Ақ үй үстіндегі Гавриил

1933 film

Gabriel Over the White House is a 1933 American pre Code political fantasy film starring Walter Huston as a genial but politically corrupt U. S. President who has a near fatal automobile accident and comes under divine influence—specifically the Archangel Gabriel and the spirit of Abraham Lincoln. Eventually he takes control of the government, solves the problems of the nation, from unemployment to racketeering, and arranges for worldwide peace, before dying of a heart attack. The film received the financial backing and creative input of businessman William Randolph Hearst. It was directed by Gregory La Cava, produced by Walter Wanger and written by Carey Wilson based upon the novel Rinehard: A Melodrama of the Nineteen Thirties (1933) by Thomas Frederic Tweed. Tweed did not receive screen credit (the film's opening credits say "based on the anonymous novel, Gabriel Over the White House) but he was credited in the copyright information. The supporting cast features Karen Morley, Franchot Tone, C. Henry Gordon, and David Landau.

Amiable but corrupt U. S. President 'Judd' Hammond (Walter Huston) tells his new secretary Harley “Beek” Beekman (Franchot Tone) that two people may be admitted to his presence at any time: his young nephew Jimmie (Dickie Moore) and Miss Pendola "Pendie" Molloy (Karen Morley). Pendie is the President's mistress and Beek's assistant. At a press conference, a reporter asks if Hammond will meet with John Bronson (David Landau). Hammond doesn't know who that is; Beekman explains that Bronson is leading a march to Washington of a million men wanting work. Hammond is glib until one young reporter (Mischa Auer) details the collapse of American democracy; he waffles and refuses to be quoted. Later, Hammond laughs as he uses the pen with which Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to sign a bill for sewers in Puerto Rico. Bronson speaks eloquently on the radio while Hammond plays with his nephew. After Hammond crashes his car, Dr. Eastman (Samuel Hinds) declares him “beyond any human help.” A breeze ruffles the curtains and the bed is briefly flooded with light as Hammond insists to himself he will not die. Weeks later, Eastman confides in Beekman and Molloy: the supposedly comatose President is perfectly fine, but is a changed man who sits silently, reading and thinking, “like a gaunt gray ghost". Racketeer Nick Diamond (C. Henry Gordon) tries in vain to bribe and threaten Hammond. Bronson is killed in a drive by shooting, but the marchers carry on. In Baltimore, the President walks into the crowd alone and tells Alice Bronson (Jean Parker) that her father was a martyr who died trying “to arouse the stupid, lazy people of the United States to force their government to do something before everybody slowly starves to death.” He promises to create an Army of Construction. Pendie and Beek talk with each other, believing Hammond has gone mad. That night, the bewildered President doesn't recognize the manuscript for his speech to Congress. Light blooms outside the window; Hammond seems to listen, then straightens, confidently. Meanwhile, Pendie and Beek admit that since the accident, they have both felt that the President was two men. “What if God sent the Angel Gabriel to do for Judd Hammond what he did for Daniel?” Pendie asks. The President fires the Cabinet and forces Congress to adjourn, declaring that if he is a dictator, it is a dictatorship based on Jefferson's idea of democracy: the greatest good for the greatest number. He broadcasts his plans: an end to foreclosures, a National Banking Law, aid for 55 million agricultural workers, attack racketeering. He has already repealed Prohibition. The first U. S. Government Liquor Store is bombed, and machine gun fire rakes the White House, gravely wounding Pendie just as she and Beekman are about to confess their love. The President makes Beekman head of the new Federal Police. Diamond believes his lawyer will get him off, but the trial is a court martial. The racketeers are executed. Hammond holds a worldwide radio broadcast demonstrating the power of his new United States Navy of the Air. Disarmament will free the billions wasted on obsolete weaponry. Hammond signs The Washington Covenant, using the Lincoln quill, and collapses. Pendie is alone with him. The light on his face changes, evoking an image of Lincoln. The shadows disappear as the light at the window returns. Pendie feels Hammond go as the curtains stir. Beek and Pendie come out arm in arm to announce the President is dead. Outside, the flag is lowered to half staff, to the last notes of "Taps".