Fdr

In 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the 32nd President of the United States. The country was in the grips of the Great Depression; Roosevelt was struggling with his personal demon of polio. As narrator and host of The American Experience David McCullough sums it up: "a man who could not walk would begin to lead a crippled country." FDR takes the skeletal facts (the names, dates, and places that we learned by rote in history class) from FDR's unparalleled four terms in office as President and creates the mesmerizing flesh and blood story of a man whom many would argue was the greatest President of the 20th-century. Born into the lap of luxury in secluded Hyde Park in upstate New York, the only child of a domineering mother, the upscale Roosevelt would ironically become the voice of the common man as President, boldly pushing through the controversial NRA, the WPA, and other legislative attempts to kickstart a moribund economy. Later, FDR would face an even greater challenge as the war in Europe claimed one country after another, and Roosevelt was forced to come up with creative programs like lend-lease to help Churchill in the face of isolationist sentiments at home (the isolationist stance would change dramatically on December 7, 1941). Weaving stills, film clips, and interviews with biographers Geoffrey Ward, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Hugh Gallagher, and family members, FDR also traces Roosevelt's lifelong efforts to conceal his struggle with polio from the public (well-covered in Coming to Terms [VL-12/91]). Equally interesting is Eleanor and Franklin's relationship: soured by an affair, strengthened--in some ways--by similar political goals, tragic in the end (Roosevelt's old flame, not Eleanor, would be beside him on his deathbed). I can think of few films this year--feature or documentary--that have told such a powerful story so well as does David Grubin in FDR. A superb film. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)