Tennessee Johnson

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Movie
Original title Tennessee Johnson
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1942
length 100 minutes
Rod
Director William Dieterle
script John L. Balderston , Wells Root , Milton Gunzburg (story), Alvin Meyers (story)
production J. Walter Ruben , Irving Asher
music Herbert Stothart
camera Harold Rosson
cut Robert Kern
occupation

Not in the credits

Tennessee Johnson (English and originally planned title: Man on America's Conscience ) is an American biopic from 1942. Directed by William Dieterle ; the script was written by John L. Balderston and Wells Root based on an older script by Milton Gunzburg and Alvin Meyers. The main roles were played by Van Heflin , Lionel Barrymore and Ruth Hussey . The film was shot in black and white.

action

Start of political career

Spring of 1830 in Greeneville , Tennessee. The tailor's apprentice Andrew Johnson , fleeing from his former master, comes to the village with an iron ring on his leg. As he has a drink at a fountain, the residents who watch him notice that he is very clever at repairing his trouser leg. The local blacksmith, Mordecai Milligan, approaches him. After Johnson tells his story, Milligan frees him from his iron ring. Johnson becomes the village tailor. Soon he has to admit to Eliza McCardle , a local customer and librarian, that he cannot read or write. They agree that in the future, Eliza will pay by teaching him. Johnson turns out to be a good student. Soon he is reading the Declaration of Independence and is impressed by it. He is particularly enthusiastic about universal suffrage . At the suggestion of Eliza, whom he will soon marry, he goes into politics. There, the landowners predominate and seek a practice in which only landowners are allowed to vote. One day an important event in local politics is scheduled. Sheriff Cass, acting on behalf of the landowners, visits Eliza and Andrew to prevent Andrew from attending the event. This reacts very angry, and when Cass wants to be a little clearer, Johnson takes a gun and storms off. Cass continues to try to prevent him from participating, and arguments arise in the course of which Mordecai Milligan is killed. As a result, several residents around Maude Fisher urge vengeance. Johnson makes sure that everything goes according to the law. Shortly thereafter, Andrew Johnson becomes Sheriff Greenevilles.

The secession

Spring 1860, again in Greeneville. Andrew Johnson, now Tennessee's representative in the United States Senate , appears at a ceremony. He starts a speech to cheers. He speaks out against the secession of the southern states, which clearly wanes the cheers. In the Senate, he will deliver a speech of similar content just before Jefferson Davis is announced. He will speak for the whole of the south. In fact, Davis informed the Senate of his state's Mississippi secession, stating that it would end his time in the Senate and that of his southern counterparts. He then says goodbye and leaves the room, followed by the other Senators from the Southern States with the exception of the very thoughtful Andrew Johnson. He is then accused of treason against the south, which almost leads to fights. After the session, Eliza shows her relief that everything was peaceful. He then explains to her that it was a declaration of war by the southern states and that he must now offer his help to Abraham Lincoln and raise troops.

Johnson becomes vice president

1863, Lincoln is re-elected. A candidate for the vice presidency is sought. Some leading Republicans, including Thaddeus Stevens but not Lincoln, are discussing it. The meeting is interrupted by a message from the White House , which initially only Stevens and Senator Waters get to hear: Lincoln has chosen Andrew Stevens as a candidate for the vice presidency. In terms of election success, the appointment should be unanimous. After some contradiction, Stevens, who fears for his revenge on the South, and Waters agree. Lincoln and Johnson clearly win the election. Johnson, ill and not used to alcohol, celebrates the victory with brandy and appears so drunk at his inauguration. Later he is ashamed of it, but Lincoln, who knows the circumstances of this misstep, sends him a letter in which he forgives him.

Johnson's presidency pending impeachment

April 1865. Johnson becomes President of the United States after the murder of Lincoln. But soon he doubts his suitability for this position. Eliza convinced him by pointing out that at the beginning of his tenure as sheriff he had doubts about himself and was still good in the office. Yes, it was difficult to follow Lincoln, but he was ultimately the one Lincoln chose to do so. Shortly thereafter, he has a conversation with Stevens, Waters, and Hargrave, during which Stevens suggests treating the southern states like defeated enemies. He plans to confiscate land, give some land to each male and adult freed person, and sell the rest to cover war costs. It is also pointed out that the Radical Republicans are able to overrule him and his vetoes . Johnson rejects the proposal on the grounds that, according to Lincoln, the southern states could not and would not have left the United States. Therefore, they should now be treated like any other citizen. Shortly afterwards, Johnson finds out that one of his ministers, who was still installed by Lincoln, is spying for Stevens and his supporters. Then he dismisses him. However, he is not allowed to do this without the consent of the Senate due to the Tenure of Office Act . It is pointed out several times that this law was enforced against his veto by the Senate. Thereupon Stevens starts an impeachment proceedings against Johnson. Shortly after, Johnson signed a pardon in the presence of Stevens for all those who fought for the Lost Cause in the Civil War , including Davis and Lee . Stevens is shocked and fears another civil war. Since the Senate cannot challenge these pardons, Stevens offers Johnson the termination of the impeachment proceedings if he withdraws this pardon. Johnson refuses, but now realizes that Stevens is acting out of honest conviction. But he also tells Stevens that he is a fanatic and that is precisely why he is so dangerous.

The impeachment process

Johnson wants to look his opponents in the eye. But his lawyers and also Eliza advise against it. So he does not appear at the trial. This hearing is presided over by the Supreme Court Judge, Salmon P. Chase . Senator Blackstone from Tennessee, a friend of Johnson's, went to Johnson and told him that his supporters would not be heard in the trial. In response to Johnson's objection that Chase was correct and would never allow it, Blackstone explains that Chase tried but was overruled by the Senators. Angry, Johnson rushes to the trial and gives a defense speech. He says that it is he and not Stevens who are acting according to Lincoln's ideas and reads the letter of apology that Lincoln sent him after his inauguration. The voting begins. Soon after, Senator Hyuler, a Stevens supporter, passed out. Senator Waters, who would become the new president if the process succeeds, does not want to vote guilty , but is convinced that it would not work without his vote. The verdict is about to be announced: 35 guilty, 18 innocent, once no answer. Senator Hyuler is still unconscious. Stevens is holding the process up until Hyuler can be brought into the voting room, barely conscious. Chase decides that Hyuler can still vote and doesn't have to get up. Hyuler votes not guilty . This allows Johnson to continue his presidency.

Back in the Senate

Seven years after his term ends, Andrew Johnson is re-elected to the Senate. There he is received with a standing ovation . In his inaugural address, he welcomed the fact that the seats in the southern states in the Senate have now been filled again. He says the states are reunited, now and forever.

production

Production companies

The film was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .

Filming

Tennessee Johnson was filmed at MGM Studios Culver City from June 9, 1942 to August 17, 1942. Additional scenes were filmed in early October 1942.

occupation

On July 20, 1942, the Hollywood Reporter reported that Van Heflin had appendicitis . However, this does not seem to have caused filming to be interrupted. Jim Davis was making his film debut, but it was the last film for Charles Ray , who was a popular leading actor in the 1910s and early 1920s, according to the American Film Institute .

World premieres

It premiered on December 15, 1942 at the Astor, New York. It was released in theaters in December 1942. The film was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .

reception

criticism

source rating
IMDb

The film received a rating of 6.8 out of 10 at IMDb .

Seen simply as a drama, the film is a very good and captivating biography , one of the best from the time of the Second World War, a serious historical drama for an MGM production . Like many biographies of political heroes, Tennessee Johnson suffers from the need for detailed explanations. Despite the provocative portrayals of Heflin and Barrymore, the film is just too boring to attract the audience's attention. Historians, on the other hand, would not be satisfied with the changes in the facts that would be necessary to be accepted in the southern United States. The script is episodic.

Aside from the first few scenes, Van Heflin carried the film through the sheer seriousness and strength of its portrayal. In general, Van Heflin has received great praise from most of the critics, for example in Variety . The other roles are also well represented, but Morris Ankrum deserves special mention as Jefferson Davis in his last appearance in the Senate. Lionel Barrymore outshines the actual lead actor Van Heflin, and he does it with a lot of fun.

Gross profit

Tennessee Johnson was judged a financial failure, also because of the campaigns against the film. The film does not appear in the list of Variety , which in January 1944 listed all films that grossed at least $ 1,000,000 in 1943. Over several years, the film grossed $ 1,240,000.

aftermath

Radio broadcast

On July 5, 1943, the Screen Guild Theater broadcast a half-hour radio version of Tennessee Johnson , which also featured Ruth Hussey and Lionel Barrymore.

Johnson and Reconstruction

Johnson and Reconstruction is an adaptation of Tennessee Johnson that was intended as an educational film for schools. The film is 38:37 minutes and a short version of the film. Instead, parts of the film that were considered to be historically not so important (the part before 1860 is completely missing) or not suitable for children (Johnson's swearing-in as Vice President) have been omitted. Also missing are parts that historically did not take place as shown (signing the pardon decree) or not at all (Lincoln's letter, Johnson's speech in the impeachment process).

Tennessee Johnson and the History of the Restoration

Views on the Historical Accuracy of Tennessee Johnson

The film itself admitted to being historically incorrect. A fade-in at the beginning of the film states that the medium of film "demands certain dramatic freedom, but the basic facts of Johnson's life are based on history." Sanderson Beck describes the film as largely accurate, while David O. Stewart finds it inaccurate to the ridiculous. Essential points in the film are at least controversial. Johnson's speech on impeachment did not take place.

The film has the biggest problem with the historiography of the judgments of Andrew Johnson and, inversely, Thaddeus Stevens. By the time Tennessee Johnson was born, historiography was still following William Archibald Dunning's school, which harshly criticized the Restoration as revenge against the whites of the south. Johnson was then seen as the savior of the constitution, while Stevens was described by the US historian James Truslow Adams as "probably the most despicable, vicious and morally bent figure who has ever achieved much power in America". Hollywood itself still adhered to the Lost Cause ideology, as seen in films like The Birth of a Nation (1915) or Gone With the Wind , which was very successful just three years before Tennessee Johnson was made. Last but not least, the desire to unite the nation in war was a motive. The latter did not work, at least with Tennessee Johnson (see the section on censorship and the OWI ).

However, with the US civil rights movement , historians' view has changed dramatically. Johnson is now considered to be the "racist, incompetent, and incorrigible Confederation-loving" president who regularly finds himself at the bottom of the polls for presidents. It is also closely linked to the emergence of white racism, especially in the southern states. Stevens, on the other hand, is now seen as a fighter for equality, who campaigned for equality for all, but had to concentrate on those of the African American because of the developments of his time. It is perhaps to be understood that Tennessee Johnson was mostly received by contemporary critics as a highly interesting and accurate biography, but today it seems like a pure propaganda film.

Censorship and the OWI

Tennessee Johnson was the first major studio film to be significantly altered due to protests from African Americans. The name was also changed; the film was previously called Man on America's Conscience. In the summer of 1942, it was leaked from the set that Thaddeus Stevens was the villain's villain. This prompted David Platt of the communist newspaper Daily Worker , who launched a campaign against the film. Walter White of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) also took action; after all, Stevens was a hero of the African American people. Also involved were Lowell Mellett and Nelson Poynter from the United States Office of War Information (OWI) , a government agency that was primarily concerned about unity in the country. The office had no direct influence on censorship, but it did control the distribution of films to foreign bodies and was therefore taken very seriously by film producers.

White and Mellett turned to Louis B. Mayer and were invited to a screening of the film. White said the film could seriously injure morale. He was also "one-sided to the point of blatant inaccuracy." Vincent Price , Zero Mostel , Ben Hecht and others are said to have even asked the OWI to destroy the film in the interests of national unity . Mellett then asked MGM to defuse the film enough so that there was no trouble or, if that was not possible, to hold the film back until the country got out of the crisis. MGM complained, but started filming again. The result was that Stevens was portrayed somewhat less negatively, if perhaps insignificantly. There is disagreement over the question of whether the representation of colored people was also reset in this context or whether this had already happened before. In the finished film there are only four African American characters, which is questionable given the subject matter, and they are all portrayed as obedient servants. Even the main character of Lydia Hamilton Smith does not exist in the film; the instead created role of Addie is portrayed by Louise Beavers, who specializes in maternal figures . After representatives of the OWI had expressed their enthusiasm about the success of this campaign, it was soon discovered that it wasn't that big. They even warned the Daily Worker and the NAACP not to show themselves too enthusiastic, as there were already fears for national unity again. The result was also picked up in the film reviews. Manny Farber said in his review in The New Republic that the film looked heavily censored and concluded that censorship was a disgrace, whether by the Hays Office or by Liberals and the OWI. The New York Times review said the film was released amid a sizeable number of allegations and counter-allegations in which the trumpets of the Civil War sometimes appeared to be heard again .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Tennessee Johnson. In: American Film Institute website . Retrieved June 26, 2016 (English).
  2. ↑ Jim Davis (1915-1981). In: GunSmokeNet. Retrieved June 26, 2016 (English).
  3. ^ Wilhelm (William) Dieterle - actor, director . In: CineGraph - Lexikon zum Deutschsprachigen Film , Lg. 22, F 29 f.
  4. ↑ Tennessee Johnson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  5. ↑ a b c d e TS: At the Astor . In: The New York Times . January 13, 1943 ( online [accessed June 26, 2016]).
  6. ^ A b Paul Tatara: Tennessee Johnson (1942). In: Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved June 26, 2016 (English).
  7. ^ Leonard Maltin : Tennessee Johnson (1942). In: Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved on June 26, 2016 (scroll to the short review by Leonard Maltin).
  8. ↑ a b c d Walt: Tennessee Johnson . In: Variety . December 16, 1942, p. 16 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  9. ↑ Top Grossers of the Season . In: Variety . January 5, 1944, p. 54 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  10. ↑ 1942 Top Grossing Movies. In: Ultimate Movie Rankings. Retrieved on June 26, 2016 (English, the film is in the list at number 121.).
  11. ^ Tennessee Johnson. In: Old Time Radio Downloads. Retrieved June 26, 2016 (English).
  12. ↑ Trivia. In: IMDb. Retrieved June 26, 2016 (English, Section 3).
  13. ↑ Sanderson Beck: Tennessee Johnson. In: San.Beck.org. 2004, accessed June 26, 2016 .
  14. ↑ David O. Stewart: How True is "Lincoln"? In: History News Network. December 20, 2011, accessed June 26, 2016 .
  15. ^ Carin Dessauer: History in the making: Clinton on trial. In: CNN.com. January 7, 1999, accessed June 26, 2016 .
  16. ↑ a b c Chris Lucas: Ten Obscure Presidents Who Got the Hollywood Treatment. (No longer available online.) In: Movie Pilot. February 17, 2015, archived from the original on June 26, 2016 ; Retrieved June 26, 2016 (Andrew Johnson is listed under number 7). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / moviepilot.com
  17. ↑ a b c d e f g Clayton R. Koppes, Gregory D. Black: Blacks, Loyalty, and Motion Picture Propaganda in World War II . In: Matthew Bernstein (Ed.): Controlling Hollywood: Censorship and Regulation in the Studio Era . A&C Black, London 2000, ISBN 978-0-485-30092-5 , pp. 139–142 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed June 26, 2016]).
  18. ^ A b William Loren Katz, published by The Zinn Education Project: Why I'm Rooting for Tommy Lee Jones. In: The Huffington Post . April 24, 2013, accessed June 26, 2016 .
  19. ↑ Hollywood's Love Affair with Thaddeus Stevens. In: History, Art & Archives United States House of Representatives. March 5, 2014, accessed June 26, 2016 .
  20. ↑ a b Eileen Jones: The Cinematic Lost Cause Why have so many films dealing with the Civil War embraced the Confederate struggle? In: Jacobin . Summer, 2015 ( online [accessed June 26, 2016] Tennessee Johnson is addressed near the middle of the article).
  21. ↑ a b Larry Ceplair: The Marxist and the Movies: A Biography of Paul Jarrico . University Press of Kentucky, Lexington 2007, ISBN 978-0-8131-2453-7 , pp. 59 - 60 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed June 26, 2016]).
  22. ↑ We Ask A Historian: Just How Accurate Is 'Lincoln'? In: npr. November 22, 2012, accessed on June 26, 2016 (English, in the fourth answer).
  23. ↑ Donald R. McClarey: Thaddeus Stevens: Film Portrayals. In: The American Catholic. December 10, 2012, accessed June 26, 2016 .
  24. ↑ a b c d e f g Bill Kauffman: The Hollywood Ten (nessean) . In: Chronicles . October 1998, ISSN  0887-5731 , p. 39–40 (English, online [accessed June 26, 2016]).
  25. ↑ a b c d e Thomas Cripps: Making Movies Black: The Hollywood Message Movie From World War II to the Civil Rights Era . Oxford University Press, New York 1993, ISBN 978-0-19-536034-9 , pp. 69–72 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed June 26, 2016]).
  26. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Jenny Woodley: Art for Equality: The NAACP's Cultural Campaign for Civil Rights . University Press of Kentucky, Lexington 2014, ISBN 978-0-8131-4516-7 , pp. 144–146 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed June 26, 2016]).
  27. ^ A b Clayton R. Koppes, Gregory D. Black: What to Show the World: The Office of War Information and Hollywood, 1942-1945. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: The Journal of American History. P. 94 , archived from the original on May 13, 2015 ; accessed on June 26, 2016 (English).
  28. ^ The OWI in the Early War Years. In: History of the American Cinema. Retrieved June 26, 2016 (English).
  29. ^ Bill Kauffman: Redford Goes Ron Paul. In: The American Conservative. December 2, 2011, accessed on June 26, 2016 (English, third section, in brackets).