Wilson (1944 Film)

This 1944 biopic of President Woodrow Wilson, directed by Henry King, was a pet project of producer Darryl Zanuck, who pored a great deal of time, energy and money into creating the movie version of the life of the 28th President of the United States. His perseverance resulted in five Academy Awards, but not in ticket sales; the film was a box office flop.http://www.allmovie.com/work/wilson-54699

The audience joins Woodrow Wilson, played by Alexander Knox in 1912 when he is still head of Princeton University. The film traces his time as Governor of New Jersey and follows him into his easily won presidential bid. Wilson must contend with World War I during his first term, and much as he does not want to, the U.S. is forced to enter the fray shortly after the beginning of his second term. With the end of the war, Wilson pushes heavily for a League of Nations, which he hopes can broker lasting peace. Congress, however, does not allow the United States to join, and Wilson loses his next presidential bid, and the Republicans take control of the White House.http://www.allmovie.com/work/wilson-54699

• Alexander Knox as Woodrow Wilson

• Charles Coburn as Prof. Henry Holmes

• Geraldine Fitzgerald as Edith Wilson

• Thomas Mitchell as Joseph Tumulty

• Cedric Hardwicke as Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge

• Ruth Nelson as Ellen Wilson

• Vincent Price as Williams Gibbs McAdoo

• William Eythe as George Felton

"Bloated, dull, and overly long (two and half hours), Henry King's biopic "Wilson" is a wannabe epic about the life and times of President Woodrow Wilson, well-played by Alexander Knox in an Oscar-nominated turn." —Emanuel Levy, emanuellevy.comhttp://www.emanuellevy.com/search/details.cfm?id=9190

"This is an odd sort of biopic, the kind they don't make anymore. It's unabashed hero-worship, for one, and I can't imagine a president getting such kid-glove treatment anymore." —Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movieshttp://goatdog.com/moviePage.php?movieID=718