The President's Mystery

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.

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.

Henry Wilcoxon is a Wall Street lawyer. Sidney Blackmer of National Can sends him down to Washington to kill a bill that will guarantee loans to local canneries. When he comes back, he goes fishing and finds Betty Furness in charge of a closed cannery in a dying town. He returns home, where wife Evelyn Brent is happy with their life, even though she's carrying on an affair with Blackmer.

So Wilcoxon turns his assets into cash and disappears. Brent is accidentally killed by Blackmer's chauffeur, who covers it up with an accident. Soon enough, the conclusion is that Wilcoxon went bust, killed his wife and committed suicide; in reality, he's helped to reopen the Furness' cannery as a cooperative. They're about to ship out the first batch, when Blackmer shows up in town put the squeeze on.

It's a good set-up for the situation, which was proposed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in an interview; he was known to be a mystery fan. He asked if a man could disappear with $5,000,000 with liquid assets. There's a scene with Wilcoxon reading the result in a slick magazine. the first half is an interesting piece of work, with some strong acting by all hands; the second half turns into a more standard work of New Deal fiction, the type of thing best left to Frank Capra.

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.

Nice programmer with a fascinating backstory. Based on a plot idea (really just a theoretical question) from then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It's about a rich man with an unhappy life who, after reading the Roosevelt magazine article that lead to this very film being made (how meta!), decides to liquidize all his assets and skip out on his terrible wife to go become a socialist reformer in a small town. Naturally a pretty young woman is behind this gentleman's sudden ideological transformation. After he sets his plan into motion, something happens that threatens to unravel it all.

The Roosevelt connection is interesting, especially if one has read about the President's struggles and personal life around this time. It makes one wonder if anybody in 1936 thought it was strange that a sitting President would be mulling over ideas about middle-aged rich men disappearing and setting up new lives to get away from their problems. Beyond that, I think it's a good B movie with an intriguing premise. The performances are all solid and the direction is creative here and there. It creaks and groans at times, no doubt a mix of its Poverty Row pedigree and the quality of available prints today. It's worth a look but probably more so for the historical elements than because it's particularly entertaining as a mystery film.