Magnificently Dull would
perhaps have been a more fitting title. Ginger Rogers is woefully
miscast as Dolley Payne Madison, the wife of the fourth President of
the United States, in this dull-as-ditchwater and largely fictionalised
historical drama which marked a new low for director Frank
Borzage. Despite its above average production values, Magnificent Doll falls flat in just
about every department, but mainly on account of its implausible script
and Borzage's totally uninspired direction. (The visual flair that
Borzage showed in his late silent films, and on which his reputation
rests, has all but deserted him by this time.) Rogers' hideously
unconvincing performance becomes almost unbearable in her scenes with
David Niven, who has rarely (if ever) looked more wooden and
unsympathetic. A clumsy attempt to connect historical fact with
recent events (the threat posed to western democracy by Nazism) robs
the film of any conviction, so what should have been a rallying cry for
freedom and democracy ends up feeling like an embarrassed yawn at a
wake.
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Next Frank Borzage film: Moonrise (1948)
Film Synopsis
Born into a Quaker family, Dolly Payne has no choice but to agree to an
arranged marriage but she never can love the man her father forces her
to wed. After her husband's untimely death, Dolly moves with her
mother to Pennsylvania, to run a high class boarding house. This
is how she comes into contact with Aaron Burr and James Madison, two
young men with great political ambitions. As Madison lends his
support to Thomas Jefferson's campaign for Presidency of the Unites
States, Burr decides that what his country needs is not democracy, but
a strong dictator. When she realises the kind of man Burr is,
Dolly rejects him and instead marries Madison...
Cast: Ginger Rogers (Dolly Payne Madison),
David Niven (Aaron Burr),
Burgess Meredith (James Madison),
Peggy Wood (Mrs. Payne),
Stephen McNally (John Todd),
Robert Barrat (Mr. Payne),
Grandon Rhodes (Thomas Jefferson),
Frances E. Williams (Amy),
Henri Letondal (Count D'Arignon),
Joseph Forte (Senator Ainsworth),
Erville Alderson (Darcy),
Lois Austin (Grace Phillips),
George Barrows (Jedson),
Larry J. Blake (Charles),
Stanley Blystone (Man Outside Courthouse),
Harlan Briggs (Quinn),
George M. Carleton (Howard),
Tom Coleman (Mr. Carroll),
Joseph Crehan (Williams),
Jack Curtis (Edmund)
Country: USA
Language: English
Support: Black and White
Runtime: 95 min
Aka:Frank Borzage's Magnificent Doll
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