MEN OF OUR TIME - FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Reel 1 & 2
Granada production. Reel 1. American ticker tape parade. Franklin D. Roosevelt takes his hat off and smiles in C/U. Late 1800s street scenes in America - trams, cars, horse and carts. Views of a harbour. People waving from a landing dock. Crowds of people. Hudson Valley countryside landscapes. Hyde Park - birthplace of Roosevelt. Exteriors and interiors of grand house. President Theodore Roosevelt walking on the beach and making a speech. Franklin, his wife Eleanor and mother Sarah. Franklin smiles and takes off hat to camera. Woodrow Wilson makes a speech. Naval ship. American marines leaning out of train windows kissing wives and children goodbye as they leave for war. Paris peace conference. Roosevelt wished America to join the United Nations. Wilson returns to America - greeted by large crowds. Vice Presidential candidates in 1920 included Roosevelt - they pose. Political rally with emotional speeches and banners. Roosevelt shakes hands with political colleagues. His wife and children pose. He sits in a garden chair smoking a pipe. Jazz musicians and Charleston dancers - montage to show how Americans were "determined to enjoy the '20s." One woman dances on a bar, a man dances on a plank of wood suspended high above the ground, aeroplane stunt man, man spinning around on a table. A sail is hoisted on the Roosevelt holiday yacht - we see the family in the boat. Roosevelt contracted Polio on this trip. Drunken party scenes, fashion shots, wild dancing, high kick routine. Roosevelt in a car. Eleanor and Sarah. Roosevelt playing in river (?) at Warm Springs with a large group of young people. Roosevelt supports Al Smith for Democratic candidate. We see them together - Roosevelt on crutches. Stunt montage including the "wall of death" , car and motorcycle stunts.
<br/>Gangsters - man fires a gun from a car window. Newspaper headlines about the death of "Pretty Boy Floyd" and "Baby-face". Police stand close to a dead body (?), presumably "Baby-face". Man behind bars - another gangster? 1928 election. Rally, parade. Group of young people carry a large banner reading: "Welcome Home Hoover" behind a fountain. Clouds of smoke from flares as people walk along and cheer. Herbert Hoover and his wife stand on a balcony whilst enthusiastic supporters cheer. One man climbs on another's shoulder and wildly punches the air with delight. Rally as Roosevelt becomes Governor of New York State. Roosevelt shakes hands with supporters. Roosevelt makes a New Year speech from his balcony. Street scenes - large crowds. Voice over about the depression. Agricultural workers moving home and sitting around. Unemployment march? Sign reads: "Jobless Men Keep Going - We Can't Take Care of Our Own - Chamber of Commerce". C/U of men's feet as they walk. Sign reading: "No Men Wanted". Soup kitchen / bread line - a man dishes out some food. Shanty towns or Hoovervilles. Civil unrest. Scenes of fighting, car windows are smashed, men running in the streets, fighting with police. Roosevelt and wife. 1932 Democratic convention - Roosevelt gets the nomination. Makes a speech before flying to Chicago. Montage of political campaigning - shots of Roosevelt and Hoover making speeches and meeting voters. Hollywood float and Will Rogers at a Roosevelt rally.
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<br/>Reel 2. Unemployed march. Banner reads: "Abolish Bread Lines - Vote for Roosevelt." Rally - Roosevelt makes a speech about the failure of Hoover's administration. Crowds. Victorious Roosevelt with his dog, wife, mother and sister (?). Policeman on horseback attempts to control crowds. Much cheering and waving from crowds. End of Part One and Part Two inter-titles. Roosevelt takes office. Motorcycle police lead open topped car through crowd lined streets. Roosevelt makes a speech about speaking the truth. Inaugural address. Washington D.C. Roosevelt signs papers. End of prohibition. Barrels are unloaded from carts and rolled along. Pints of beer are drunk by a crowd of people, including women. Men at work - construction of roads and buildings. Replanting Americas depleted forests. Roosevelt makes a speech from Virginia's C.C.C. (?) camp. He speaks of the health of the workers. Women at work - montage of industrial processes. Marching men demand an 8 hour day. General Drivers Union Strike Headquarters. Civil unrest, picket lines, police tying to keep order. Power stations. Electricity pylons. A dam. Sign reads: "Co-operation produces results." Voice over speaks of unemployment and the Welfare State. Outdoor political rally. Roosevelt drives his car to make a public appearance. Children with flags. The White House. Families listen to the radio - Roosevelt uses this new means to reach his people. Roosevelt sitting by the fire with wife and mother reading a speech (as if a radio broadcast). Eleanor is knitting. Roosevelt and religion. Family life. Roosevelt plays with his children and pets. Holiday home. Sailing. Roosevelt makes a speech on his return from holiday - he makes jokes. Supreme Court rules some of Roosevelt's legislation unconstitutional.
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<br/>Some of his early advisors had left him. Speech is made about the value of property. Alf Landon the Governor of Kansas becomes the Republicans' standard bearer.
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<br/>Continued. See other reels.