brian Donlevy and some other ghostly influential people. Can he walk free?

This film is pretty tedious. It's a comedy that is never funny and, as well as an annoying lead man, has several scenes where your mind wanders. A case in point is the drawn out speech that Holden gives in the courtroom. How boring! If you see a ghost, it is usually a scary experience and you certainly don't indulge in slapstick with it. It's an unbelievable story with a ridiculous leading character and not worth watching.

I bought this film because it has my name in the title and I wanted to relate to it. However, unlike me, this is all very unremarkable. I'm still waiting to see a ghost but my cousin has. And so has my aunt. And they were definitely not amusing occasions. Anyway, even as a comedy this one fails.