Sunrise At Campobello (1960)

In the summer of 1921 at his family's summer home on the island of Campobello, future President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy, reprising his Tony award winning stage role) is struck with paralysis and loses the use of his legs. With the support of his wife Eleanor (Greer Garson, Oscar nominated for her work here), he begins the long struggle to recovery. Like many movies, some stage plays are of their time and don't age well. Dore Schary's critically acclaimed play SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO ran for over a year and won four Tonys including best play. Unlike many other Tony award winning plays, CAMPOBELLO has never had a Broadway revival and it's easy to see why. It's a stiff! It's the theatrical equivalent of Oscar bait. Certainly good drama could have been made of Roosevelt's initial struggles with polio (if that's what it was) and the HBO film WARM SPRINGS with Kenneth Branagh as Roosevelt did just that. Bellamy seems to be authentically recreating his stage performance to the point of playing to the balcony and despite her awards attention, Garson (hampered by fake teeth) seems to be doing a poor imitation of Eleanor Roosevelt. Hume Cronyn as a chain smoking asthmatic is disliked by Roosevelt's mother (Ann Shoemaker in the film's best performance) and children and he's such an annoying character, you can't blame them. Franz Waxman contributes a nice underscore. Directed by Vincent J. Donehue, who directed the stage play and maybe it wasn't a good idea to let him to the movie. With Jean Hagen, Zina Bethune and Tim Considine.