The Phantom President (1932)

A presidential candidate is deemed to have a dull personality, thus a charismatic look-alike is hired as a front.

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

Walter DeLeon, Harlan Thompson

Stars:

George M. Cohan, Claudette Colbert, Jimmy Durante

Cast

Complete credited cast:
George M. Cohan	...	Theodore K. Blair / Peeter J. 'Doc' Varney
Claudette Colbert	...	Felicia Hammond
Jimmy Durante	...	Curly Cooney
George Barbier	...	Boss Jim Ronkton
Sidney Toler	...	Prof. Aikenhead
Louise Mackintosh	...	Sen. Sarah Scranton
Jameson Thomas	...	Jerrido
Julius McVicker	...	Sen. Melrose

Storyline

Too bad for presidential hopes of banker T.K. Blair; his party feels he has too little flair for savoir faire. But at a medicine show, the party bosses find Blair's double: huckster Doc Varney. Of course, they scheme to make Varney T.K.'s public spokesman; at first, he even fools Blair's girlfriend Felicia, providing a romantic complication. As election eve approaches, the conspirators face the problem of what to do with Varney...who has difficult decisions of his own to make.

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Plot Keywords:

election | political satire | u.s. president | based on novel | 

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Taglines:

It's nonsense and - I love it!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 September 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Falso Presidente

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The portraits that provide a prologue for the movie and sing about the problems of the country during the Depression are of the same four presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt) that are on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota that was being carved at the time this movie was released.

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Quotes

Doc Varney: I'm just trying to figure out which one of us looks the most alike.

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Soundtracks

WE NEED A MEDICINE MAN
Written and Performed by George M. Cohan

User Reviews

A pair of identical strangers, I am sure this happens all the time...at least in movies!

The famous Broadway song and dance man, George M. Cohan, only made a couple films. So, seeing "The Phantom President" is one of the only ways you can see him acting.

George plays two different people in this story. Theodore K. Blair is a rich guy who's in line to possibly be the next President. However, he's not very good at public speaking. But, when his campaign folks find a very charismatic medicine show man who looks EXACTLY like Blair, they get Peeter Varney to impersonate Blair on the campaign trail. Naturally, they want to keep this sort of thing out of the papers and don't even tell Varney's buddy (Jimmy Durante) nor Blair's girlfriend (Claudette Colbert)...which leads to all sorts of mix-ups.

While Varney's help should be much appreciated, through the course of the film you start to see what sort of a skunk Blair is. In fact, instead of rewarding Varney for helping him become President, Blair plans on sending him off to a hellish reward near the North Pole! What's to become of this evil plan? See the film.

While the music seemed a bit corny to me, I did enjoy the script and the film ended on a marvelous note. It's surprising, then, that this movie was a huge money-loser back in the day. I can't see why except, perhaps, by the 1930s, Cohan was a bit of a has-been...a relic of the past who was popular about twenty years earlier. Regardless, it's well worth your time and quite clever.