Movie and TV Presidents: Lee Daniels' The Butler
Lee Daniels' The Butler was a movie that was released in 2013 about a fictional butler who worked in the White House through several administrations from Eisenhower to Reagan. It starred Academy Award winner Forrest Whittaker in the title role of Cecil Gaines, a fictional character based on real-life White House butler Eugene Allen, a man who worked at the White House for 34 years, retiring in 1986 as Head Butler.
One of the most interesting things about the film was the casting for the roles of the presidents that the butler Mr. Gaines works for. The presidents portrayed in the film (and the actors who play them) are:
Dwight Eisenhower (Robin Williams)
John F. Kennedy (James Marsden)
Lyndon Johnson (Liev Schreiber)
Richard Nixon (John Cusack)
Ronald Reagan (Alan Rickman)
Barack Obama (Orlando Eric Street)
Though the story spans a time that includes their presidencies, neither Gerald Ford nor Jimmy Carter are included in the cast. Other historical persons portrayed in the film include first ladies Jackie Kennedy (Minka Kelly) and Nancy Reagan (Jane Fonda), Martin Luther King Jr. (Nelsan Ellis), H. R. Haldeman (Alex Manette), John Ehrlichman (Colin Walker) and Caroline Kennedy (Chloe Barach). Other leading actors in the film include Oprah Winfrey (as Mrs. Gaines), Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Redgrave, Terrence Howard, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and Alex Pettyfer.
Eugene Allen, the inspiration for the film, started working in the White House in 1952 as a "pantry man" and over the years rose in his position until finally attaining the most prestigious rank of butlers serving in the White House, Maître d'hôtel. Allen was born in Scottsville, Virginia on July 14, 1919, and died at the Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Montgomery County, Maryland on March 31, 2010 from kidney failure.
Allen and other workers who served presidents were featured in a 32-minute documentary, called Workers at the White House, which was directed by Marjorie Hunt and released on a 2009 DVD, entitled White House Workers: Traditions and Memories by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
The film is really about the civil rights movement as seen through the eyes of one particular family. It is a movie about relationships: husband and wife, father and son, mother and son. When it comes to presidential historical accuracy, there is much to nit pick for
potus_geeks, but for the story of the main characters, it is a powerful movie, an emotional and moving story and a very good movie. The film is dedicated to those who participated on the front lines of the civil rights movement and anyone with an interest in that part of history should enjoy this movie. The film lets history speak for itself: from the Little Rock Nine, to the Freedom Riders, the Kennedy assassination, Johnson's Civil Rights bills, Martin Luther King Jr., Vietnam, Watergate and even the election of the first African-American president. Much of the narrative is told through the news footage of the time.
The Butler received mostly positive reviews from critics. It received a 71% rating on the film critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 175 reviews. Film critic Richard Roeper wrote, "Forest Whitaker gives the performance of his career".
President Barack Obama said of the film, "I teared up thinking about not just the butlers who worked here in the White House, but an entire generation of people who were talented and skilled. But because of Jim Crow and because of discrimination, there was only so far they could go."
Following is a trailer for the film:
One of the most interesting things about the film was the casting for the roles of the presidents that the butler Mr. Gaines works for. The presidents portrayed in the film (and the actors who play them) are:
Dwight Eisenhower (Robin Williams)
John F. Kennedy (James Marsden)
Lyndon Johnson (Liev Schreiber)
Richard Nixon (John Cusack)
Ronald Reagan (Alan Rickman)
Barack Obama (Orlando Eric Street)
Though the story spans a time that includes their presidencies, neither Gerald Ford nor Jimmy Carter are included in the cast. Other historical persons portrayed in the film include first ladies Jackie Kennedy (Minka Kelly) and Nancy Reagan (Jane Fonda), Martin Luther King Jr. (Nelsan Ellis), H. R. Haldeman (Alex Manette), John Ehrlichman (Colin Walker) and Caroline Kennedy (Chloe Barach). Other leading actors in the film include Oprah Winfrey (as Mrs. Gaines), Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Redgrave, Terrence Howard, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and Alex Pettyfer.
Eugene Allen, the inspiration for the film, started working in the White House in 1952 as a "pantry man" and over the years rose in his position until finally attaining the most prestigious rank of butlers serving in the White House, Maître d'hôtel. Allen was born in Scottsville, Virginia on July 14, 1919, and died at the Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Montgomery County, Maryland on March 31, 2010 from kidney failure.
Allen and other workers who served presidents were featured in a 32-minute documentary, called Workers at the White House, which was directed by Marjorie Hunt and released on a 2009 DVD, entitled White House Workers: Traditions and Memories by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
The film is really about the civil rights movement as seen through the eyes of one particular family. It is a movie about relationships: husband and wife, father and son, mother and son. When it comes to presidential historical accuracy, there is much to nit pick for
potus_geeks, but for the story of the main characters, it is a powerful movie, an emotional and moving story and a very good movie. The film is dedicated to those who participated on the front lines of the civil rights movement and anyone with an interest in that part of history should enjoy this movie. The film lets history speak for itself: from the Little Rock Nine, to the Freedom Riders, the Kennedy assassination, Johnson's Civil Rights bills, Martin Luther King Jr., Vietnam, Watergate and even the election of the first African-American president. Much of the narrative is told through the news footage of the time.The Butler received mostly positive reviews from critics. It received a 71% rating on the film critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 175 reviews. Film critic Richard Roeper wrote, "Forest Whitaker gives the performance of his career".
President Barack Obama said of the film, "I teared up thinking about not just the butlers who worked here in the White House, but an entire generation of people who were talented and skilled. But because of Jim Crow and because of discrimination, there was only so far they could go."
Following is a trailer for the film: