FDR was evidently quite the whizz at fooling a lot of people a lot of the time, and yet when he was found out, it appears he was always forgiven. Eventually. With the co-operation of the media who never photographed him a wheelchair most of the American general public never knew that they were re-electing a President who had been a victim of polio. And even fewer knew that his disability did not stop him being quite the ladies man with several mistresses on the go at one time.
This account centers around a weekend in 1939 when Franklin D Roosevelt the 32nd President of the US, entertained the King & Queen of England at his country estate (which technically was his mother’s house). This was the first visit of an English reigning monarch, and King George and Queen Elizabeth had added this side trip from their State Visit to Canada as they wanted to enlist American support for the impending war with Germany.
The previous summer with Eleanor his wife often away staying with her ‘lady friends’ (!), Roosevelt’s manipulating mother had ‘summoned’ Daisy a distantly related cousin to come and visit to ‘distract’ the President and ‘cheer him up’. He wooed the 50 year old spinster by showing her his stamp collection (No, really, evidently it works every time!) and that developed into long rides in the custom built convertible that FDR could drive Miss Daisy into the countryside away from the prying security men,so that she could pleasure him. (Thank you director Roger Mitchell for not including close ups of that!).
With the Royal Visit everything comes to ahead. The King totally charms the President, and one of the best scenes is of these two most powerful men in the West confiding very personal secrets and creating a real bond. (In fact history credits the King’s later ‘thank you’ note to being the first time the term ‘special relationship’ was used). Initially the young Royal Couple had trouble relating to the American’s unsophisticated approach to entertaining and lack of protocol, but by the last day when at a controversial picnic the King is confronted with a hot dog for the very first (and probably last) time, and he is relaxed enough to take a bite which is seen as history-changing moment.
Daisy discovers she has rivals to FDR’s affections which is just about as shattering as the side table collapsing and all the fine china that Mother Rosevelt has purloined from Mrs Astors kitchen smashing. The plates never recover, but Daisy does.
If you are expecting a heavyweight serious historical drama like Lincoln, then you will be very disapointed. What filmmaker Roger Mitchell (‘Notting Hill’) has made is a fluffy lightweight romp with rather a thin plot that doesn’t go far, yet it does provide a canvas for some rather enjoyable performances from quite a sterling cast. Bill Murray may look smaller than FDR but he seems to have captured his very essence to a tee, and is pitch perfect. I loved Dominic West and Olivia Williams who were both so delightful as the nervous shy Royals …. but maybe that’s the Brit coming out in me. And Laura Linney as Daisy was so wonderfully drab as evidently FDR must had a penchant for the mousey type …. but I did feel bad for her thinking that after all the number of times she ‘pleasured him’ he never even bought her a new hat (she wore the same one everywhere).
The whole story came to light when the real Daisy died in 1991 at the ripe old age of 99, and they found a cache of letters in a box under her bed that were an intimate correspondence between her and the President. This proved that they were far more than just kissing cousins.
Available on Amazon
★★★★★★★
Labels: 2012, comedy, dramatized reallife, period drama
