The President's Mystery

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.

This is an interesting C film made on a tiny budget and directed by the run of the mill Phil Rosen, who made 142 films including such things as Charlie Chan and Shadow pictures. The film is a shameless attempt to exploit President Franklin Roosevelt's name at the box office. Roosevelt suggested an idea for a mystery story, six authors then wrote stories on that theme, which were published successfully, and this film takes inspiration from them (presumably without authority or without paying) and opens with a lot of ballyhoo about being 'the President's mystery'. And just in case anybody had any doubts, that is the title of the film too. It's called rubbing it in and also 'going for it'. Maybe they made a few bucks. However, having made all of those cynical observations, I can add that the film (which is not even a mystery story, by the way) has a serious message, which is treated with just enough restraint not to be a fantasy. Henry Wilcoxon plays a high-powered cartel lawyer who leaves his old life behind and sees the light. She takes the form of Betty Furness, who jumps from being 'Miss Brown' to 'darling' in about one second's screen time, so that an entire wooing and romance must have been left on the cutting room floor. But then, they don't really worry about such things in C pictures. On with the action. He decides to fight the cartel. The cartel send their bully boys round to wreck a factory, Wilcoxon is square-jawed and heroic and saves it, despite being in a framed rap for murder, indeed in jail for it, and the little guys struggle against the big guys in a very thirties way. There is lots of workers' action going on, speeches, incitement, dirty tricks, fistfights. The whole Great Depression looms large, Roosevelt is the hero, and the grit is gritty. It may be low-budget, it may be corny, but it is thoughtful, and avoids being propaganda, believe it or not. In the thirties, cartels may have been in people's imaginations a lot, but these days cartels are in people's faces, and we know they are no fantasy. Today's rogue traders and scheming moghuls make struggles to close down some canning factories in the interests of a monopoly, as in this film, look tame indeed. Sociologically and economically minded people would find this particular film relevant to their concerns, and it keeps you watching, so you can have some fun while you are worrying about society.

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.

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.

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.