White House, back entrance
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | White House, back entrance |
| Original title | Backstairs at the White House |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| year | 1979 |
| Production company |
Ed Friendly Productions Inc. |
| length | 45 minutes |
| Episodes | 9 (4) in 1 season |
| genre | drama |
| idea | Lillian Rogers Parks, Frances Spatz Leighton |
| production | Ed Friendly (Executive Producer & Producer), Michael O'Herlihy (Producer) |
| music | Morton Stevens (Composer), Michael Tronick (Editor) |
| First broadcast | Jan 29, 1979 (USA) on NBC |
| German-language first broadcast |
January 2, 1980 on ZDF |
| occupation | |
| |
The White House, Rear Entrance (Original: Backstairs at the White House ) is an American television miniseries from 1979. The series is based on the autobiographical novel "My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House" by Lillian Rogers Parks and describes the Lives of the first black white house clerk, Maggie Rogers and her daughter. The novel, published in 1961, caused a sensation in the USA.
background
The series describes what happened in the White House under Presidents Taft , Wilson , Harding , Coolidge , Hoover , Roosevelt , Truman and Eisenhower from the perspective of the black maid . The events are described from the perspective of the staff. Frances Spatz Leighton and the novelist Lillian Rogers Parks, who worked in the White House for 52 years, wrote the script for the series. In 1979, the series was broadcast in four episodes in the United States. For broadcast in Germany , ZDF split the series into nine episodes of 45 minutes each in 1980 and was later adopted by other broadcasters.
action
In 1909 the black Maggie Rogers ( Olivia Cole ) was hired as a maid in the White House. Until now, blacks could only become servants and kitchen helpers. Her daughter Lillian ( Leslie Uggams ) suffers from polio , but bites through and follows in her mother's footsteps. The staff also includes the first housekeeper Mrs. Jaffray ( Cloris Leachman ), the servants Ike Hoover ( Leslie Nielsen ), Levi Mercer ( Louis Gossett Jr. ), Coates ( Hari Rhodes ) and Dixon ( David Downing ), the porters Mays ( Robert Hooks ) and Jackson ( Bill Overton ) and the maid Annie ( Helena Carroll ). In addition to work, Maggie also has problems with her own family, which she wants to keep together. Her husband drinks and hangs around, so she lives alone with her son Emmett and daughter Lillian. With her job being poorly paid, Maggie has constant financial worries.
The episodes
The episodes are described in the German nine-part version.
1st episode
Maggie Rogers is employed in 1909 as the first black housemaid in the official residence of the American president. This is how she experiences the everyday life of perhaps the most powerful family in the world. At the same time, however, she is struggling with financial problems in her private life. It is the final stages of President Taft's term.
2nd episode
Maggie soon becomes friends with the new first wife, Mrs. Wilson. The first lady tries to ensure equality for blacks, but dies prematurely. The president will soon marry again, which the domestic workers greatly dislike. Meanwhile, Maggie's daughter Lillian can finally be operated on.
3rd episode
Maggie Rogers is very proud to learn that her son has been promoted to lieutenant. However, the young man soon returns to America with gas poisoning. Meanwhile, President Wilson suffers a stroke. His wife continues the official business and thus ensures that he stays in office.
4th episode
President Wilson is replaced by President Harding. The new head of the house demands that spittoons be placed everywhere in the White House. Politically, he soon got into trouble as several corruption cases came to light. In addition, the whole of Washington is amused that he is cheating on his wife in public. Only she doesn't seem to know anything about it.
5th episode
President Harding and his wife take a trip where the president dies. He is succeeded by Vice President Coolidge, who irritates the domestic workers with his humor. But when the new president learns that Maggie's son Emmett is gas-poisoned, he is ready to help. President Hoover will move into the White House after the next election.
6th episode
The economic downturn also forces Maggie's daughter Lillian to start working as a maid in the White House. Lillian goes to a tough school with Maggie. An assassination attempt on President Hoover puts the White House on high alert. After the next election, the Roosevelts will move into the White House.
7th episode
Maggie collapses from exhaustion and has to stay in bed. She misses the White House and every evening eagerly waits for news from her daughter Lillian, who also started as a housemaid there. To her mother's horror, Lillian secretly marries. But their marriage is not a lucky star. That's when America enters World War II .
8th episode
When Chiang Kai-shek is expected at the White House , First Lady Roosevelt asks Maggie to return to duty to take care of his wife. But Maggie strains and has to finally give up her job. When Roosevelt dies, the servants find it difficult to get used to the new President Truman.
9th episode
Maggie's daughter Lillian has followed in her footsteps. But when the Eisenhowers move into the White House, she is already one of the oldest employees and feels increasingly strange. When her mother Maggie dies and the Kennedys announce themselves, she decides to leave the White House. She wants to write the book her mother always planned.
German version
German version: ARENA Synchron Berlin
Dialog book: Gerda von Rüxleben Dialog
director: Lothar Michael Schmitt
German episode length : 42'48
Broadcasts in Germany
First broadcast: 9 episodes, January 1980 to April 1980 on ZDF
Repetitions:
- October 1982 to December 1982 ZDF
- May 1985 Sat.1
- March 1990 Pro Sieben
- May 1992 cable one
- August 2007 series premiere
- September 2008 series premiere
Up until 2007, all repeats were broadcast in nine parts in the German cut. The original four-part US version was premiered in September 2008.
Actor and German voice actor
Web links
- Backstairs at the White House in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Fernsehserien.de - episode description
- German dubbing files
- Series Lexicon - Kabel Eins
- Online film database
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Presidents of the United States of America , accessed February 12, 2012