Wilson (film)
Encyclopedia
Wilson is a 1944 biographical film in Technicolor
about President Woodrow Wilson
. It stars Charles Coburn
, Alexander Knox
, Geraldine Fitzgerald
, Thomas Mitchell
and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
The movie was written by Lamar Trotti
and directed by Henry King
. Wilson's daughter Eleanor Wilson McAdoo
served as an informal counselor.
It won Academy Awards
for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color
(Wiard Ihnen
, Thomas Little
), Best Cinematography, Color
, Best Film Editing
, Best Sound, Recording (E. H. Hansen) and Best Writing, Original Screenplay. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
(Alexander Knox), Best Director
, Best Effects, Special Effects
, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
and Best Picture
. The film was notable for giving character actor Alexander Knox (in the title role) one of his few chances to play the lead in a film.
Though a critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning film, Wilson is remembered for being a huge flop at the box office. It was a pet project of Darryl F. Zanuck
's, who greatly admired Woodrow Wilson, and its failure upset him to the point that he forbade any of his employees to ever mention the film in his presence again.
However, the film was not totally forgotten - it is now regularly shown on cable television
but, as of 2010, has not yet been issued on DVD
.
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
about President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
. It stars Charles Coburn
Charles Coburn
Charles Douville Coburn was an American film and theater actor.-Biography:Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Scots-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman and Moses Douville Coburn. Growing up in Savannah, he started out doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater, handing out programs,...
, Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox was a Canadian actor and author of adventure novels set in the Great Lakes area during the 19th century.-Biography:...
, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
, Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell (actor)
Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
The movie was written by Lamar Trotti
Lamar Trotti
Lamar Jefferson Trotti was an American screenwriter, producer, and motion picture executive.- Early life and education :Trotti was born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He became the first graduate of the Henry W...
and directed by Henry King
Henry King (director)
Henry King was an American film director.Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres, and first started to take small film roles in 1912. He directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the...
. Wilson's daughter Eleanor Wilson McAdoo
Eleanor Wilson McAdoo
Eleanor Randolph Wilson McAdoo was an American author who wrote about her famous father, Woodrow Wilson. She usually went by the nickname Nellie.- Life :...
served as an informal counselor.
It won Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Wiard Ihnen
Wiard Ihnen
Wiard B. "Bill" Ihnen was an American art director.Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of an architect, he first studied his father's craft at Columbia University...
, Thomas Little
Thomas Little
Thomas Little was a United States set decorator on more than 450 Hollywood movies between 1932 and 1953. He won a total of 6 Oscars for art direction and received 21 nominations in the same category...
), Best Cinematography, Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
, Best Sound, Recording (E. H. Hansen) and Best Writing, Original Screenplay. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Alexander Knox), Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Effects, Special Effects
Academy Award for Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.-History of the award:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1928, presenting a...
, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
. The film was notable for giving character actor Alexander Knox (in the title role) one of his few chances to play the lead in a film.
Though a critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning film, Wilson is remembered for being a huge flop at the box office. It was a pet project of Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
's, who greatly admired Woodrow Wilson, and its failure upset him to the point that he forbade any of his employees to ever mention the film in his presence again.
However, the film was not totally forgotten - it is now regularly shown on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
but, as of 2010, has not yet been issued on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Cast
- Alexander KnoxAlexander KnoxAlexander Knox was a Canadian actor and author of adventure novels set in the Great Lakes area during the 19th century.-Biography:...
as Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913... - Charles CoburnCharles CoburnCharles Douville Coburn was an American film and theater actor.-Biography:Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Scots-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman and Moses Douville Coburn. Growing up in Savannah, he started out doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater, handing out programs,...
as Doctor Henry Holmes - Geraldine FitzgeraldGeraldine FitzgeraldGeraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
as Edith Bolling Galt - Thomas MitchellThomas Mitchell (actor)Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Joseph Tumulty - Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Senator Henry Cabot LodgeHenry Cabot LodgeHenry Cabot "Slim" Lodge was an American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. He had the role of Senate Majority leader. He is best known for his positions on Meek policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles...
- Vincent PriceVincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
as William Gibbs McAdooWilliam Gibbs McAdooWilliam Gibbs McAdoo, Jr. was an American lawyer and political leader who served as a U.S. Senator, United States Secretary of the Treasury and director of the United States Railroad Administration... - William EytheWilliam EytheWilliam Eythe was an American actor of film, radio, television and stage.-Early life and career:Born in Mars, Pennsylvania, a small town located about 25 miles from Pittsburgh, he was interested in acting from a young age. He attended Carnegie Tech University and studied acting and he began...
as George Felton - Mary AndersonMary AndersonMary Anderson may refer to:*Mary Anderson *Mary Anderson *Mary Anderson *Mary Anderson *Mary Anderson...
as Eleanor Wilson - Ruth FordRuth Ford (actress)Ruth Ford was an American model and stage and film actress. Her brother was the bohemian surrealist Charles Henri Ford. Their parents managed the Tennessee Hotel in Clarksville, Tennessee.-Life and career:As a model she posed for Harper's, Town and Country and Mademoiselle...
as Margaret WilsonMargaret WilsonDame Margaret Wilson DCNZM is a New Zealand academic and former politician. She was Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives during the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand. She is a member of the Labour Party.-Early life:... - Sidney BlackmerSidney BlackmerSidney Alderman Blackmer was an American actor.Blackmer was born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina. He started off in an insurance and financial business but gave up on it. While working as a builder's laborer on a new building, he saw a Pearl White serial being filmed and immediately...
as Josephus Daniels - Stanley RidgesStanley RidgesStanley Ridges was a British-born actor who made his mark in films by playing a wide assortment of character parts...
as Dr. Cary Grayson - Eddie Foy Jr. as Eddie Foy
- Charles HaltonCharles HaltonCharles Halton was a stern-faced American character actor who appeared in over 180 films.One of his most memorable portrayals was as Carter, the bank examiner in It's a Wonderful Life...
as Colonel House - Thurston HallThurston HallThurston Hall was an American film actor. He appeared in 250 films between 1915 and 1957 and is probably best remembered for his portrayal, during the later stages of his career, of often pompous or blustering authority figures.Hall's best-known television role was as Mr. Schuyler, the boss of...
as Senator Edward H. "Big Ed" Jones - Charles F. MillerCharles F. MillerMiller made his film debut in Little Women as a minister and starred in many films thereafter.One of his first biggest roles was starring alongside Keye Luke in Phantom of Chinatown.He was also one of the founding members of the Screen Actors Guild....
as Senator Bromfield - Dwight FryeDwight FryeDwight Iliff Frye was an American stage and screen actor, noted for his appearances in the classic horror films Dracula , Frankenstein , The Invisible Man , and Bride of Frankenstein .-Early life and career:Frye was born in Salina, Kansas...
was supposed to play the former Secretary of War Newton D. BakerNewton D. BakerNewton Diehl Baker, Jr. was an American politician who belonged to the Democratic Party. He served as the 37th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1912 to 1915 and as U.S. Secretary of War from 1916 to 1921.-Early years:...
, but died of a heart attack before filming was scheduled to begin.