Teddy the Rough Rider

Teddy the Rough Rider (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Oscar-winning short from Warner has Sidney Blackmer playing Teddy Roosevelt as we see his early life in New York City to his military days and finally his years in the White House. I'm really not sure how historically accurate this film is but from what I've read it's more accurate than most bio-pics from Hollywood. This two-reelers benefits from being shot in Technicolor, which leads to some very good looking scenes including a rather nice war sequence, which contains some good action and of course some beautiful colors. The main reason to watch this film is for the performance by Blackmer who would play this character six times in his career. Again, I'm not sure how realistic the performance is but the two men certainly look a lot alike and it wouldn't shock me if this was close to how the President acted. Blackmer gives an incredibly strong and uplifting performance as it's clear the political speech at the end was prepping current American's for the war, which was about to happen.