The President's Lady (1953)

An ambitious young lawyer by the name of Andrew Jackson (Charlton Heston) is taken with an unhappily married woman (Susan Hayward) whose husband (Whitfield Connor) has a roving eye. They eventually marry but the scandal has branded her an "adulteress" and threatens his political career. Based on the non fiction book by Irving Stone (LUST FOR LIFE) and directed by Henry Levin (WHERE THE BOYS ARE). This highly romanticized historical drama is engaging for most of its running time but the film's last half hour which covers his eventual election to the Presidency is rushed and unsatisfactory. Heston and Hayward are well matched and it's a pity this was their only movie together. Heston tended to overpower his leading ladies and Hayward can hold her own with him. For its day, the film is surprisingly frank and doesn't play down that Hayward's husband is sleeping with one of his slaves (Vera Francis). The rousing score by Alfred Newman is a beauty! With Fay Bainter, John McIntire, Margaret Wycherly, Nina Varela, Jim Davis, James Best, Carl Betz and Ruth Attaway.