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Waste of time

Powerful

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

As many others have said, this is a bizarre and frightening movie about dictatorship in America. It is amusing that Democrats said that Hammond represented Hoover, while Republicans insisted that he resembled Franklin Roosevelt. Actually he bore much more of a resemblance to Warren G. Harding, who was a typical old time back slapping,ward heeling politician only interested in gorging himself on graft once in office. Some people have commented that the Secret Service would not have let him drive the limousine.But things were much less tightly controlled in those days.Even though his predecessor had been assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt used to walk through the streets of Washington to church every Sunday, with only one Secret Service man walking twenty feet behind!The main misapprehension which you see even in movie reviews of this, is that Hammond "reformed".It is pretty obvious that Hammond actually DIED in that auto crash. His body was "alive" in a vegetative state, but that is all. What happened is that some supernatural being merely used his body.A spirit? An angel? The Archangel Gabriel himself? Who knows. Whatever it was, it was not human. It was totally unemotional, acting with all of the cold logic and precision of a robot. And when its work was finished, it exited the now unneeded body, which finished dying. In its cold unemotionality it was in its way even creepier than Hitler.

From my introduction at the Library of Congress in 2012. The motion picture GABRIEL OVER THE WHITE HOUSE is a unique example of the genre of political drama, in fact it maybe the only Presidential biography movie as science fiction fantasy. Nancy Loe a historian and author on William Randolph Hearst sent an email to my wife Jenny this afternoon when she heard we were playing this film here tonight. And I quote: "Hearst's political ideas were directly expressed in his 1933 production entitled Gabriel Over the White House. The movie relates the story of President Jud Hammond (played by Walter Huston), whose ineffectual responses to the economic blight of the Depression satisfy only the corrupt political machine that secured his election. Through the intervention of a reporter (assisted by the angel Gabriel), Hammond abandons his passive Herbert Hooverish policies and transforms himself into "a dictatorial presence made in differing parts of Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and Huey Long. Hammond is granite in feature, solemn in word, aggressive in manner, and unconstitutional in action." Both the screenwriter, Carey Wilson, and the producer, Walter Wanger, recall Hearst participating actively on this film, even to the point of writing or rewriting the Presidential speeches used in the movie. Hearst hoped the film would inspire additional public support for newly-elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Hearst had not endorsed Roosevelt's Presidential aspirations until it became clear that Hearst's first choice, could not swing the necessary votes on the convention floor. Hearst agreed to release California's crucial delegates to Roosevelt from the Gothic Library, Hearst's private San Simeon office, and Roosevelt was duly nominated. Although he would soon break with Roosevelt, primarily over the issue of taxes on the wealthy, Hearst agreed with FDR that the first hundred days of the Roosevelt administration were crucial. Gabriel Over the White House, containing several references to the recent 1932 Presidential campaign, was a direct effort on Hearst's part to smooth the path for the real-life President he had helped into office." – Unquote. Made during the Pre-Code era the production code was more relaxed towards controversial story lines. The author of the novel that the film was based on Thomas Frederic Tweed who wrote the novel originally called "Rinehard" in England but changed to "Gabriel Over the White House : A Novel of the Presidency" for the U.S. I checked Amazon.com for copies of the book and only found three available selling for between $484 and $750.Tweed worked for a British politician David Lloyd George during the 1920's as a personal secretary. In the film he is portrayed by the Franchot Tone character. In real life he also fell in love with his bosses pretty personal secretary, in the film played by Karen Morley. But when he wrote his novel he changed the story to the 1950's and had it take place in the United States. But what was in the mind of the audiences of March 1933 when this film was brand new… The Great Depression started in October of 1929 with the stock market crash setting off a decade of high unemployment (15-20% by time this film opened), poverty, low profits, breadlines, etc. causing a general loss of confidence in economic growth. The depression bottomed out in the winter of 1932/33, just as Roosevelt took over. There are some incidents based on fact like when the movie shows an army of the unemployed in real life in 1932 the Bonus Army marched on Washington and then President Hoover asked the Army to force them out. In the movie a better solution was found and many of other aspects of the new deal are hinted at like the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. In conclusion this is not a great film, actually a bizarre film with strange ideas but a work of fiction that is never boring. And it's a great chance to see little Dickie Moore one of the little rascals who plays the presidents nephew, who is still alive and turned 87 this past September 12. I hope you enjoy this unusual film.

The film is a sort of modern fairy tale and begins with the inauguration of a new President. This one is COMPLETELY unlike any other president (uh, huh), as he has absolutely no ambition to do or change anything--even though the country is in the midst of the Depression. When he's asked important questions at a press conference, his answers have absolutely nothing to do with what was asked. When there is an army of unemployed who are converging on DC (like the real-life 'Bonus Army' during the Hoover administration), he's shown playing with his young nephew--oblivious and happily so. To put it bluntly, he's a selfish and lazy jerk.When the President is in a motorcade, he behaves very irresponsibly--choosing to drive his own car AND drive it like a maniac. As he drives at 100 miles per hour, his escort can't even keep up and the audience knows something is about to happen. Naturally, there is an accident and he's expected to die. BUT, unexpectedly, he awakens and is physically fine, but is also a thoroughly changed man. Instead of the lazy jerk he'd been, he's now a good man ready for action--even if the Congress and his own Cabinet couldn't care less. Assuming near dictatorial powers, he now does exactly what needs to be done for good of the nation. And, in the process, he introduces an enlightened form of socialism for the good of America. How this all came to be and what happens next you'll just have to see for yourself.The film comes across as a very entertaining and well-meaning film--and clearly a product of the times. While most will no doubt enjoy it, the film scared the crap out of me. Although the film was not meant as a ringing endorsement for National Socialism (i.e., the Nazis), the message could easily be interpreted as approval for such a heavy-handed and all-controlling government that is acting 'for the good of the nation'. While in the case of this film the President is a benevolent dictator, such unhealthy desires for a tough guy who does what MUST be done (despite the Constitution) is a very dangerous idea indeed! Hitler himself sold his nation a similar bill of goods--which looked awfully attractive back in 1933. Hitler ALSO asked his congress to declare a state of emergency, dissolve themselves and grant him almost unlimited powers. At least this is my perspective as a history and government teacher.Well made, well meaning...and a bit dangerous. By the way, for you fans of classic Hollywood films, get a load of the performance of Mischa Auer as a reporter who confronts the President. His usual accent and European manners are just about completely absent here--probably one of the very few times he played a role this way during his career.

Walter Huston is excellent as always portraying a Depression-era President of the United States who sees his work for the American people as just another job. He's reckless and cavalier, but after coming out of a coma brought about by a car wreck, the lazy leader suddenly reforms and gets down to business. He wants his entire Cabinet to resign and Congress to adjourn so that he can take control over the U.S. via a one-man dictatorship. Dated, though still interesting piece of political folly and impudence, written by Carey Wilson from an "anonymous" novel, was probably a timely and enjoyable picture of its day; however, with Hitler's dictatorship in Germany about to change all of Europe, the movie soon lost its novelty (and the fascist overtones and the subtle religious angle, with Huston apparently overtaken by an otherworldly spirit, likely didn't help matters). Were the filmmakers trying to say that if God has His way, America would best be ruled under Marshall Law? One can certainly enjoy the picture without having to parallel its tactics with events in world history, although some may argue this angle is the only thing which keeps the film engaging. In either event, the acting is solid (if occasionally broad), the editing is sharp, and director Gregory La Cava does striking work; his strong, provoking visual sense causes several sequences to resemble German Expressionism. **1/2 from ****