The President's Lady (1953) User Reviews

Susan Hayward looked so beautiful..

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 26 October 2003]

Although Rachel Donelson (Susan Hayward) is married when Andrew Jackson (Charlton Heston) meets her in a log cabin at Nashville in 1791, he knows that she will be his wife some day... And it is he who accompanies her when her mother, Mrs. Donelson (Fay Bainter), sends her to Natchez to get her away from Lewis Robards (Whitfield Connor), her husband, who is making her miserable...

In a riverboat, on their way to Natchez, they are attacked by Creek Indians and the danger brings them close to each other...

When they reach Natchez, Rachel stays at the home of a relative and Andrew tells her that they can get her marriage annulled and be wed... Before they can do anything, however, Andrew receives a letter from his law partner in Nashville, John Overton (John McIntire), saying that Robards has been granted a petition for divorce on the grounds of adultery, naming Jackson as correspondent...

Andrew is humiliated by this injustice, but he feels proud of his love for Rachel and tells her so...

They get married and go back to Nashville where Andrew becomes interested in politics... Soon, however, they find out from John Overton that although Robards had been granted a petition for divorce, it had not been consummated until now; therefore, Rachel and Andrew have been living together for two years without really being married... At Rachel's insistence, they are wed again at her mother's home...

The news spreads, however, and at a party Charles Dickinson (Carl Betz) makes a remark about Andrew – 'stealing another man's wife.'

Andrew challenges him to a duel, and wounded, makes a solemn vow to Rachel that he will lift her so high that no one will ever again dare say a word against her…

It is a pity that this well directed and well acted movie was not filmed in Technicolor as Susan Hayward looked so beautiful...

One scene is particularly stunning... She's deliriously happy at the news that her husband is on his way home... Then she realizes that, having worked in the fields all day, she's messy and dirty... In desperation, she grabs a pitcher of water to wash her face and drops it on the floor... Her husband walks in as she is picking up the pieces and her expression, a mixture of wild elation and acute embarrassment, is truly incredible...

Henry Levin's film got two nominations, one for Art and Set Direction and the other for Costume Design...

Rachel and Andrew

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 24 November 2007]

The figure of Andrew Jackson in American history is one that is constantly being reevaluated by historians. He was the champion of the common man in his day though the qualification should be made, the common white man. He was a slave owner, unapologetic in that regard, and American Indians have no cause to love him as he favored their complete removal to west of the Mississippi in his time.

Yet at the same time he was the spearhead of a movement to grant the franchise to the common Caucasian man. He was the first president who came from west of the Appalachians having moved from South Carolina to Tennessee which served as his base his whole political career. Our first six presidents came from the landed gentry who were the original founding fathers. Jackson worked his way up from poverty and never forget his roots no matter how rich he became.

Jackson was also the ideal of the frontier civilian soldier. Though with no military training so to speak, he distinguished himself in campaigns against the Indians and won an impressive victory at New Orleans beating some of the best of Wellington's Army from the Peninsular War in Europe. That victory is what sealed his reputation and eventually put him in the White House.

Irving Stone's biographical novel on which The President's Lady is based concentrates not on Jackson the historical figure, but on the love affair between Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson Robards. Rachel is played by Susan Hayward and she's a frontier woman and was until the day she died. Their love gets off to a rocky start because Rachel is divorced from her first husband Lewis Robards and weds Andrew thinking the divorce is final. In fact it wasn't and technically she was guilty of bigamy. They had to marry again and Jackson always defended his wife's honor by any means necessary as the film shows.

Charlton Heston came over from his home studio of Paramount to play Andrew Jackson in this 20th Century Fox production. He plays the tempestuous Jackson and it became one of the roles he was most identified with even after he was Moses in The Ten Commandments. In fact he played Jackson again in the DeMille supervised remake of The Buccaneer.

What The President's Lady does lack is any development of secondary characters. This film is strictly a star's vehicle. But when you got a pair of stars like Susan Hayward and Charlton Heston maybe it doesn't matter.

The film ends with the presidential campaign of 1828 and it was one of the nastiest in our history. The elite of the east knew it would lose power and fought with everything they could throw. Rachel's two divorces became campaign fodder.

By the way the Jackson camp weren't exactly shrinking violets either in this race. Still it did get down and dirty when it came to her.

The President's Lady holds up very well for today's audience and if Andrew Jackson is no political hero for good reasons to a lot of people, he was in fact a great romantic figure and more than a model husband. In fact it's really what The President's Lady is all about.

Another standout performance by Susan Hayward!

[dluther · 7/10 · 16 October 2002]

If anyone were ever to compile a Susan Hayward DVD boxed set (and I really wish someone would), it would have to include 1953's "The President's Lady." Both Ms. Hayward and Charlton Heston's performances, as Rachel and Andrew Jackson, were able to make me believe they were of that time and place. I am grateful to see it replayed on television every so often.

Basically Factual

[LERuth · 11 September 2004]

This movie is basically factual. It gives an excellent portrayal of two complex historical characters. Heston is excellent as a strong Andrew Jackson and Hayward gives strength with a touch of humanity to Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson. You can get a feel for the ruggedness of a young Tennessee with Jackson as a person who will ascend to historical significance. It is the style of movies that you do not see anymore.

One reviewer questioned whether Rachel died before Jackson became President. Yes she died before he was sworn in as President. Many feel her health deteriorated rapidly as she faced the negative comments made about her during the election of 1828. She was ostracized because of her divorce from Robards. This mistreatment was cause for several hotheaded reactions from Andrew Jackson. This is hard for our current culture to understand since by all accounts it was likely an abusive marriage.

I know there is much disagreement regarding colorization of older movies but I would really like a colorized version of this excellent historical biography. It is a classic of this style of film.

THE PRESIDENT'S LADY (Henry Levin, 1953) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 18 March 2014]

Seeing how I had just started my usual Epics marathon a little earlier than Easter time this year and that it happened to be Andrew Jackson's birthday yesterday, I made it a point to catch up with both the original 1938 Cecil B. De Mille production of THE BUCCANEER as well as Charlton Heston's first stab at the role (the second would, of course, occur in the 1958 remake of the latter) in the film under review which, incidentally, I have missed out on several times on Italian TV over the years thinking it more a "woman's picture" than a historical epic. While the latter suspicion turned out to be true enough, it also proved more enjoyable and even compelling than I had initially envisaged.

20th Century Fox's current diva, Susan Hayward, plays the titular role of Rachel Donaldson and it is just one of many real-life women she vividly portrayed on the screen: from Bathsheba to Messalina, from Jane Froman to Lillian Roth, culminating in her Oscar-winning turn as Barbara Grahame in I WANT TO LIVE! (1958). The story, narrated in the first person by Hayward herself, starts with her very first meeting with Andrew Jackson, then a budding Nashville lawyer in partnership with an older one (John McIntire). The two fall for each other instantly and they do not shirk from displaying it to everybody else…even down to having Hayward's unpleasant husband returning unannounced to break up their square dance! This sets off a feud between Jackson and the Donaldsons (who also include matriarch Fay Bainter) on one side and the Robards (including a brother named Jason!!) that hounds the increasingly prestigious couple till the end of her days. In the eyes of the close-minded Nashville community, the feisty Hayward willfully destroyed her marriage to pursue the brash new-kid-in-town Heston – even if her husband had actually been having an affair with his Creole maid behind closed doors right under the nose of his dying mother (Margaret Wycherley)!

Once Jackson's career as a lawyer takes off, he is soon appointed the regional Attorney General but still takes time off to romance Donaldson while employed as an Indian trapper on a treacherous riverside trip she is undertaking to escape from her husband's wrath. Reaching Natchez, they are mistakenly informed that her husband's plea for divorce had been accepted and they marry immediately; it turns out that divorce claim was premature and on and on they go to more public shunning (including after an all-important horse race Heston wins against Charles Dingle that leads to a fatal duel) and, ultimately, public shaming when Senator Jackson joins the U.S. Presidential race that, we are told here, he wins on the very day he lost his sickly wife. Indeed, we had previously watched a lonely Hayward undergoing many hardships while taking care of her two homesteads at the same time that Heston is battling the British in New Orleans or other senators in Washington. The barren woman had also had her adopted Indian child (brought back home by Jackson after one of his campaigns) die on her while she was engaged in yet another fruitless attempt to be accepted as an equal by the unforgiving female community! Although I have no clue as to how accurate the melodramatic events depicted here are or not (they are based on an Irving Stone book, whose later biographies of Vincent Van Gogh and Michelangelo were also filmed, the latter with Heston himself), the resulting film is good to look at and listen to: Leo Tover was the cinematographer, Alfred Newman provided the fine score and both the production and costume designs garnered Oscar nods.

Andrew Jackson bio taken from Irving Stone novel...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 19 February 2007]

THE PRESIDENT'S LADY is a handsome biography of Andrew Jackson, taken from the pages of Irving Stone's best-selling novel and starring CHARLTON HESTON and SUSAN HAYWARD in the leads and dealing primarily with the scandalous background of their marital lives which had a lasting effect on Rachel Jackson's health and the fact that she married Jackson when her divorce had not yet been finalized.

It's a good thing Heston and Hayward have good chemistry together because the romantic aspects of the story have been heavily played up, turning it more into a romance against the usual blend of wilderness perils involving a frontier couple. As Heston goes from senator to presidential candidate, it becomes clear that Rachel Jackson is an obstacle to their being accepted in polite society.

Given the brief running time of the film, it's obvious that much of the tumultuous home life of the Jacksons had to be glossed over for the film, however detailed it may have been in the Stone novel.

Heston is unassuming as Jackson, feisty only when he's punching someone with a good left, and Hayward is the picture of demure womanhood most of the time, which makes her a lot less interesting as an actress.

There's nothing extraordinary about this biography--in fact, it's rather dull at times with only occasional sparks of life. The performances are adequate, but nothing that fans of Heston and Hayward haven't seen before in more typical assignments. Fay Bainter is utterly wasted in a brief supporting role.

Only the last twelve minutes of the story deal with Jackson's Washington, D.C. years and the tumultuous election years where he entered public office as president and the dirty campaign that strikes at Rachel's reputation again.

Summing up: Satisfactory, but never much more than a routine bio of a great president and his lady.

Rachel Jackson, A Lady for All Seasons ***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 16 January 2006]

Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward are Andrew and Rachel Jackson in this wonderful biographical film.

Out on the frontier, Andrew falls for Rachel the first time they meet under difficult circumstances.

The plot, of course, is where the two married but soon learn that Rachel's first husband, Lewis Robards, never got the divorce and therefore the two are living in sin. For this period of time, this is a national disgrace.

The two are dogged by accusations of immoral doings during their lifetime.

As we know through history, Jackson lost the 1824 election by chicanery and was elected in a landslide 4 years later. His beloved, Rachel, lived to see him elected but the years of scandal, adversely affected her health and she dies before his 1829 inauguration.

Heston and Hayward were perfect as near examples of the American spirit during the very early years of our republic.

I hate Jackson but liked the movie.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 16 September 2015]

This film is only about a small portion of Jackson's life--when he met, courted and married his wife, Rachel. It doesn't talk about his career as a general, the Trail of Tears, the Battle of New Orleans, his invasion of Spanish Florida, his closing the National Bank or many of his other exploits and only BRIEFLY talks about the rest of his exciting life. This isn't surprising, as in the 1950s Jackson was a revered figure and they just wanted to present a romantic version of his life. Today, there's a push to take him off the $20 because of changing sensibilities. My how times change!

I should be honest about this film. I resisted watching it for years because I am a retired history teacher and consider Andrew Jackson the most evil and awful president in US history. The reasons are many but it all boils down to his being an extremely trashy person--prone to acting rashly and selfishly and NEVER looking at what's best for the country. He was a great man...but very, very flawed, that's for sure. But IMDb is not a place for me to rant about Jackson. I'm mentioning this because it does show that I have a strong predisposition to dislike the film and I only saw it (finally) because I like Charlton Heston's movies. So, the fact that I actually LIKED the film and thought it very well made says something! The acting is very nice (particularly by Hayward whose performance was surprisingly restrained), the script actually very close to the truth and the direction nice. Who would have figured?!

beautiful movie, one of the best biopics ever of a President

[tamarenne · 10/10 · 29 June 2010]

I keep waiting to see this again on TMC. I wish I had been around to see these movies when they were first released, on the big screen. How amazing it must have been. There are some good movies released today, but on the whole, they are more childish and less adult and certainly less well scripted than movies like this.

I find it a heart-breaker, and I cry my head off at the end. Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward are magic together, and this movie is magic as well. It points back to a time when yes, there were huge flaws in Americans, racism, etc, but they were on the whole a prouder race, and had more to be proud of, if you ask me.

Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward serve as markers of the definitive pioneer spirit of Americans at that time, and as such they deliver outstanding performances as flawed but real and strong people fueled by the idealism of an America in a time of self-discovery.

I wish they could make movies like this, full of heart and devoid of PC.

If you don't have a sepia copy, don't watch it!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 28 February 2018]

Copyright 17 March 1953 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Astor: 21 May 1953. U.S. release: April 1953. U.K. release: 27 April 1953. Australian release: 28 May 1953. Sydney opening at the Century. 8,734 feet. 97 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: The story of Andrew Jackson and Rachel Robards from their first meeting in 1789 to Jackson Jackson's inauguration as seventh President of the United States in 1829.

NOTES: Nominated for prestigious Hollywood awards for Black-and-White Art Direction (lost to Julius Caesar); and Black-and-White Costume Design (lost to Roman Holiday). Boxoffice results were surprisingly healthy in the U.S.A., doubtless influenced by Hayward's previous successes, particularly With a Song In My Heart.

COMMENT: Beautifully photographed throughout in rich, glowing translucent sepia by Leo Tover. This film is always a constant joy to look at, the whole thrust of the art direction, the costumes, the sets, the lighting and the compositions being to reinforce the warm brown tones employed. All this beauty and this artistry tends to take our attention away from the story a bit - which is just as well.

The screenplay by John "Teahouse of the August Moon" Patrick is an historically inaccurate and only mildly interesting melange of familiar women's pseudo-historical movie themes from GWTW to Magnificent Doll with Susan Hayward running the gamut of every emotion from Scarlett O'Hara to Dolly Madison. The acting is only as adequate as the script is serviceable.

At least we are spared one cliché - the hero doesn't have a permanent comic sidekick and what comic relief there is, is as mildly entertaining as the rest of the film.

Levin's direction is serviceable. At least he lets the photographer have his head and the long tracking shot through the farmyard in the opening scenes gives promise of a fluid camera style that is otherwise not realized. Still it's competently put together and the action scenes are mildly exciting (making sometimes skilfull use of stock footage printed up on sepia stock in montage routines so that its age is not so apparent). Made on a big budget all the same.

The Tragedy of Andrew and Rachel Jackson

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 21 September 2005]

Based on a novel by Irving Stone (who also wrote LUST FOR LIFE about Vincent Van Gogh), this is the story of one of the most vicious rumor campaigns in American political history. It is the story of how the love of the life of our seventh President was destroyed by these rumors, which were based on half-truths.

Rachel Jackson, before she married Andy Jackson, was Rachel Robarts - the wife of Lewis Robarts. Mr. Robarts was not a good husband, and he and Rachel got a divorce. She turned to Andrew, whom she had fallen in love with. They got married. Then, a few years after their marriage, Robarts contacted them to inform them that there was some legal error about the divorce. He got a second one from Rachel, and she and Andrew (after double checking it) married again.

Now, under the circumstances, this divorce - marriage problem is not horrible to us today. But in the 19th Century it suggested that Rachel had not behaved properly. In fact, to political enemies it suggested she was a slut who lived in sin with Jackson. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Jackson was the type of hot-tempered fellow who would not take this crap from anyone. He defended his beloved wife's honor throughout his life. If one thinks of the Presidents of the U.S. and their wives, Andrew and Rachel rank on the top with Nancy and Ronald Reagan and Harry and Bess Truman and Calvin and Grace Coolidge - the real thing, not the artificial marriage that is a political partnership (Warren and Florence Harding or Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt).

The film follows the Jacksons lives together from their meeting in the 1790s to her death in 1829. It follows Jackson's rise as a frontier lawyer and planter, then as a military leader and hero, then as a political figure (he would be the most important President between Jefferson and Lincoln). But his hot temper would be shown in protecting the honor of Rachel. Most notably when confronting Charles Dickinson, a leading duelist of the day, who (as played by Carl Betz) openly refers to Jackson as a wife stealer. Jackson (marvelously played by Charleton Heston) challenges him to a duel, which we only hear the result of (Dickinson was a better shot, so Jackson wore a loose coat - Dickinson critically wounded him, but Jackson shot and killed the duelist).

It was all part of Jackson's rough and tumble life. We also see him caning a little man after an argument over politics (it was Governor John Sevier of Tennessee). Unseen in this film was a real knock down fight with two brothers in 1813 that had an odd follow up - one of the two brothers, a rough hombre like Jackson named Thomas Hart Benton, found himself (in 1821) Missouri's first senator. Soon he was sitting next to Tennessee's Senator, Jackson. Both were embarrassed at the situation, so they talked things over, and let bygones be bygones. It resulted in a very close political and personal friendship.

The slurs against Rachel always rose when Jackson's political star was rising, and his foes sought ammunition. In 1824 Jackson was the loser in a peculiar Presidential election that ended in the House of Representatives. He had been in the lead, but his chief rival (John Quincy Adams) was elected President when the fourth candidate (Henry Clay - a regional rival of Jackson's) threw Adams his electoral votes. Adams made Clay his Secretary of State. Jackson's supporters screamed of a corrupt bargain (we really don't know if there was one). In 1828 Jackson was nominated to run against Adams again. Adam's supporters mentioned every bloody event in Jackson's career (his duel with Dickinson, the fight with the Bentons, his executing some mutineering soldiers in the War of 1812, his execution of two British agents - he called them spies - in Florida in 1818). Finally they brought up the marriage mess with Rachel and Lewish Robarts again.

It did not help Adams, who was beaten in the 1828 election by an enlarged electorate that liked Jackson. But Rachel was stunned at the viciousness of the attacks. She lived to see Jackson triumph over Adams, but she died within two months. Jackson never forgave Adams, Clay, and the other Whigs for killing her.

The performances in this film are uniformly good, as we watch Susan Hayward and Charleton Heston interrelate so well together. And we share Heston's bemused pain at the conclusion of the film, he having become the leader of his young nation, and looking at the miniature portrait of his dead wife while he mentally talks to her about how they have arrived. It is a first rate retelling of this true love tragedy. It would not be Heston's last performance as Jackson (in 1958 he'd play the General again in THE BUCCANEER with Yul Brynner as Jean Lafitte, at the battle of New Orleans). But that was a cameo role - this film show Heston's strengths as a performer as he and Hayward grow together as an aging, beleaguered married couple.

Heartbreak Lay Just Around the Corner.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 19 December 2009]

Enjoyable semi-biography of the tempestuous president Andrew Jackson (Heston) seen through the eyes of his wife, Rachel (Hayward).

We learn that Jackson is proud, a man of honor, that he falls in love with Rachel on a riverboat, marries her while she's still married to someone else, defends her name violently, brings her an abandoned Indian baby when she's unable to have her own, smokes a pipe, dislikes politics, is away from home often, has a gentle heart, and is easily manipulated by his understanding wife, to whom he remains devoted throughout his life.

In between, in a brief and offhand way, we learn that he becomes Attorney General of Tennessee, commands the state militia, fights in the Creek war, is appointed a General in the Army, beats the British at the Battle of New Orleans (after a peace treaty had already been signed, not mentioned), and is elected president. We don't get to see any of this, because the story is about Rachel and her joys and travails.

She suffers one tragedy after another. A brother is killed by Indians, her adopted Indian baby dies, she's insulted in public and called a prostitute -- which seems almost tame by comparison with today's name calling. Finally she collapses from a nameless illness in a muddy street. Every few minutes, Rachel seems to collapse into someone's arms and sob.

I just realized something. I clicked the spoiler alert box because I didn't want to reveal the fact that Andrew Jackson became president of the United States of America. In the back of my mind was the fact that a recent poll of high school students found that the majority couldn't place the American Civil War in its correct half century. And a substantial number didn't know which countries were on which side in World War II -- many believed that we and the Germans fought the Russians. Something is warped. Either our society's shared data base is dangerously eroded or I need a frontal lobotomy. Somebody hand me that garden trowel.

If you're going to fulfill a feminine fantasy, Charlton Heston as the devoted Andrew Jackson will do just fine. He's tall, handsome, baritoned, and he rises in his station from rough-hewn woodsman to master of a huge Southern-plantation style mansion called The Hermitage in Tennessee. He's masterful and terribly wealthy, but dumb enough to be guided by a clever and loyal wife. Rachel narrates the film until she dies of that nameless disease then, for the last few minutes, Heston's sonorous voice takes over as he assumes the office of president. Not that he gives us any hint of his politics. His few sentences are all about his gummy memories of the beautiful Rachel.

Susan Hayward is pretty good as Rachel, her New York accent notwithstanding. Heston, I don't believe, had yet to develop his acting chops. In the violent scenes he grimaces toothfully, as if smiling, in order to project a strenuous effort. However, he certainly LOOKS enough like Andrew Jackson, if the picture on the paper currency is accurate. He was to play Jackson again. Henry Levin's direction is pedestrian but gets the job done.

It's really an old-fashioned movie. Jackson is a paragon and Rachel is his equal. I don't think they'd make a biopic of ANYBODY today without revealing some secret vices, even if they had to be fabricated. They'd give Jackson a closet full of ladies' slippers or something.

I enjoyed it though, especially because of the performances of Hayward and Heston. They seem to work well together. And there is an occasional humorous touch in the script.

Ms Hayward Was A Star

[arsportsltd · 20 August 2011]

Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward star in The President's Lady about President Andrew Jackson and his wife a divorcée. Susan Hayward tugged at our emotions in her films and in a career noted for brilliant work the great Lady from Brooklyn gave a touching performance in this film. Ms. Hayward a strong woman needed strong male co stars and Mr. Heston fills the bill in this film. While Garbo, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck deservedly rank among the top female film stars Ms. Hayward's also deserves inclusion for her gallery of great performances among them I Want To Live her Academy Award Winning performance.

Susan Hayward combined great sexy glamorous appeal, and was also one of the screen's top dramatic actresses during her stardom, and a worldwide box office star as well. As Daryl Zanuck noted "Susan Hayward is a our multi million dollar star"

DON'T CALL MY WIFE A SL*T...!

[masonfisk · 7/10 · 9 April 2022]

A 1953 biography of Andrew Jackson as played by Charlton Heston & the love of his life, his wife, played by Susan Hayward. Tracing their early days together when he was boarder staying at Hayward's mother's home through their courtship (Hayward's husband is sleeping w/one of his slaves but eventually grants Hayward a dubious divorce). More often than not, we see Heston, struggling w/finances (he's a lawyer always on the lookout for clientele) but also succeeding on the battlefield where he's recognized for his efforts especially after the War of 1812. What keeps him on the sidelines is his temper (at one point a slight against Wayward prompts him to challenge another to a duel where he kills the slanderer but is wounded) as Hayward's checkered past (due more to her ex's insinuations) is brought into question but as the last reel unfolds where we find Heston seeking the presidential office, Wayward is felled by illness which doesn't deter Heston from finally making Wayward a respectable lady. Heston is tops here w/ample support from Hayward, who narrates the yarn, as we get a glimpse into a problematic period in the creation of this country post colonial times. Also starring John McIntire as a colleague of Heston's.

Andrew Jackson's shady lady, according to gossip

[weezeralfalfa · 7/10 · 6 May 2017]

The performances were well made and Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson, and Susan Hayward as his wife Rachel, are well cast. However, based upon Irvin Stone's novel of the same title, its a bit of a misnomer, in that Rachel died shortly before Andrew became president, thus was never a first lady. A film about the wife of a man who would later become president, and who wasn't a political or otherwise notable herself is inherently of limited interest. While Andrew was off fighting Native Americans or in Washington in some political capacity, Rachel kept the home fires burning in her refuge: The Hermitage, which Andrew built. Largely, because she was typically snubbed by "proper" women, she only felt comfortable in her refuge. If she had lived to be a healthy first lady, probably she would have been very uncomfortable in that role. Thus, providence was wise in scripting her to die in her cherished home.

It was pointed out that Rachel never gave birth. However, The Heritage seldom was empty of children. The screenplay only briefly deals with one of their 3 adopted children: a Creek boy found by Andrew in the aftermath of an attack on a Creek village. Named Lyncoya, he didn't die as a young boy, as depicted. Rather, he lived to 16, dying of TB. In fact, he died earlier in the same year Rachel died. His death is believed to have been one factor in her depression and stress, thought to have lead to her death. In addition, the Jacksons acted as guardians for 8 other children from friends and family, who spent part of their time living with them. Rachel typically was lonely when Andrew was away at war or Washington.

John McIntire plays John Overton: Jackson's law partner, who shows up in the film sporadically. Veteran actress Fay Bainter plays Rachel's mother, while Margaret Wycherly plays the mother of Lewis Robards: Rachel's first husband. You may remember Margaret as Ma York, in "Sergeant York", or as Ma Forrester, in "The Yearling".

As one might expect, the majority of the film deals with the direct and indirect aspects of their legal problems relating to their marriage. Initially, we find Rachel living with her mother and family, having run away from her abusive husband, Lewis. Andrew, as a lawyer, becomes a boarder with them, and meets Lewis, who has come to take Rachel home. However, upon arriving at Lewis's home, in Harrodsburg, KY., Rachel discovers that Lewis has been making love to a slave girl. Hence, she demands that she be returned to her family. Andrew is sent to escort her home. He has an altercation with Lewis at his home, but takes Rachel. Secretly, Lewis arrives at Nashville ahead of the pair, and once more pleads his case, threatening more violence if she doesn't comply. Hence, her mother arranges for her to go on a flatboat to Natchez with Andrew. Later, they get word that Lewis has filed a petition for divorce , on the grounds of adultery. Now, they feel free to marry. However,(not mentioned in the film), Natchez is in Spanish controlled territory, where one must be a Roman Catholic in order to get a marriage license. Hence, the legality of their marriage is suspect. Also, later, they are informed that Lewis didn't follow through with his divorce application; hence, they are technically bigamists. Upon arriving in Nashville, they get word that Lewis has been granted a divorce. Hence, they feel free to go through a marriage ceremony again, this time free of legal questions.

I will leave the portrayal of the ugly treatment of especially Rachel, and especially by society women, for you to see. Also, the portrayal of some of Andrew's belligerent responses to heckling occur periodically. See this B&W film at YouTube

A Great Score

[Gooper · 9/10 · 23 September 2008]

I'm delighted to see so many favorable reviews for this excellent picture. Released the same year CinemaScope made its splashy debut, 'The President's Lady' is a mid-sized production in b&w of typically high 20th-Fox quality. It would have been interesting if John Ford had directed it (it's his kind of film), but as it is, it is a minor classic all by itself, and Henry Levin did a great job.

The score by Alfred Newman deserves special mention. Not only is it moving and poignant in all the right moments, it is positive and robust and helps make the picture succeed on every level. It's a typical Newman score, which means music of extraordinary depth and quality.

Leo Tover's camera-work adds to the luster of this fine film. I can only request that it appear on DVD, for we enthusiasts, if no one else.

From frontier life to White House

[lora64 · 10/10 · 11 February 2002]

This is one of the best historical romances on film. It's the heartwarming story of Andrew Jackson, played by Charlton Heston, and centers on his love for Rachel, superbly acted here by the beautiful Susan Hayward.

The start takes us from the early beginnings of their relationship when she was still married to another, but eventually she breaks ties and in time becomes Andrew's wife -- a courtship that takes us from the frontiers to the White House.

Life for homesteaders wasn't easy in those times of opening up the west, battling native Indians and fighting wars; however, Andrew gradually progressed up the military ranks although it meant many separations from Rachel. Their position in society had an uneven start, having to deal with scandal surrounding the circumstances of their marriage, yet in time this was slowly overcome, and as the years passed Andrew became more involved in political life, ultimately becoming president.

A very human story.

Well acted, beautiful production values

[HotToastyRag · 8/10 · 24 July 2018]

Despite my brother's endless supply of interesting presidential trivia, I'm not always able to remember everything he teaches me. With regards to Andrew Jackson, I knew about the War of 1812 and the Trail of Tears, but nothing more. After I watched the biopic The President's Lady, I asked my brother, "Did you know ___?" "Yep," he replied. "How about ____?" "Of course!"

If you're a walking political encyclopedia like my brother, you won't be as surprised about the plot as I was. If you don't really know anything about Andrew Jackson, you'll be sucked into this historical drama as soon as you see Charlton Heston step onto the screen. Not only does he look like him, but he does a very good job expressing all of Jackson's volatile emotions. This man had a temper! Brawls, duels, arguments-even if he didn't become President of the United States, he would still have had an interesting enough life to make a movie about. In fact, the movie is about pre-President Jackson, his youthful days and early foray into politics.

Alfred Newman wrote a lovely and fitting score, that's light and romantic at times, and dramatic and sad when necessary. He wasn't nominated for an Oscar for this movie; instead, he won an Oscar in 1954 for his score to Call Me Madam, another political film. Set and costume designs were honored during the 1954 season for The President's Lady, but although Susan Hayward wore some beautiful gowns in the film, Audrey Hepburn's gown in Roman Holiday captured the Academy's attention instead.

I enjoyed watching The President's Lady, even more so because I didn't really know anything about Andrew and Rachel Jackson. The acting and technical aspects are surprisingly good, and it's one of the rare classic biopics that doesn't feel cheesy or melodramatic. For fans of Charlton Heston, Susan Hayward, President Jackson, early American politics, or historical biopics, this is a great one to add to your list.

Does Chuck Heston EVER make a bad Movie!?!?!?

[elskootero · 10/10 · 14 December 2002]

This is one of his "Earliest Best!" It's also his 2nd in which he plays, ultra-convincingly by the way, Andrew Jackson and both he and Susan Hayward should have gotten Academy awards for their performances. It is an absolute GEM. Also, the actress who plays their servant is so convincing as well, in one of the last scenes with Rachel and Andrew, she really moves you to tears. It's one of Chuck's best as Old Hickory (The other being THE BUCANNEER) but I think only the latter is available on tape, so look for THE PRESIDENT'S LADY on FMC or AMC untill they wise up and get it out on tape and DVD-It's a 10 star winner!!!!!!!!!

Enjoyable movie

[luvnsweet · 12 June 2004]

A few years ago, I was channel surfing one weekend and saw this movie about to start on TCM. I think I was in 7th grade at that time and didn't really know much about Andrew Jackson and the ugly presidential election against John Quincy Adams in 1828. Anyway the movie is quite romantic and the two leads have great chemistry together. The ending was so sad. I know it's just a movie but it gave me a warmer interpretation of Jackson. And after learning more about in U.S. History, I understand his position in the Peggy Eaton affair. See who says you can't learn from watching movies? I certainly do. Oh and another poster asked if Rachel really died before Jackson entered the White House and to my understanding, she does.

Romantic Version of a President's Life

[smithy-8 · 10/10 · 2 November 2003]

The first presidential movie I ever saw was "The President's Lady". The movie tells a romantic tale about how President Andrew Jackson (Charlton Heston) met his wife, Rachel, a divorcee (Susan Hayward). I first saw it on television and I loved the romance and believed the story. The movie was a compliment to President Jackson and his wife.

I love all kinds of political movies and dread watching the TV movie on President Reagan. Too bad the Regan movie wasn't made with the same 1950's sensitivity.

This is Charlton Heston's best romantic movie. Mr. Heston and Ms. Hayward made a good team. Too bad they never worked again.

They branded her adulteress!

[jjnxn-1 · 10/10 · 10 November 2013]

This fine film of the love affair and marriage of our seventh president Andrew Jackson and his soul mate Rachel Donelson Robards might not be entirely factual but is a showcase for a beautiful Susan Hayward performance as well as one of Heston's better acting jobs.

Using Irving Stone's bestseller as its basis the film covers the couples event filled lives from first meeting to Rachel's passing. Unfortunately for them Rachel had not met Jackson first but had married a bounder named Lewis Robards at 18 who treated her badly and was constantly unfaithful. Having had enough of his ill treatment she had returned to her mother's home considering the marriage over, at this point she and Jackson became acquainted. After a failed try at reconciliation with the caddish Robards they parted permanently at which point he petitioned for divorce, an option not available to her or any woman at the time, and she and Jackson married. Robards had not properly filed thereby making her second marriage invalid, now this would be a minor matter but at the time she was scorned and vilified and branded an adulteress something that haunted the couple the rest of their lives.

Enacting this sad tale Susie and Chuck give deeply compassionate performances and work so well together it's a pity this was their only co-starring picture. He is as always a bit stiff and resolute but it actually helps in his portrayal of the infamously proud and short tempered Jackson. Susan's innate warmth thaws him out in their scenes together and they really suggest the great love the pair shared that helped them weather the many storms they had to face throughout there life together. The film is not all grim times and the flashes of humor that run through the film help strengthen it.

Good though Heston is the film belongs to Susan Hayward and she gives one of her very best performances. Not as heralded as her Oscar nominated and winning work but full of lovely touches that make Rachel a relatable and vastly sympathetic woman.

The pair are surrounded by excellent actors with Fay Bainter in her second to last theatrical feature offering a warmly gentle performance as Rachel's mother. There's also a charming vignette courtesy of Ralph Dumke and Nina Varela as a flat boat captain and his wife who are so cheery and earthy they could have had their own film to tell their story. But the real standout in the supporting cast is Ruth Attaway as the Jackson's devoted servant Moll. The character is never written down to and she comes across with Attaway's skillful playing not as servile but as a trusted confidante.

The film also has a most lovely musical score which effectively sets the proper feeling for each scene. A well made compelling film examining the lives of two important historical figures making them into real people that should interest most viewers but will be most potent for romantics. Those romantics should beware to have tissues handy during the latter part of the film.

Beside every great man stands a great woman...

[poe426 · 10/10 · 20 August 2002]

Surprisingly entertaining effort, with Charlton Heston once again rising to the occasion as Andrew Jackson. Susan Hayward meets him half way, and together they waltz arm-in-arm through trial and tribulation. Never boring, and boasting some fine action scenes (strategically placed throughout the film to ensure that it never lags), THE PRESIDENT'S LADY benefits as well from two exceptionally strong performances (Heston and Hayward have some genuine on-screen chemistry) and sure-handed direction by Henry Levin. And what an ending! Seek this one out. If you're a fan of fine films, you'll add this one to your list of movies to recommend.

Standard biopic, but with excellent performances

[Servo-11 · 9/10 · 15 July 2002]

I was surprised by Chuck Heston in this movie because I've mainly seen his post-Moses/God complex performances and thought he was a big bag of wind, but he was pretty good here. Susan Hayward was excellent as Rachel and gave this pretty standard biopic some heart. The performances were sincere and the black and white photography seemed at home with the subject matter. I would have found it dull in color. I'm a bit foggy on my Jacksonian history, but I don't think Rachel died before he set foot in the White House, but this is a movie, so why else can I expect? :D

i need help please!!!

[gabbyandcassie · 19 August 2006]

I want to watch The President's lady, but I don't know where I can rent it or buy it. I have heard of the movie and people say it is really good so I would really like to see it and if I don't see it soon I will not be able to see it because I will be leaving town for a while. If you read this please respond so I can know if the movie is available any were. All I know is that it takes place around the time of Andrew Jackson and that it is about his life, but I only know that because I read some summaries on the movie as well as the book.

Thankyou so much,

Amanda

P.S. If you find out where I can get this movie, please tell me specifically like the city and store if that is possible. And if you know that it is impossible to get the movie then please inform me of that too.If you know please email me at [e-mail]