The Presidents in Movies: Truman
On April 3, 1948 (65 years ago today) President Harry S. Truman signed the Marshall Plan, a pact which authorized $5 billion in aid for 16 countries in the aftermath of the second world war. So with this anniversary in mind, I've chosen as our third selection for this month's theme the 1995 HBO award winning made for TV film Truman, which starred Gary Sinise in the title role.
Based on the book by David McCullough, this 135 minute film chronicled the life of Harry Truman from his boyhood through to his post-presidency. Actor Gary Sinise was required to play Truman through the various stages of his life, and did so well enough to win a Golden Globe and a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) award for best actor in a TV movie or mini-series. He was also nominated for an Emmy in the same category. The film also won two Emmy awards for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Movie and Outstanding Made For Television Movie.
Besides Sinise in the lead role, the cast also included Diana Scarwid as Bess Truman, Richard Dysart as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Colm Feore as Truman's political advisor Charlie Ross, James Gammon as House Speaker Sam Rayburn, Tony Goldwyn as Clark Clifford, Pat Hingle, as Boss Tom Pendergast, Harris Yulin as General George C. Marshall, Amelia Campbell as Margaret Truman, Remak Ramsay as Dean Acheson, Marian Seldes as Eleanor Roosevelt, and Daniel von Bargen as General Douglas MacArthur.
A review of the film on the website Rotten Tomatoes describes the film thusly:
"Truman succeeds at being a comprehensive, well acted, informative, and generally well written biopic. Undoubtedly the portrayal of Truman was too charitable, but the level of humanity that Gary Sinise was able to inject really carried the film throughout. I would have liked to see the more aggressive side of Truman, and some of his internal political battles with his own party, but for its running time, Truman manages to cover a lot of ground, and does so in a largely effective way."
The difficulty with evaluating a film like this is that people's opinions of Truman are so varied that it is extremely difficult to be objective in assessing whether the film is a fair portrayal of the subject or not. It is interesting that Sinise, a Republican supporter who has been rumored to be a candidate for office himself a number of times, delivers such a strong portrayal of a Democrat president. The film conveys a very positive image of Truman, which likely means that Democrats will love it and Republicans will hate it. I'd love to get the take of those of you who have seen it.
The complete film can be watched on YouTube here, but I'll leave you with trailer:
Based on the book by David McCullough, this 135 minute film chronicled the life of Harry Truman from his boyhood through to his post-presidency. Actor Gary Sinise was required to play Truman through the various stages of his life, and did so well enough to win a Golden Globe and a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) award for best actor in a TV movie or mini-series. He was also nominated for an Emmy in the same category. The film also won two Emmy awards for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Movie and Outstanding Made For Television Movie.
Besides Sinise in the lead role, the cast also included Diana Scarwid as Bess Truman, Richard Dysart as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Colm Feore as Truman's political advisor Charlie Ross, James Gammon as House Speaker Sam Rayburn, Tony Goldwyn as Clark Clifford, Pat Hingle, as Boss Tom Pendergast, Harris Yulin as General George C. Marshall, Amelia Campbell as Margaret Truman, Remak Ramsay as Dean Acheson, Marian Seldes as Eleanor Roosevelt, and Daniel von Bargen as General Douglas MacArthur.
A review of the film on the website Rotten Tomatoes describes the film thusly:
"Truman succeeds at being a comprehensive, well acted, informative, and generally well written biopic. Undoubtedly the portrayal of Truman was too charitable, but the level of humanity that Gary Sinise was able to inject really carried the film throughout. I would have liked to see the more aggressive side of Truman, and some of his internal political battles with his own party, but for its running time, Truman manages to cover a lot of ground, and does so in a largely effective way."
The difficulty with evaluating a film like this is that people's opinions of Truman are so varied that it is extremely difficult to be objective in assessing whether the film is a fair portrayal of the subject or not. It is interesting that Sinise, a Republican supporter who has been rumored to be a candidate for office himself a number of times, delivers such a strong portrayal of a Democrat president. The film conveys a very positive image of Truman, which likely means that Democrats will love it and Republicans will hate it. I'd love to get the take of those of you who have seen it.
The complete film can be watched on YouTube here, but I'll leave you with trailer: