The Presidents and the Oscars
Tonight is the 95th Academy Awards so I wanted to do a deep dive into some of the films featuring presidents which have been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (and a bonus one that is too strange not to include).
The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)
The title is…something. And the film is also…something. This is an entirely fictionalized tale of Andrew Jackson falling in love with an inn-keeper’s daughter: Peggy O’Neill, the real life wife of Jackson’s Secretary of War John Eaton who was at the center of the Petticoat Affair. Robert Taylor (bearing no resemblance to Jackson) and Joan Crawford star in this early MGM success which was nominated for two Oscars.
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Chronicling the early years of Abraham Lincoln’s time in the legal field, this served as an unofficial follow up to John Ford’s breakthrough film Stagecoach, which introduced the world to John Wayne. Henry Fonda stars in this film as Lincoln, offering a passionate, inexperienced, and multi-layered portrayal of a revered political figure with nuance that was often left out of other early presidential depictions in film. Young Mr. Lincoln won the Oscar for Best Writing/ Original Story.
Wilson (1944)
Resembling a more modern-day biopic, the film follows Woodrow Wilson (Alexander Knox) from his time at Princeton through his presidency. A passion project for 20th Century Fox President Darryl F. Zanuck, Wilson was a box office bomb given its steep budget (including full-scale sets of multiple White House rooms and filming taking place across the U.S.) but was a critical darling. The film received 10 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Cox, winning five. Franklin Delano Roosevelt screened the film at the White House for Winston Churchill, who reportedly left halfway through.
Sunrise at Campobello (1960)
Based on a long-running Broadway play, this film depicts Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s diagnosis and early struggles with polio. At this point in time, Americans were more than familiar with Roosevelt’s polio affliction but had not seen it depicted in film to such an extent. The film was a minor box-office success with both Ralph Bellamy as FDR and Greer Garson as Eleanor Roosevelt receiving praise for their performances. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including a Best Actress nomination for Garson.
Give ’em Hell, Harry! (1975)
A film and a play of the same name, this is a one-man show (literally) covering Truman’s presidency with specific attention towards his 1948 presidential campaign. The play had its premiere at Ford’s Theater with Gerald Ford in attendance along with Truman’s daughter, Margaret. James Whitmore stars as Truman and received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance. In a unique twist, given Whitmore is the film’s only credited actor, Give ’em Hell, Harry! holds the record alongside Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Sleuth as having their entire on-screen billed cast receive acting Oscar nominations.
JFK (1991)
Though not prominently featuring the titular Kennedy, Oliver Stone’s JFK focuses on District Attorney Jim Garrison’s efforts to promote a theory that Kennedy was not assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald alone, but was killed in a conspiracy. The film was, and remains, highly controversial given Stone’s personal distain for the official Warren Commission Report and implicating Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson in the conspiracy to kill Kennedy. Despite (or perhaps because of) the controversy, JFK would go on to be a box office smash, grossing over $200 million and receiving eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. It won two Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing.
Nixon (1995)
Oliver Stone returned to presidential history with his controversial depiction of Richard Nixon, starring Anthony Hopkins. Nixon follows the 37th president before and during his presidency, culminating in the Watergate investigation and Nixon’s resignation. Hopkins’s performance was well-regarded and the film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor for Hopkins and Best Supporting Actress for Joan Allen as First Lady Pat Nixon. However, unlike JFK, Nixon was a box-office bomb, grossing just $13 million compared to its $44 million budget.
Amistad (1997)
Anthony Hopkins returns to play another president in this Steven Spielberg outing focusing on a slave mutiny aboard the Spanish slave ship, La Amistad, and the legal battle which followed. Hopkins plays John Quincy Adams in a supporting role in the film, Adams having argued before the Supreme Court in his post-presidency. A minor box office success, Amistad received four Oscar nominations, including a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Hopkins. To this day, Hopkins remains the only actor to have received multiple Oscar nominations for playing different presidents.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Panned for its historical inaccuracy and focus on fictionalized characters amidst a real-life war tragedy, Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor centers on an Air Force love triangle during and after the December 7, 1941 attack. In one of the more maligned scenes, Jon Voight portrays Franklin Delano Roosevelt rising from his wheelchair to chastise his generals towards launching an attack against Japan — an event which never happened. Despite the negative reviews, the film would gross $440 million and receive four Oscar nominations, winning for Best Sound Editing.
Frost/ Nixon (2008)
Michael Sheen and Frank Langella star as journalist and president in this Ron Howard-directed film which chronicles the series of interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon in the summer of 1977. Based on the play of the same name — which starred the same actors — the film was a box office failure, barely surpassing its $25 million budget with a gross of $27.4 million. The film received five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Langella. This marked the second time an actor received an Oscar nomination for portraying Nixon and the only time an actor received an Oscar nomination and a Tony nomination for playing a president. (Langella, though failing to win an Oscar, won the Best Actor Tony for playing Nixon).
Lincoln (2012)
Steven Spielberg returns with an intimate look at Abraham Lincoln’s struggle to abolish slavery with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment and bring a close to the Civil War. Based in part on the Pulitzer Prize winning biography by Doris Kearns Goodwin — Team of Rivals — Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Lincoln while Sally Field depicts First Lady Mary Todd. Lincoln grossed over $275 million and received 12 Academy Award nominations. These included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor for Tommy Lee Jones as Senator Thaddeus Stevens. The film would win two Oscars for Best Production Design and Best Actor for Day-Lewis, becoming the only actor to win an Oscar for portraying a president. Despite Spielberg’s extensive filmography to this point in time, Day-Lewis’s win would also be the first time Spielberg directed an Oscar-winning performance.
Jackie (2016)
Pablo Larraín’s first American-produced film, Jackie centers on First Lady Jaqueline ‘Jackie’ Kennedy in the days after her husband’s assassination. Based on Theodore H. White’s Life magazine interview — with Billy Crudup playing an amalgamated journalist character in the film — Jackie depicts the horror of sudden death in an intimate setting with Natalie Portman receiving universal acclaim for her portrayal of the widowed First Lady. A box office success, Jackie would receive three Oscar nominations including Best Actress for Portman.
Vice (2018)
This Adam McKay directed black-comedy follows Vice President Richard ‘Dick’ Cheney from his rebellious youthful days in Wyoming to his ascension to the second most powerful position in America, though some would argue Cheney was truly the one in charge. Christian Bale stars as Cheney while Amy Adams plays his wife, Second Lady Lynne Cheney. Sam Rockwell rounds out the cast as George W. Bush who is portrayed as playing second fiddle in his own administration. Vice broke-even at the box office and received mixed reviews overall, but went on to be nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor, winning for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Bale generated controversy when he accepted the Golden Globe and thanked Satan for helping him portray the Vice President.
Bonus! Jefferson in Paris (1995)
Though not recognized by the Academy, Jefferson in Paris is truly a wild film given its premise and cast. Nick Nolte stars in this French-produced film as Jefferson during his time in Paris as Ambassador and depicts a fictionalized love triangle between him, artist Maria Cosway, and Jefferson’s slave, Sally Hemings. A critical and box office failure, Jefferson in Paris was maligned for its historical inaccuracies, Nolte’s performance, and its pacing and editing. This didn’t stop the film from being screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival for the ceremony’s top prize, the Palme d’Or.
And those are some of the most noted Academy Award recognized films depicting America’s leaders. For some quick recommendations, here are my personal top picks: Young Mr. Lincoln, Amistad, Frost/ Nixon, Lincoln, and Jackie.
