No, not Oliver Stone's new film "W" (dub-ya), or Harold Wilson's arrival at Downing Street in 1964, but a lavish biopic from 20th Century Fox, "Wilson", produced in 1944, covering the career of Woodrow Wilson from his teaching years at Princeton University (1907-sh) to his defeat, as US President, in 1920, after he failed to rally support to ratify The League of Nations.     I found an off-air video which I recorded in 1994; a timely discovery - serendipity? - before tomorrow's USA Presidential Election.     Apart from technological advances, the punishing schedule from the Primary's hasn't really changed in 100 years.   The crowds, the anthems of the massed brass bands, the ra-ra-ra ing from the cheer leaders - all in the same mould - and the staging at the Conventions; no computer generated effects, of course; is awesome.   Even the whistle - stop venues with an ailing Wilson, appealing for support from the rear, open-ended platform of a Pullman train, makes for compulsive viewing as crowds team into the station yards to hear him speak.

This two and a half hour epic was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five.   Alexander Knox plays Wilson with the gravitas of a Princeton University professor, along with a droll sense of humour.    A sly opening sequence shows a deputation of corporation bosses visiting Princeton to invite Wilson to stand for Governor of New Jersey in 1909, although only one of them notices his three reference books on 'government' on his shelves.   They were looking for a dude who would be pliable over their business interests but, subsequently, he caused fury when he vetoed the head boss who nominated himself for the Senate.   A cartoon of the day shows him being ejected from the Governor's residence with a boot on his backside.    Wilson's integrity eventually won him the Presidency in 1912 and it was interesting to see a sense of change at the time, as we saw here in 1997, or today in the USA.     

A literate script with lots of direct quotes.   ""A southern Democrat in a Yankee stronghold, believing in democratic equality."     The nuances of corporation power are underplayed but a couple of sequences show Wilson engaging in legislation on anti-monopoly power.   I liked, too, the archive footage showing President & his First Lady visiting Paris and London, post-WW1.   The technicolour print is first rate and will look even better if the film is remastered.   The design is elaborate and it was a shrewd decision to learn from "Citizen Kane" (1941) how effective the placement of a ceiling can be in large room, particularly in the oval shapes at the White House.   The elegance of the women's dresses is a particular pleasure, in itself.   The musical score is by Alfred Newman - need I say more?

Can anyone recommend a biography of Woodrow Wilson?     I'm really intrigued.