FDR - A Presidency Revealed (History Channel)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Franklin Delano RooseveltBrand: A and E Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 200 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-07-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product features:
- For twelve years he stood as America's 32nd President, a man who overcame the ravages of polio to pull America through the Great Depression and WWII. From his legendary Fireside Chats to his sweeping New Deal, Franklin Delano Roosevelt revolutionized the American way of life. FDR: A PRESIDENCY REVEALED examines one of history's most compelling figures. Inspired by his cousin Teddy Roose
Movie Reviews of FDR - A Presidency Revealed (History Channel)
Movie Review: A "great deal" about the 20th Century's greatest president
Summary: 5 Stars
This marvelous 2-disk set covers to FDR's story from two angles. One (Disk 1) is the deeper and more thoughtful of the two. It focuses on the successes in Roosevelt's life (elected 4 times, pushed life-changing legislation through Congress, led the US through the greatest war in its history) but also on the man's dark side. He was considered cold by his successor, Harry Truman; he had lifelong dalliances throughout his married life; he struggled hard to hide his inability to walk from the public; he could be as shallow as a playboy and secretive as the most humble recluse. The strength of this disk is in the scholarly take of several academics as well as the private reminiscences from his grandson and from numerous private home movies take at the Hyde Park Estate. The FDR that emerges from this exposition is eternally optimistic, but a tough and wily political adversary. In his personal life, he could be blisteringly insensitive. Following an early infidelity, his marriage to Eleanor was best described as a business relationship. Franklin needed the appearance of propriety; Eleanor needed a public forum for her progressive causes. And while FDR saved millions from bankruptcy and despair, his policies did not help all. FDR's New Deal "radicalism" stopped at the fence line of black farmers, whose plight in the 1930s was more pitiable even than that of suffering white farmers. FDR's reticence about putting his political capitol behind an anti-lynching law was further evidence of his electoral savvy, which is the flip side of cold-hearted political calculation. He needed Southern congressional votes to pass his legislation. Disk 1 also shows FDR working tirelessly (if duplicitously) to keep America neutral before the war, while planting the seeds in his countrymens' minds that intervention might be unavoidable: a Europe conquered by the Nazis would ultimately be a threat to safety and liberty for America. FDR's excruciating efforts to combat the painful effects of polio are heartbreakingly portrayed, as are his philanthropic and personal involvement in the treatment of thousands of "polios," as they were then known, at Warm Springs in Georgia. Disk 1 also covers Eleanor's efforts for civil rights during FDR's presidency. The film covers FDR's deteriorating physical health, and suggests that they (and the need to keep Stalin in the war) were partially responsible for the giveaways at Yalta that set the stage for the Cold War. My only disappointment was that coverage of the war years was strangely truncated. It wasn't clear why relatively little was spent on this important period.
Disk 2 includes a shorter portrayal of FDR from the "Biography" series. This piece was far less satisfying, skirting major issues in FDR's life. Gone is any mention of the presence of FDR's longtime paramour, Lucy Mercer, on the day he died. And Yalta is described unconvincingly as a major success for the ailing president. There are some great items in this piece that were not on Disk 1, namely long excerpts from FDR's speeches. There was also footage of a delicious campaign speech at the American Socialist convention making it very clear that to the party, FDR was no socialist. What a perfect response to the charge of socialism that the Socialists disown you!
Disk 2 also had a short interview at Hyde Park with a park ranger and several Roosevelt scholars. The focus was on the way Roosevelt hid his disability. Even his own home was barely modified to accommodate this man, who was paralyzed from the waist down.
"FDR: A Presidency Revealed" was an impressive introduction to the man, his times and his legacy. No wonder it is displayed prominently at the gift shop at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC. The use of archival footage in both disks is exemplary, though purists might dislike the use of a fair amount of colorizing in Disk 1 and the use of a look-alike in Disk 2. If time is short and you want an in-depth view, focus on Disk 1. If you prefer your heroes without blemishes, watch Disk 2. A must-see for those who want to understand the man and the times that desperately needed him.
Summary of FDR - A Presidency Revealed (History Channel)
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