SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Deeper than the descriptions

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Sunrise is Campobello is a film adaptation of the play, which starred Ralph Bellamy as FDR and Mary Fickett, who became a soap opera star, as Eleanor. Here, Bellamy repeats his stage role, and Greer Garson is Eleanor. Bellamy would play FDR again in both The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.The story takes place in 1921, when FDR first contracted polio. He believes that he will walk again. We do know he took pains not to be seen in a wheelchair, and he was a man of such power that no one ever refers to him as crippled. In War & Remembrance (I think) there is a very moving scene where Roosevelt walks onto a ship, with the aid of two crutches.This film concentrates on FDR's young family and how the children, his wife, his good friend Louis Howe (Hume Cronyn), and his dedicated secretary Missy (Jean Hagen) cope with his illness. The family is portrayed as idyllic -- members of the family cooperated with the filming, and it's not surprising that darker aspects of his married life were not shown. It is hinted at, however, that FDR's mother was problematic in the marriage.Ralph Bellamy had an amazing career spanning over 60 years in film, television, and theater, and here he does a great job portraying FDR's optimism, geniality, and charisma. I had a little more trouble with Greer Garson's portrayal of Eleanor. I think in 1960, when there were so many people who knew Eleanor Roosevelt's voice, that Garson didn't have any other choice but to mimic it, but today it comes off as put on and overdone. Jane Alexander did a better job with the voice in "Eleanor and Franklin." All in all, an interesting and sobering film, showing FDR's struggle with a debilitating illness that he brought with him to four terms as president. Interesting to note, FDR felt he had to serve a third time as the country was in the middle of the war, but he did not announce he would seek a fourth term. Instead, he was drafted by the convention and felt he had to serve. He died three months into his fourth term; it's obvious at the Yalta conference that he was extremely ill. A very rare kind of strength.

. . . though Murray's HYDE PARK ON THE HUDSON is a much snappier film than SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO. The problem is that after SAC writer\producer Dore Schary won the Tony award for his original play, he decided to rest on his laurels, making few changes in the movie script, thinking he could just sit back and wait for the money to roll in. Unfortunately, he forgot the reason a play is so long is because there are intermissions scheduled to allow patrons to go to the concession stands and the bathroom. Like many Broadway moguls, he apparently didn't realize movie patrons are poorer than theater goers, and generally cannot afford multiple trips to the concession stand (unless it is for free refills on the way home). Plus, cinema folks have healthier bladders. SAC as a movie runs 144 minutes, 30 to 60 minutes too many, given its lack of action. Who is going to take a date to sit for nearly 2 and a half hours, watching FDR do his muscles exercises, update his stamp collection, and rebuff the KKK?! That said, Greer Garson is great here and deserved Oscar much more than Liz Taylor in her lame Holly Golightly wannabe BUTTERFIELD 8 role!

I'm a fan of biographies, but most I never want to watch again even if they were pretty good. SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO is an exception to my usual rule. This is such a complex and emotional film that it's worth seeing at least once.Ralph Bellamy repeats his successful stage role and does so with great aplomb. But the real bravo goes to Greer Garson. She's barely recognizable as Eleanor Roosevelt. I'm sure she gave Meryl Streep a lesson or two in becoming a real life character vs. portraying one. Both are fine actresses, but I'd say Garson accomplishes this goal even more so than Streep in THE IRON LADY. However, there's no need to have a competition. My point is that the great actresses of today clearly were influenced by the great ones of yesteryear. Garson, though nominated, didn't win the Oscar. Elizabeth Taylor did for BUTTERFIELD 8. This film is an example of an actress who might have won in a less political year. But the Oscars aren't the litmus test for all films.Garson's Eleanor Roosevelt champions Bellamy's FDR, overcomes his and her own adversities, raises a large family to boot, and is still one of the most famous women in history. Garson has no trouble whatsoever in accomplishing this great feat of portraying so adeptly this powerhouse of a woman. If you like American history (tweaked of course to pass the Hays code), biographies, or Bellamy, or especially Garson, then watch this engrossing film and be transported to another era where even the rich, famous, and powerful people have problems, yet they lead by example and overcome the necessary obstacles together that cover the steps (literally) which eventually lead to their place in political history.

Ralph Bellamy gives perhaps his best performance as a very credible FDR. Greer Garson and Hume Cronyn give their usual solid efforts, and the supporting cast is all great. The atmosphere is right. The script is surprisingly crisp, but the length of the piece weighs it down. When it reaches the two-hour mark, the whole movie starts to creak. So if you have an interest in history and politics, it's great. If not, it's tough sledding up this long, steep hill.