I expressly watched this on the same day as ANTHONY ADVERSE (1936), despite there being at least five titles which ought to have preceded it, on account of both these films emerging as perhaps the most overlooked of all the ones that had proved multiple Oscar winners. This, in fact, had an impressive 10 nominations to its name and, even if it only won half of them, it was still a considerable feat at the time: Best Original Screenplay (Lamar Trotti), Color Cinematography (Leon Shamroy), Color Art Direction/Interior Decoration, Editing and Sound Recording, while its other nods were for Best Picture (personally produced by Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck), Direction, Actor (Alexander Knox in easily the role of his life), Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Alfred Newman) and Visual Effects.
The film deals with the career and personal life (encompassing two wives) of the 28th American President, Woodrow Wilson, whose two terms of office lasted from 1912 to 1920, thus encompassing the First World War. However, for all its accolades, this was a notorious commercial flop – which can be ascribed to a number of factors, and not just the political elements within the narrative (the speechifying is often undeniably inspiring, yet it does eventually prove heavy-going at 2½ hours). Indeed, the quaint atmosphere redolent of the early 20th century (especially the collective singing, both at college and at home, which takes up a sizeable part of the running-time!) was already far removed from the conflict (WWII) that was under way when the film was released. Incidentally, Wilson's overly cautious attitude and his failed attempt to initiate a League of Nations in order to maintain world peace must not have gone down very well either – but, in retrospect, he would be vindicated as a visionary instead of a mere idealist when the United Nations was eventually established in 1945 (the opening text maintains he was as seminal a leader as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln)!
Still, one of the main virtues here is the sheer number of stars and character actors roped in to comprise the supporting cast: Geraldine Fitzgerald (as the second Mrs. Wilson who, when the President suffers a debilitating stroke towards the end of his tenure, takes over for him in addressing routine official matters!), Sidney Blackmer, Charles Coburn, Marcel Dalio (as French Prime Minister Clemenceau), Eddie Foy Jr. (playing his own vaudevillian father), Thurston Hall (as the Senator who first recommends Wilson for the Governor's seat then sees his corrupt practices exposed by him!), Charles Halton, Sir Cedric Hardwicke (virtually unrecognizable under white whiskers and a wig as Wilson's political rival), George Macready, Edwin Maxwell (as William Jennings Bryan), Thomas Mitchell (as Wilson's secretary but who bafflingly keeps calling him "Governor" even after he has entered the White House!), Vincent Price (bearing a most unbecoming haircut!), Stanley Ridges (as the Presidential physician but also, apparently, a military officer since he is seen parading in full regalia at one point!), etc. Apart from the pleasure of recognizing so many familiar faces (including genuine newsreel footage of Silent movie stars "Fatty" Arbuckle Marie Dressler, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford rallying for the war effort), the elaborate campaign sequences are vividly-staged and the confrontations (notably Wilson's uncharacteristically vociferous putdown of the Kaiser's envoy and his similar outburst at the 1919 Versailles peace treaty) compelling – yet it is Knox's dignified but nuanced portrayal which holds the film together.
By the way, the copy I watched (which, dim as it was, does not do the colour justice) was a rip off Spanish TV, with forced subtitles in that language!; for the record, the film was recently released as a Fox "Cinema Archive" DVD-R
but the quality, reportedly, still leaves much to be desired!
