Magnificent Doll (1946)

Director:

Frank Borzage

Writer:

Irving Stone (original story and screenplay)

Release Date:

November 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

They spoke her name in whispers

Plot:

Ginger Rogers is the daughter of boardinghouse owners in Washington, DC who falls in love with Aaron Burr and James Madison.

Plot Keywords:

James Madison | First Lady | Thomas Jefferson | Duel | President

Cast

Ginger Rogers	...	Dolly Payne Madison
David Niven	...	Aaron Burr
Burgess Meredith	...	James Madison
Peggy Wood	...	Mrs. Payne
Stephen McNally	...	John Todd (as Horace McNally)
Robert Barrat	...	Mr. Payne (as Robert H. Barrat)
Grandon Rhodes	...	Thomas Jefferson
Frances E. Williams	...	Amy
Henri Letondal	...	Count D'Arignon
Joseph Forte	...	Senator Ainsworth (as Joe Forte)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erville Alderson	...	Darcy (uncredited)
Lois Austin	...	Grace Phillips (uncredited)
George Barrows	...	Jedson (uncredited)
Larry J. Blake	...	Charles (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	Man Outside Courthouse (uncredited)
Harlan Briggs	...	Quinn (uncredited)
George M. Carleton	...	Howard (uncredited)
Tom Coleman	...	Mr. Carroll (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan	...	Williams (uncredited)
Grace Cunard	...	(uncredited)
Jack Curtis	...	Edmund (uncredited)
Harry Denny	...	Mr. Calot (uncredited)
Dick Dickinson	...	FAlling Man (uncredited)
Mary Emery	...	Woman (uncredited)
Frank Erickson	...	Capt. White (uncredited)
Sam Flint	...	Waters (uncredited)
Byron Foulger	...	Politician (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Gov. Stanley (uncredited)
Carey Hamilton	...	Senator Mason (uncredited)
John Hamilton	...	Mr. Witherspoon (uncredited)
Al Hill	...	Man (uncredited)
John Hines	...	Dr. Ellis (uncredited)
Brandon Hurst	...	Brown (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Blennerhassett (uncredited)
Jack Ingram	...	Messenger (uncredited)
Boyd Irwin	...	Hathaway (uncredited)
Jerry Jerome	...	Thomas (uncredited)
Joe King	...	Jailer (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw	...	Sanders (uncredited)
Ruth Lee	...	Mrs. Gallentine (uncredited)
Pierce Lyden	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Garnett Marks	...	Justice Drake (uncredited)
Kermit Maynard	...	Crowd Member (uncredited)
Francis McDonald	...	Jenks (uncredited)
John Michael	...	Ned (uncredited)
Vivien Oakland	...	Mrs. Witherspoon (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Hatch (uncredited)
Stanley Price	...	Man at Platform (uncredited)
Keith Richards	...	Captain Janis (uncredited)
John Sheehan	...	Hugo (uncredited)
Pietro Sosso	...	Mr. Anthony (uncredited)
Arthur Space	...	Alexander Hamilton (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Lafayette (uncredited)
Ferris Taylor	...	Jonathan Phillips (uncredited)
Harland Tucker	...	Ralston (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Mr. Gallentine (uncredited)
Eddy Waller	...	Arthur (uncredited)
Pierre Watkin	...	Harper (uncredited)
Victor Zimmerman	...	Martin (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Borzage

Writing credits
Irving Stone		(original story and screenplay)

Produced by
Jack H. Skirball	....	producer
Bruce Manning	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Hans J. Salter		(as H.J. Salter)

Cinematography by
Joseph A. Valentine		(director of photography) (as Joseph Valentine)

Film Editing by
Ted J. Kent

Art Direction by
Alexander Golitzen

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman
Ted Offenbecker

Costume Design by
Travis Banton		(gowns)
Vera West		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Carmen Dirigo	....	hair stylist
Anna Malin	....	hair stylist
Jack P. Pierce	....	director of makeup

Production Management
Arthur Siteman	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Sherwood	....	assistant director (as John F. Sherwood)

Art Department
Jack Otterson	....	art supervisor

Sound Department
Charles Felstead	....	director of sound
Robert Pritchard	....	sound technician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
David Tamkin	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Adele Cannon	....	set continuity
Lilly Dache	....	hats (as Lilly Daché)
Samuel Goldwyn	....	Mr. Niven appears by arrangement with
Bruce Manning	....	presenter
Jack H. Skirball	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Hallmark Productions

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• Inter Global Video (1985) (Canada) (VHS)
• Suevia Films (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Olive Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Also Known As:

"Frank Borzage's Magnificent Doll" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #12024)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Hallmark Productions

Trivia:

The night before shooting was to start, a game of hide-and-seek was held during a party. Primula Niven (wife of David Niven) opened a door she thought led to a closet and fell down a set of stairs to her death.

Aaron will never get a fair shake

Except for those Vice Presidents who ended up as President (14 of them)only one is remembered as a distinct personality: Aaron Burr. And it is for some questionable reasons. His ambitions were on the scale of Napoleon Bonaparte, aimed (supposedly) not only towards the U.S. but also Mexico, and against Spain (and supposedly willing to use French or British assistance). He managed to show that Thomas Jefferson, for all his brilliance as party leader and politician, could be momentarily thrown for a loop by a clever, unforeseen loophole. He helped destroy Alexander Hamilton's political career, and then ended Hamilton as well. And, despite facing political ruin, he managed to leave his political chief's political projects in ruins. To 90% of the American public, mention Burr and the word "traitor" or "unscrupulous" pops up.

There are those who deny this view of Burr. Jefferson and Hamilton were grown men, who played hard ball politics with each other and with each other's supporters. Burr was no different from them. Jefferson was willing, as John Adams' Vice President, to forget his old friendship with Adams and concentrate on derailing his chief's policies and aims (as Burr did towards Jefferson). Hamilton hit Burr pretty well in the New York Gubernatorial race of 1804, helping to defeat Burr in that election (and in the process so insulting Burr as to lead to Burr's challenge and their duel in Weehauken). As for the treason against the U.S., it is now questioned if Burr was really planning to overturn U.S. government control over the western states, or just jumping the gun on westward expansion (Burr died in 1836, and lived long enough to see the fall of the Alamo and the creation of the Texas Republic - he made some sharp and cutting comments that one age's treason was another age's patriotism, which seems well called for). But in any case, Hamilton had played around with similar expeditions in Latin America in the late 1790s. But he never went as far as Burr did, involving the ranking general of the U.S. Army as a co-conspirator. So Hamilton's actions are forgotten today but Burr's actions are not.

One day a creative script on Burr's career will be created, and a Scorsese director will handle it. Until then, the only film dealing with Burr's career (aside from a television version of "The Man Without a Country" made in the 1970s)is this odd little film that concentrates on the career of Dolly Payne Todd Madison, the wife of the "father of the Constitution", our 4th President James Madison. Ginger Rogers and Burgess Meredith play the Madisons (and give good performances), but the film is stolen by David Niven. Niven's darker side was rarely noticed in his climb to stardom, but when he played a figure with frailties (the Major in "Seperate Tables", or the scoundrelly heir in "Tonight's the Night") he actually gave his best performances. Here he played Burr as the ambitious politico who nearly stole the 1800 election from Tom Jefferson (but for Alex Hamilton's action to keep enough Federalists from supporting Burr), and as Hamilton's slayer turned into super traitor - who got acquitted in the treason trial of 1807 (the film does not show how poor the government's case against Burr really was). Unrepentent at the end, he manages to maintain our fascination, although the audience feels it was a blessing that he failed in the end. In reality, given his commitment to immigrants, abolitionism, and feminist rights (which neither Adams, Jefferson, nor Hamilton were fully committed to), one wonders if it would have been such a bad thing had he become President in 1800.