Eleanor & Franklin - The Early Years

The second and concluding part of the miniseries focuses on Franklin D. Roosevelt's early career and the major role his wife played in overcoming profound difficulties in their marriage. Told mostly in flashback, the film features Edward Herrmann and Jane Alexander, whose performances in the title roles are uncanny. During World War I, the Roosevelts moved to Washington, D.C., where young Franklin, while serving in the Wilson administration, began having an affair with Lucy Mercer, his wife Eleanor's social secretary. Deeply wounded when she discovers his betrayal, Eleanor nonetheless stays with Franklin. And she would be at his side when, during a summer vacation with their five children, he was stricken with polio and paralyzed. Urged to take a more public role during his recuperation in the early 1920s, Eleanor touchingly admits, "I'll never be any good at public speaking." In a scene in which Eleanor drives a roadster down a country road while rehearsing the speech she's on her way to give in rural New York State, Alexander beautifully captures Eleanor's determination to overcome her own shyness and become a champion of progressive politics. Eleanor and Franklin: The Early Years won 11 Emmy Awards, and its intelligent screenplay and fine acting have aged very well. It's a great love story as well as a great political story, an engaging drama made all the better by its historical resonance. --Robert J. McNamara

Description
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book - this is the story of one of America's greatest presidents and the First Lady who devoted herself to public service. Winner of 11 Emmy Awards.