Themes: Death of a Partner, Foibles of Marriage, Rise To Power
Main Cast: Louis Calhern, Ann Harding, Philip Ober, Ian Wolfe, Eduard Franz
Release Year: 1950
Country: US
Run Time: 80 minutes
Plot
Louis Calhern repeats his Broadway role as Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in this 1950 cinemazation of Emmet Lavery's stage play The Magnificent Yankee. The film is for the most part confined to the Holmes home in Washington, where the good gray judge parries affectionately with his level-headed wife Fanny (Ann Harding). A steady stream of historical personages parade through the Holmes manse, including jurist Louis Brandeis (Eduard Franz) and novelist Owen Wister (Philip Ober). The death of his wife devastates Holmes, but only briefly; he ends up serving his country for nearly forty years. The British title of Magnificent Yankee was The Man With Thirty Sons, a somewhat misleading reference to the Harvard Law graduates whom Oliver Wendell Holmes sponsored. Also available on videocassette is a 1965 TV production of Magnificent Yankee, starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Modern audiences may have little or no knowledge of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the "Great Dissenter" of the Supreme Court who is the subject of The Magnificent Yankee. And it must be admitted that after watching the film, such viewers will know little more about Holmes the jurist than they did going in. This points up what is just about the only failing in this otherwise excellent biopic: Yankee picks as its subject a man whose fame rests upon the decisions he issued from the bench, then proceeds to generally ignore those decisions. Fortunately, this flaw, while it will inevitably irk historians, will not detract the general public from enjoying a smooth as silk story about a wise, intelligent, stubborn and crafty public figure, the love he shared with his understanding and equally wise wife and the joy they felt in educating a score and more of judicial protégés during their score and more years in Washington. The screenplay is adept and quite well constructed, creating leading roles that are an actor's dream. As the title character, Louis Calhern is a quiet marvel, stepping into Holmes' shoes as if he were born into them and filling the screen with a portrayal that is gently heroic. Ann Harding is his perfect foil, his counterpart in everything, and the chemistry between the two is irreplaceable. John Sturges' direction is not as muscular as it is in other efforts, but it is handsomely solid and perfectly in tune with the proceedings. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Edith Evanson - Annie Gough; Jimmy Lydon - Clinton; Richard Anderson - Reynolds; David Alpert; Herbert Anderson - Baxter; Marshall Bradford - Head Waiter; Wheaton Chambers; Dick Cogan; Jack Gargan; Everett Glass - Justice Peckham; Sherry Hall; John Hamilton - Justice White; Holmes Herbert - Justice McKenna; Selmar Jackson - Lawyer; William Johnstone - Lawyer; Todd Karns - Secretary; Stapleton Kent - Court Clerk; Freeman Lusk - Announcer; Robert Malcolm - Marshall; David McMahon - Workman; Tony Merrill - Reporter; Hayden Rorke - Graham; Hugh Sanders - Parker; George Spaulding - Justice Hughes; Dan Tobin - Dixon; Harlan Warde - Norton; Gayne Whitman - Senator; Wilson Wood; James H. Horne; Tommy Kelly; Robert Sherwood - Drake; Jim Drum - Secretary; Gerald Pierce; Bret Hamilton; Charles Evans - Chief Justice Fuller; Robert Griffin - Court Crier
The Magnificent Yankee is a 1950 biographical film adapted by Emmet Lavery from his play of the same title, which was in-turn adapted from the book Mr. Justice Holmes by Francis Biddle. The story examines the life of United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.
The film was directed by John Sturges, with stars, Louis Calhern, Ann Harding, Eduard Franz, and Philip Ober. Calhern created the role of Oliver Wendell Holmes in the play's original Broadway production, and the part was his only starring role in a sound film. A grateful MGM purchased the film rights of the play specifically as a reward to Calhern for playing secondary roles for the studio for years.
For his score for this film David Raksin incorporated the songs "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", "Auld Lang Syne," and a portion of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square." Raksin also conducted the score. [1]
The complete score was issued on cd in 2009, on Film Score Monthly records.
References
^Bettencourt, Scott (2009). Release notes for David Raksin at MGM (1950-1957) by David Raksin (CD online notes). Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.: Film Score Monthly (Vol. 12, No. 2).
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