This was one arrogant, self-righteous, presumptive, and wishful thinking movie. The POTUS is so important that the angel Gabriel came down from heaven and revealed to him a way out of the mess the United States and the world was in. God chose 1933 as the point in time and the POTUS as the person most deserving of being sent divine revelation. God really did bless America.
If you want an actor for sanctimony, look no further than Walter Huston. For reference see "The Criminal Code," "The Star Witness," "The Beast of the City," "American Madness," and "Rain." No one is more sanctimonious than Walter Huston, that's why he was tailor made for the role of Judson 'Judd' Hammond, the president of the United States.
His revelations began after he was in a near fatal car accident. His whole personality and agenda changed, plus he looked like he was "listening" to something or someone when no one was around. His personal secretary, Pendola 'Pendy' Molloy (Karen Morley), believed he was listening to an angel even though "she wasn't religious."
That's odd. She wasn't religious, but she attributed Judd's behavior to hearing angels instead of, you know, psychological problems created by head trauma.
"I've just seen something. He didn't know his own words Beek," Pendy informed Hartley Beekman (Franchot Tone), the president's secretary. "And then he lifted his head. For all the world as if he were listening. There was something in the room that made me shiver. And then he just smiled and said, 'Yes of course,' " she added.
"What do you think it could mean?" Beek asked.
"Well, we felt from the beginning that the president was really two men," Pendy said.
I thought she was indicating that he had a split personality, which would've been the most reasonable explanation--in spite of her shivers.
Then she said, "But I became aware, somehow tonight, of a third being. I know that sounds impossible."
Yes. Yes it does.
She then added, "I'm not a very religious person, Beek, but does it seem too fanciful to believe that God might have sent the angel Gabriel to do for Judd Hammond what He did for Daniel?"
Yes. Yes it does seem "too fanciful."
That's where we're going? We're going straight to the archangel Gabriel. We're skipping right past hallucinations, split personality, a hidden Cyrano De Bergerac, or even demons--right to "Judd is so favored and so important that God sent the angel Gabriel to him." What a presumptuous movie.
Then Judd Hammond really got busy. He fired his whole cabinet, bypassed congress, declared martial law, and even created an anti-racketeering department that had the full capabilities to be judge, jury, and executioner--because it was God's will, of course. He did more in a fe/w months than a president could do in two terms! Somehow he found all the loopholes, all the necessary cooperation, and such little resistance he could act singularly without the least bit of consideration for the legislative or judicial branches. What's more, he wasn't assassinated!
His coup de grace was to call all superpower nations together and force them to sign a disarmament pact whereby they could use the hundreds of millions they spent on weapons to spend on settling their debts and feeding their people. It was bold, it was progressive, and it was also Pollyanna.
The best compliment I can pay to Judd and this movie is that his heart was in the right place. He wanted Americans to be prosperous, safe, and free. However, I'm a big believer in "the ends don't justify the means." You can't go bypassing the criminal justice system to wipeout gangsters. You can't go bypassing the congress to enact your own plans. And you can't go threatening the rest of the world to make peace.
Between Judd's sermonizing, the divine intervention, and his self-righteousness I had a hard time with this movie. Give me one, but don't give me all three. In fact, I thought this movie was setting Judd up for a hard fall on his face, but it was so full of itself it took us to his final act of all the nations signing a pact then Judd dying immediately thereafter--mission accomplished.
I can't believe (which means I can believe, but I want to stress the audacity of it all) that the writers made such wholesale assumptions and simply glossed over gaping issues and pitfalls. It was such a black and white representation. Judd had all the answers and there wasn't the smallest argument against his positions except that they were entrenched in greed.
And then the presumption of the writers that people (the viewers as well as the characters) would readily accept Judd's actions because he was being guided by God. They presumed too much: that Judd was worthy of revelation, that God would enact such policies, or that people would accept such dogma. This movie would've been so much better without the religious slant. I don't think it would've been good, but it definitely would've been better.
Free on Odnoklassniki.
If you want an actor for sanctimony, look no further than Walter Huston. For reference see "The Criminal Code," "The Star Witness," "The Beast of the City," "American Madness," and "Rain." No one is more sanctimonious than Walter Huston, that's why he was tailor made for the role of Judson 'Judd' Hammond, the president of the United States.
His revelations began after he was in a near fatal car accident. His whole personality and agenda changed, plus he looked like he was "listening" to something or someone when no one was around. His personal secretary, Pendola 'Pendy' Molloy (Karen Morley), believed he was listening to an angel even though "she wasn't religious."
That's odd. She wasn't religious, but she attributed Judd's behavior to hearing angels instead of, you know, psychological problems created by head trauma.
"I've just seen something. He didn't know his own words Beek," Pendy informed Hartley Beekman (Franchot Tone), the president's secretary. "And then he lifted his head. For all the world as if he were listening. There was something in the room that made me shiver. And then he just smiled and said, 'Yes of course,' " she added.
"What do you think it could mean?" Beek asked.
"Well, we felt from the beginning that the president was really two men," Pendy said.
I thought she was indicating that he had a split personality, which would've been the most reasonable explanation--in spite of her shivers.
Then she said, "But I became aware, somehow tonight, of a third being. I know that sounds impossible."
Yes. Yes it does.
She then added, "I'm not a very religious person, Beek, but does it seem too fanciful to believe that God might have sent the angel Gabriel to do for Judd Hammond what He did for Daniel?"
Yes. Yes it does seem "too fanciful."
That's where we're going? We're going straight to the archangel Gabriel. We're skipping right past hallucinations, split personality, a hidden Cyrano De Bergerac, or even demons--right to "Judd is so favored and so important that God sent the angel Gabriel to him." What a presumptuous movie.
Then Judd Hammond really got busy. He fired his whole cabinet, bypassed congress, declared martial law, and even created an anti-racketeering department that had the full capabilities to be judge, jury, and executioner--because it was God's will, of course. He did more in a fe/w months than a president could do in two terms! Somehow he found all the loopholes, all the necessary cooperation, and such little resistance he could act singularly without the least bit of consideration for the legislative or judicial branches. What's more, he wasn't assassinated!
His coup de grace was to call all superpower nations together and force them to sign a disarmament pact whereby they could use the hundreds of millions they spent on weapons to spend on settling their debts and feeding their people. It was bold, it was progressive, and it was also Pollyanna.
The best compliment I can pay to Judd and this movie is that his heart was in the right place. He wanted Americans to be prosperous, safe, and free. However, I'm a big believer in "the ends don't justify the means." You can't go bypassing the criminal justice system to wipeout gangsters. You can't go bypassing the congress to enact your own plans. And you can't go threatening the rest of the world to make peace.
Between Judd's sermonizing, the divine intervention, and his self-righteousness I had a hard time with this movie. Give me one, but don't give me all three. In fact, I thought this movie was setting Judd up for a hard fall on his face, but it was so full of itself it took us to his final act of all the nations signing a pact then Judd dying immediately thereafter--mission accomplished.
I can't believe (which means I can believe, but I want to stress the audacity of it all) that the writers made such wholesale assumptions and simply glossed over gaping issues and pitfalls. It was such a black and white representation. Judd had all the answers and there wasn't the smallest argument against his positions except that they were entrenched in greed.
And then the presumption of the writers that people (the viewers as well as the characters) would readily accept Judd's actions because he was being guided by God. They presumed too much: that Judd was worthy of revelation, that God would enact such policies, or that people would accept such dogma. This movie would've been so much better without the religious slant. I don't think it would've been good, but it definitely would've been better.
Free on Odnoklassniki.