Already knowing a great deal about Dolley Madison before I bought the movie wondering how they were going to dramatize one America's most beloved first ladies.
I started the movie with mixed emotions and finished it feeling the same. Ginger Rogers was a great actress but she doesn't pull off a convincing Dolley Madison-there's something missing. I don't know what it is, but it just isn't there. I did manage to overlook Rogers performance and applaud David Niven who was perhaps my favorite character. He pulled off the scheming Aaron Burr to perfection. From the beginning as a senator, to the tie with Jefferson in the election of , to the treason trial that forced him into obscurity.
I liked him second, his smallness after all James Madison is still our shortest president at 5'6' and his quiet way made it easy to understand why Dolley Madison choice him instead of Aaron Burr. After watching this movie I had rather hoped that Hollywood would find someone to redo this movie. I think Dolley Madison's life is just as interesting as Thomas Jefferson's.
Maybe if they do choose to redo this movie they could show that she had two sons in the movie it only mentions one son who died in the yellow fever epidemic but actually she had one older that lived. The elder son, named Payne Todd, from Dolley's first husband who died in the Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic of , is the one who caused many heartaches in Dolley's later years even though she didn't admit it.
He was a drunkard and a scoundrel and spent money lavishly. To get back to the movie, overall it wasn't bad. If you like period pieces and good verses evil you'll enjoy this movie.
It wasn't the best movie I've seen but wasn't the worst. The acting was good; especially David Niven and Burgess Meredith did an okay job. They played a little bit with Dolley's life but you can't expect Hollywood to get it right all the time.
Rotundy May 11, Details Edit. Release date November United States. United States. Frank Borzage's Magnificent Doll. Hallmark Productions. Technical specs Edit. Runtime 1 hour 30 minutes. Black and White. Related news. Contribute to this page Suggest an edit or add missing content. Top Gap. What is the Spanish language plot outline for Magnificent Doll ? See more gaps Learn more about contributing. Edit page. See the full list. Child Stars, Then and Now. I really enjoyed this. Scene after scene unspool with more attention being paid to Ginger's glorious wardrobe than to the credibility of the script.
David Niven and Burgess Meredith play the men fighting for her affections, and none of the lead trio perform badly, but the unhistorical history lesson sinks them. And the wonderful Frank Borzage touch of yore is nowhere to be seen. This is a strange one, visually impressive and with a solid lead performance, but with a childishly simplistic approach to history.
It's a period piece where the villain is the only likeable character that's liable to happen when you cast David Niven in said role , while the supposed romantic leads are weaselly prigs with no redeeming qualities in sight.
The lack of strong romantic sentiments is particularly surprising given it's a Borzage picture - it's an area he's had such strength at capturing without, often without even needing dialogue. Instead he serves up a soft, warm recreation of historical events, completely lacking in complexity and any emotional heart.
By all accounts Dolley Madison was an important, fascinating figure in the…. This one seems to have quite a mixed response on Letterboxd, with some people slapping with with a rating as low as 2 stars.
I myself, don't agree with that and while this film is a long way away from perfect, I'd say that it's quite a good film with a few problems.
It can be a little boring from time to time, although I did admire how strong the cast were and how well the dialogue worked at moving it. The costumes and set oeuves are all quite immersive, as is the music.
It takes the audience on a decent emotional journey filled with enough highs and lows of emotional depth and still has time to fill it with politics. Politics doesn't even make it boring which was the biggest surprise for me. Unfortunately it's one of those that doesn't leave much of a mark, except as one of Ginger Rogers least successful films. Not exactly bad and def cool-ass costumes but didn't really do much for me - too scatter-brained and tied to the trends of the '40s to work as a period drama.
Magnificent Doll bombed financially and critically at the time and even now the reviews are not glowing at all, so I went into this with very low expectations and it was a treat! Sure, this took a lot of liberties with the truth, like Aaron Burr being in a relationship with Dolly, creating a love triangle between him, Dolly, and James Madison guess who won?
Dolly Payne Madison Ginger Rogers has a central role in a Washington seething with politics and passion. Also starring David Niven and Burgess Meredith. Grabbing the eye of two young politicians, generous James Madison Burgess Meredith and excitable Aaron Burr David Niven , she uses her charms not only to impress her suitors but to impact a presidential election, and also to rescue valuable national treasures from prowling British troops throughout the War of A lot of speechifying in this one, just to prevent David Niven from becoming king of America One of rather few Borzage films that might indeed have been a bit out of touch with the time it was made in.
The production design is beautiful, though. A solid history film from Frank Borzage. It might not have the showiness of a Street Angel or a Lilliom, but this isn't bad after a shaky start in which Ginger Rogers' Dolly Payne is forced into a contracted marriage, concocted by her Quaker father, with his old friend's son. Once this aspect of the story is closed and the now widowed Dolly meets with senator Aaron Burr, a man who seems the ideal politician to rise to President, it takes on a mix of politics and romance which is very watchable.
Burgess Meredith shines as the reasonable man in the centre of the triangle, James Madison, and Ginger is quite good in this, one of her dramatic films following….
Directed by Frank Borzage and written by Irving Stone.
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