Old Hickory

Old Hickory (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Warner short came a year after DeMille's THE BUCCANEER so one would have to wonder what the point was. In this 17-minute short, Andrew Jackson (Hugh Sothern) has just won the Battle of New Orleans and is about to have a party to celebrate. If that seems like a too brief summery then that's exactly what the film delivers as there's very little here in terms of plot. We don't get any battle scenes and we really don't get much of anything else except for the actors throwing around some silly dialogue and some voice-over work that moves the film along. The funny thing is that Sothern played the part of Jackson in the DeMille film so it appears Warner was just needing this in a hurry and didn't bother with too much casting time. Sothern is pretty good in the role as his stern figure and strong voice adds quite a bit. The supporting players really don't jump out at anyone. The one real benefit to the film, and the main reason to watch is, is because of the Technicolor. The rich colors really stand out and make sitting through the film a lot easier than it probably would have been without.

What we have here is Demille's THE BUCCANEER showing just the highlights of the Battle of New Orleans and the celebratory party afterwards, with some fine color photography and no story. As a matter of fact, the same actor plays Andy Jackson in both flicks.

In 1939 this was a mildly interesting short subject of the American History as Hagiography type, but little else. Most of the story is told in pompous voice-over, with lines like "Only his deep loyalty to the American people" and "Andrew Jackson was the first president sprung from the common people and his door was always open to his friends."

I would suggest that you read a good book on the subject instead of wasting ten minutes on this effort.

In this new century Andrew Jackson has gone into the historical dog house as historians now give emphasis to Jackson's defense of slavery and the removal of the Cherokee from their homelands. Yet this admittedly simplistic short subject will show why Jackson is on our money. He didn't get there by accident.

The short concentrates on two things where Andrew Jackson saved this country, the Battle of New Orleans against British invasion and as president his stand against secession in the nullification crisis.

Hugh Sothern who played Jackson in Cecil B. DeMille's The Buccaneer repeats the part here and well.

Short and simplitic nevertheless reminds us why Jackson is important in our history in a positive way.

Caught this on TCM because I was curious how it would refer to the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears.

It does not.

The short ends with the Nullification Crisis as if nothing else of importance happened during Jackson's presidency after that.