A 1960 film dealing w/the early days of FDR's trials & tribulations due to the effects of polio which left him wheelchair bound for the remainder of his life. Tracing the genesis of the disease's onslaught, we find FDR, played by Ralph Bellamy (one of the brothers from Trading Places), his wife Eleanor, played by Greer Garson & their children spending their lazy summer days at their seaside cabin & all seems to be well as the family frolics in the sun & spend their nights dolling out roles for their presentation of Julius Caesar. FDR keeps himself professionally busy by remaining in a law firm & even though his political days are behind him (he was Mayor of New York) his close confidante & political pusher, played by Hume Cronyn, keeps popping into his life, keeping the possibility fires burning for him to reenter the fray but when FDR collapses & a dirge of doctors descend upon him, his world turns upside down as not only does he have to deal w/this debilitating blow to his physical psyche but also the fretting from Garson & his own mother fortifies him to push forward eventually succeeding as he goes out in public more determined than ever. This story-line has been handled in later films like Hyde Park on Hudson w/Bill Murray (who played FDR) or Warm Springs w/Kenneth Branagh, both of which covered slices of FDR's life (one w/his infidelities & the other where he explored therapeutic treatments to his ailment) but Bellamy may well be the benchmark actor for this role (he already won a Tony for the stage version) capturing his intelligence, warmth & gritty determination to never quit (a sequence where he struggles to lift himself w/crutches is inspiring w/Garson (wearing fake teeth like Eleanor had) can do no wrong even when she breaks down in front of the children but quickly thinks of the family & straightens herself out. Look for David White (Larry Tate from Bewitched) as a political operative.
