Warm Springs (film)
| Warm Springs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre |
Biography Drama |
| Written by | Margaret Nagle |
| Directed by | Joseph Sargent |
| Starring |
Kenneth Branagh Cynthia Nixon Kathy Bates Tim Blake Nelson Jane Alexander David Paymer |
| Theme music composer | Bruce Broughton |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Chrisann Verges |
| Cinematography | Robbie Greenberg |
| Editor | Michael Brown |
| Running time | 121 minutes |
| Production companies |
HBO Films Mark Gordon Productions The Mark Gordon Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release |
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Warm Springs is a 2005 made-for-television biography drama film directed by Joseph Sargent, written by Margaret Nagle, and starring Kenneth Branagh, Cynthia Nixon, Kathy Bates, Tim Blake Nelson, Jane Alexander, and David Paymer. The screenplay concerns U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1921 illness, diagnosed at the time as polio, his struggle to overcome paralysis, his discovery of the Warm Springs resort, his work to turn it into a center for the rehabilitation of polio victims, and his resumption of his political career. Roosevelt's emotional growth as he interacts with other disabled people at Warm Springs prepares him for the challenges he will face as president during the Great Depression.
Plot
The film opens in 1924 with a handicapped Franklin D. Roosevelt living in semi-isolation on a Florida houseboat with two male attendants. He reminisces about the 1920 presidential election and running as vice president. Franklin, a Harvard-educated lawyer, New York assemblyman, and assistant Secretary of the Navy, gave a rousing speech in which he mentioned his cousin, President Teddy Roosevelt. Republican Warren Harding won the election, but Franklin's political rise had begun. Early on, Franklin is portrayed as arrogant and is considered a dilatant and a political lightweight by opponents.
When Franklin's wife, Eleanor discovered his extra-marital affair, they remained married but with mostly separate lives. When Franklin was suddenly stricken with polio, leaving his lower body paralyzed, Franklin's friend and political advisor, Louis Howe abandoned plans for Franklin's presidential bid. Franklin then moved to Florida.
When a storm wrecks the houseboat, Louis persuades Franklin to return to New York and resume his political career. Meanwhile, an old friend, George Foster Peabody, invites Franklin to the Meriweather Inn, the resort he owns in Warm Springs, Georgia. Peabody claims a handicapped boy was able to walk while in the therapeutic mineral waters. Intrigued, Franklin heads to Warm Springs, along with Eleanor.
Franklin and Elinor find the Meriweather Inn is extremely rundown. Franklin rejects the two-story residence he is offered, fearing being trapped upstairs in a fire, but settles for a one-story cottage. Once in the pool, Franklin is unable to stand, though resort manager, Tom Loyless, assures him he will in time. Meanwhile, Eleanor realizes Franklin intends to stay in Georgia.
Eleanor wants Franklin to return to New York City, saying it has the best doctors and hospitals. Franklin refuses, believing he may have a chance to walk again. Eleanor returns to New York where Louis launches her career as a social activist. Meanwhile, Franklin is eventually able to stand and move around in the buoyant waters. His celebrity results in an interview by the local newspaper. Franklin feels people are pitying him but Tom assures him that is not the case.
The resort closes for the season, but Franklin returns in the spring. He discovers that after his newspaper interview was nationally syndicated, other polio victims came to the resort. Franklin angrily storms out; Tom chastises him, saying it is not Franklin's private resort and says he has same prejudices and pity that other people have towards polio victims.
Franklin arrives at the train station, intending to return to New York. Tom is there to pick up a newly-arriving polio patient. Franklin is horrified that the young man was forced to ride in the train's baggage car alone and is barely conscious. Franklin berates the indifferent conductor, and he and Tom take the man to the resort to recover. Tom informs Franklin that, due to able-bodied guests fearing polio, he cannot use the pool during regular hours or eat in the dining room.
Later, physical therapist Helena Mahonny arrives to work at the resort, inspired by Franklin's interview. Helena finds the waters are helping Franklin but says he needs more pool time than he is allowed. Franklin decides to buy the resort and turn it into a polio rehab center.
Franklin learns that Tom has terminal cancer and is returning home to die. Franklin's domineering mother, unable to understand Franklin's purpose at Warm Springs, sends Louis and Eleanor to stop him buying the spa and bring him back to New York. Upon arriving, Eleanor is supportive. She and Franklin begin fund-raising and accept a doctor's offer to evaluate the resort.
Meanwhile, Louis believes Franklin is ready to resume his political career, aiming for Governor of New York. Meanwhile, Franklin receives the doctor's unfavorable medical report and he disputes hydrotherapy's benefit. With plans to turn the resort into a polio rehab center and his ability to walk again possibly being derailed, Franklin becomes depressed. Helena, Louis, and Eleanor persuade him to revive political career. They devise a method enabling Franklin to appear in public without his wheelchair, supported by leg braces and minimal human assistance. The plan works and Franklin is elected Governor of New York.
The epilogue reveals that Franklin was elected the U.S. president four years later, becoming the only person elected to more than two terms and serving until he died while in office, at his Warm Springs cottage in 1945. The rehab center was Franklin's life insurance beneficiary and continues to operate to this day.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kenneth Branagh | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Cynthia Nixon | Eleanor Roosevelt |
| Kathy Bates | Helena Mahoney |
| Tim Blake Nelson | Tom Loyless |
| Jane Alexander | Sara Delano Roosevelt |
| David Paymer | Louis McHenry Howe |
| Melissa Ponzio | Lucy Mercer |
| Marianne Fraulo | Missy LeHand |
| Brian F. Durkin | Elliott Roosevelt |
| Turner Dixon | James Roosevelt |
| Tripp Hennington | Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. |
| Sam Frihart | John Roosevelt |
| Carrie Adams | Anna Roosevelt |
| Wilbur Fitzgerald | Al Smith |
| Felicia Day | Eloise Hutchinson |
Actress Jane Alexander, who plays FDR's mother Sara Delano Roosevelt, also played Eleanor Roosevelt in the acclaimed 1976 telefilm Eleanor and Franklin and its 1977 sequel Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. Many of the bit part actors in the film are actually physically disabled, though Branagh and several other of the principal actors are not. The withered appearance of Branagh's legs was achieved through the use of CGI.
Production
The film was produced by HBO Films and directed by Joseph Sargent. The majority of the film was made at Warm Springs, Georgia and its surrounding locations. Other Georgia locations include Madison, Atlanta,Summerville,and Gainesville.
The producers strove to make sure that many of the physical details were as authentic as possible. For example, Kenneth Branagh, as Roosevelt, is seen driving the very same specially-equipped automobile that FDR was taught to drive at Warm Springs. The cottage that Roosevelt stays in during the film is one of the cottages that the real FDR stayed in. And the swimming pool in which the patients swim in is the actual therapeutic swimming pool at Warm Springs, refurbished specifically for the film.
Reception
Tom Jicha of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found the film "more educational than entertaining", but said "Kenneth Branagh offers an exemplary turn". Rob Owens of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, ""Warm Springs" isn't a revolutionary or ground-breaking film, but it is a solid depiction of a time in the life of a figure who loomed large in 20th century American history." Sid Smith of the Chicago Tribune said that Branagh and Nixon "play these familiar icons as real, flesh-and-blood people", and also noted memorable work by Paymer, Bates, and Nelson. Kevin McDonough of United Feature Syndicate called the film "intimate and powerful".
Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel takes some issue with some of the writing, but says the film is "impressive" and that " Tim Blake Nelson is heart-rending as the spa's proprietor." He also noted that before Roosevelt died at Warm Springs, he listed the rehabilitation center as beneficiary of his $562,000 life insurance policy.