In this one-person filmed play, James Whitmore gives it everything he's got as Harry Truman between 1945 and 1952. He looks rather like Truman -- from the front, anyway -- but he speaks more quickly than the president and in clipped cheery tones. He strides purposefully around the stage. When he stops, he stands stiffly and seems to stare at the ceiling. He hardly pauses for an instant. If he left the room, the walls would pant.
Whitmore speaks to imaginary visitors like Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. To the latter, he complains that he, Truman, is sometimes called "Your Accidency." I suspect some of the younger folk of today might have to reach a bit for that gag. When he describes his experiences as a battery commander in World WarI, he dons an ancient khaki uniform and soup-bowl helmet. Otherwise he's in suit or shirt sleeves.
It's one interesting anecdote after another. His start in Independence, Missouri; his sponsorship by Boss Pendergast. He uses vulgar language from time to time -- nothing drastic -- and has down-home habits such as clearing his nose by the snort and swallow method. It's all quite amusing.
Once in a while, there is a fiery speech about the plight of the Negroes, corruption in government, and other largely liberal pieties. He condemns the Ku Klux Klan and Joseph McCarthy. He describes his opponents in harsh and commonplace terms. No pretension here. But left out is one of his sermons to reporters on the Chinese troops in Korea. The Chinese, he calls "Chinks." Later, "the yellow peril." And finally, "the heathen Chinee." He was quite a guy -- no nonsense, no pussyfooting around.
Some of the material is dated. He has no qualms about dropping the bomb and, as far as apologies go, he's waiting for an apology for Pearl Harbor. And some of the connective tissue is undoubtedly fabricated. There's something oddly resonant in his brash pronouncements about unions and minimum wage and "winning" in Korea -- he seems to put the word in quotes. Maybe it's my imagination.
Mostly, one almost collapses from exhaustion after watching this show. What must Whitmore have felt like when the curtain dropped? Did he drop too?
Whitmore speaks to imaginary visitors like Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. To the latter, he complains that he, Truman, is sometimes called "Your Accidency." I suspect some of the younger folk of today might have to reach a bit for that gag. When he describes his experiences as a battery commander in World WarI, he dons an ancient khaki uniform and soup-bowl helmet. Otherwise he's in suit or shirt sleeves.
It's one interesting anecdote after another. His start in Independence, Missouri; his sponsorship by Boss Pendergast. He uses vulgar language from time to time -- nothing drastic -- and has down-home habits such as clearing his nose by the snort and swallow method. It's all quite amusing.
Once in a while, there is a fiery speech about the plight of the Negroes, corruption in government, and other largely liberal pieties. He condemns the Ku Klux Klan and Joseph McCarthy. He describes his opponents in harsh and commonplace terms. No pretension here. But left out is one of his sermons to reporters on the Chinese troops in Korea. The Chinese, he calls "Chinks." Later, "the yellow peril." And finally, "the heathen Chinee." He was quite a guy -- no nonsense, no pussyfooting around.
Some of the material is dated. He has no qualms about dropping the bomb and, as far as apologies go, he's waiting for an apology for Pearl Harbor. And some of the connective tissue is undoubtedly fabricated. There's something oddly resonant in his brash pronouncements about unions and minimum wage and "winning" in Korea -- he seems to put the word in quotes. Maybe it's my imagination.
Mostly, one almost collapses from exhaustion after watching this show. What must Whitmore have felt like when the curtain dropped? Did he drop too?
