FILM TALK |
by Marjorie Cohen
Warm Springs (2007). An HBO production. Directed by Joseph Sargent. With Kenneth Branagh, Cynthia Nixon, David Paymer, Kathy Bates, and Jane Alexander. Screenplay by Margaret Nagle.
Warm Springs, a docudrama made for HBO, examines the qualities Franklin Delano Roosevelt acquired during his stay—rather, his journey—at Warm Springs, Georgia. It’s a journey that enabled him to become a president with the common touch, a true man of the people, and, perhaps, most important, a man of empathy. Of course being a dramatization, the film often plays fast and loose with the facts. Too often the back story is related via dialogue as a form of exposition. But one thing this movie does get right, and often achingly so, is the heart of the matter.
The movie begins with Roosevelt in the throes of despair as he recovers from polio on his houseboat off the coast of Florida. As if by magic because it’s unclear just how, we’re transported to Warm Springs, Georgia, where Franklin is enjoying, and apparently improving due to the wonders of, the spring’s warm mineral waters. But he must return home for the holidays, and before leaving, he gives an interview which becomes syndicated and subsequently turns into a PR piece for the Springs. When Roosevelt returns, he finds much to his dismay, he no longer has the pool or the place to himself. Furious at such an invasion of his privacy, he storms off, railing all the way. But the manager, Tom Loyless, knows why he’s really angry.
“You don’t want to be around them because that would make you one of them!” Loyless says. What an insight! It is, perhaps, the most powerful one in the film. But it’s more than that really. It’s a moment of identification.
All too soon, Roosevelt finds that he, too, is the object of prejudice. The nondisabled guests don’t want to be around ‘cripples.’ The excuse, or so they say, is their fear of catching the dreaded disease. Again Roosevelt is incensed, but this time, his anger forces himself into action. He becomes both an activist and an advocate. It’s a life-changing and life-affirming moment, and one of the best moments in the film.
Later, Roosevelt is forced to come face-to-face with his actual physical limitations. It’s a cruel slap in the face. He again rails against the moon and tries to enlist his physical therapist into sharing. She refuses saying, “I won’t play that game. I can’t help you out of a hole if I climb in, too.”
Later still, we see Roosevelt in training to walk with the aide of a cane while holding his son’s arm, in order to place Al Smith’s name into nomination for president at the 1928 Democratic convention. Frightened, he asks Eleanor what would happen should he fall. “Then they’ll never see past my legs,” he says. “My darling,” she rejoins, “they’ll never see past your legs unless ‘you’ do.”
The film is laden with such light-bulb moments as well as manipulative heart-tugging scenes of pathos. Thankfully it also contains real moments of joy, great good humor, and thoughtful insights. And though it often stumbles, it unashamedly examines the emotions with which FDR struggled in order to rise out of despair and to the top.
The acting by Kenneth Branagh and Cynthia Nixon as Franklin and Eleanor and David Paymer as the short, ugly, Louis Howe is all fine. But it’s Kathy Bates who is a stand out as Franklin’s physical therapist Helena Mahoney, and Jane Alexander shines as Sara Delano, a nifty bit of casting, considering she had once played Eleanor in a two part mini-series on the Roosevelts. The production values are all vividly real: from the source lighting to no-holds-barred details like wonderful vintage clothing, it’s a first class production.
Warm Springs was directed with a firm hand by Joseph Sargent, shooting in real locations such as the Inn in which FDR first stayed, as well as other areas of Warm Springs, Georgia. That I wasn’t bowled over by Warm Springs may be, in part, due to my prior viewing of the American Experience documentary on FDR. This real and truly inspirational story of FDR had no need for light-bulb moments, witty rejoinders or manipulated pathos.
Most agree that Charlie Chaplin was “the” expert in manipulating the heart. He always seemed to know what emotions to touch and when. At least in his silent films no one seemed to notice or if they did, care. But once Charlie began to speak, he moved away from subtle manipulation to outright speechifying. Warm Springs doesn’t go quite that far. Yet it does go far enough. And considering the subject matter, it’s so unnecessary. Still this film elevates itself from its own clumsiness thanks to excellent performances and some truly affecting moments. It’s certainly worth a rental, if for no other reason, than some of its outstanding insights and its movingly identifiable scenes.
Warm Springs is also a wonderful companion piece to the movie An America Experience: FDR I discussed a couple of issues ago and should make for a excellent discussion. Please leave a comment below.
Marjorie Cohen, a lifelong movie buff, narrates the audio version of Action, which is available by calling 718-803-3782, ext. 279 or writing action@unitedspinal.org.
