Amanecer en Campobello

'Sunrise at Campobello' is an adaptation of the Broadway stage play that was a success back in the day, detailing Franklin D Roosevelt's (one of America's most interesting and prolific presidents) battle with polio. It was very interesting seeing Ralph Bellamy in a very different and more dramatic role to usual, when thinking of Roosevelt Bellamy doesn't automatically come to mind looking at him and his previous roles but there have been plenty that have played against type and done brilliantly.

While not a film that blew me away, though Bellamy's performance did, 'Sunrise at Campobello' is an interesting film and a moving one that does really well at showing Roosevelt's struggles in an accessible way. It may not be a perfect translation from stage to film, but in this regard considering how many films based on stage plays struggled making their source material more cinematic this is a worthy effort that is to be applauded in my view.

It isn't perfect, with its stage origins being betrayed in some static character interaction, some creaky pacing and parts where it gets a bit too theatrical.

Especially in the rather overstretched and meandering last half an hour.

However, a lot is great. Bellamy is extraordinary in an authoritative and deeply felt performance that makes Roosevelt a compellingly real character and not a caricature. Not at least nominating him for an Oscar was a big mistake. Greer Garson, who was nominated, supports him more than ably and sympathetically and the supporting cast are just as on the money. Hume Cronyn being particularly first class. The script is also very intelligent and thoughtful, without being too talky.

Although the storytelling isn't perfect, it does a great job making Roosevelt's struggles with polio and how he copes with it very poignant and inspiring, as a disabled person this aspect resonated with me. It is a well filmed and far from static or overblown looking film, a lot of it being sumptuous. The direction is generally very skilled and the music doesn't come over as melodramatic or stock.

Concluding, well executed and worth seeing for particularly Bellamy. 7/10.

I have seen a number of Ralph Bellamy films where he was cast as a looser type tied to his mother's apron strings. The problem is he did too good of a job. Can you say type casting? I am a huge fan of classic films because I believe it was a time when a movie was judged as good or bad by the skill of the actors and not insane special effects. There is a place for special effects that can take people to new worlds or bring us back to the past so well we feel we are there. All the special effects in the world can save a movie if the acting is bad or if a part is given to the wrong person. Sometimes the only special effects needed is in the magick kit and the imagination of the make up artist. A gifted director can bring out the best in any actor. When everything comes together at the right time and real magick is made and the viewer is entertained. When Ralph Bellamy was cast in the play and the movie he was able to show how much talent he really had. I was amazed how he transformed himself. I believe he showed the very essence of the man. He should have at least received a nomination for this grand performance.

Sunrise is Campobello is a film adaptation of the play, which starred Ralph Bellamy as FDR and Mary Fickett, who became a soap opera star, as Eleanor. Here, Bellamy repeats his stage role, and Greer Garson is Eleanor. Bellamy would play FDR again in both The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.

The story takes place in 1921, when FDR first contracted polio. He believes that he will walk again. We do know he took pains not to be seen in a wheelchair, and he was a man of such power that no one ever refers to him as crippled. In War & Remembrance (I think) there is a very moving scene where Roosevelt walks onto a ship, with the aid of two crutches.

This film concentrates on FDR's young family and how the children, his wife, his good friend Louis Howe (Hume Cronyn), and his dedicated secretary Missy (Jean Hagen) cope with his illness. The family is portrayed as idyllic -- members of the family cooperated with the filming, and it's not surprising that darker aspects of his married life were not shown. It is hinted at, however, that FDR's mother was problematic in the marriage.

Ralph Bellamy had an amazing career spanning over 60 years in film, television, and theater, and here he does a great job portraying FDR's optimism, geniality, and charisma. I had a little more trouble with Greer Garson's portrayal of Eleanor. I think in 1960, when there were so many people who knew Eleanor Roosevelt's voice, that Garson didn't have any other choice but to mimic it, but today it comes off as put on and overdone. Jane Alexander did a better job with the voice in "Eleanor and Franklin." All in all, an interesting and sobering film, showing FDR's struggle with a debilitating illness that he brought with him to four terms as president. Interesting to note, FDR felt he had to serve a third time as the country was in the middle of the war, but he did not announce he would seek a fourth term. Instead, he was drafted by the convention and felt he had to serve. He died three months into his fourth term; it's obvious at the Yalta conference that he was extremely ill. A very rare kind of strength.

Good old fashioned biography of FDR's struggle against polio and his journey back to the political arena. Good supporting performances and a handsome production add luster to this.

The real strength of this is in the performances of the lead pair. Greer Garson as Eleanor does a terrific approximation of that great lady, people have mentioned that her teeth are distracting but Mrs.Roosevelt did have large teeth and an overbite so kudos to the studio for remaining true to the actual woman. She was still alive when this came out so the audiences of the time were well aware of her appearance. It's only a surface characteristic anyway and Garson portrayal goes much deeper giving a fine account of the future first lady.

However it's Ralph Bellamy in the best role he ever had as FDR that walks away with top acting honors. Having performed the role on stage he has perfected it to a fine point and richly deserved the Oscar nomination he received. He conveys both FDR's weariness as well as the strength required to bounce back from the blow polio dealt him.

Beautifully appointed this is studio film making at its best. Wonderful ending.

"Sunrise at Campobello" enacts early events in the personal life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt with fine production values, including solid performances.

Certainly both Ralph Bellamy and Greer Garson had their work cut out playing, respectively, Franklin and Eleanor. They got their characterizations down pat, and their work is of a high calibre.

The talented supporting cast is headed by Hume Cronyn as Franklin's best friend and Ann Shoemaker as his doting mother. Jean Hagen is seen as a good-natured secretary.

It may be that Dore Schary's script from his play was too lengthy, or that Vincent J. Donahue's direction was too slow. Whatever the case, running at 144 minutes this seems a pretty long haul for the average viewer.

Bellamy's work is consistently exectued, with all of the famous FDR mannerisms--it is also slowly-paced. Garson's Eleanor captures her distinctivly slow, deliberate speech cadence. Likewise, both principals' makeups are subtely effective.

The script begins in 1921 when Franklin was 40 and wisely ends just three years later with his politically important nominating speech for Al Smith. While there may be some dramatic modifications of factual material, the basic flavor of the period and characters are well handled.

Fraklin's overcoming of physical adversity to become a four term US president is a story of great interest, from both a human and professional perspective. "Sunrise at Campolbello" skillfully presents this inspired period of American history.