For many, the name George Wallace evokes memories of his famous declaration, “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” I doubt it’s a coincidence that Warner Brothers chose to release a two-disc “special edition” of George Wallace, the 1997 TNT “docudrama” starring Gary Sinise and Angelina Jolie, and directed by John Frankenheimer on the day the day America’s first African-American President took the oath of office. The film, based on the 1996 biography Wallace : The Classic Portrait of Alabama Governor George Wallace by Marshall Frady contains solid acting performances by all involved but suffers in the end because Frankheimer and Frady (who co-wrote the teleplay with Paul Monash) decline to take a stand on Wallace’s actions.
Set up as a flashback after his near fatal assassination attempt on May 15, 1972, the film opens with the shooting which resulted in total paralysis from the waist down, before going back to 1955, where campaign manager Wallace is celebrating the victory of “Big” Jim Folsom (Joe Don Baker) in the Alabama governor’s race. Folsom, a liberal Democrat who felt the government should help everyone–including African Americans–concedes that Wallace will succeed him but warns the younger man not to forget his humble beginnings. Folsom implores Wallace to always represent everyone, even if it means angering the majority to do so. Wallace’s willingness to embrace segregation and denounce the Klan, unleashes a backlash that costs Wallace the 1958 gubernatorial election.
Obsessed with winning, Wallace threw aside his wife Lurleen’s (Mare Winningham) pleas that they leave public life in favor of a private one. Determined to never be “out-niggered” again by his opponents, Wallace fully embraced segregation and spouted his views to whoever would listen. Embracing the politics of bigotry proves a boon to Wallace’s political fortunes; he wins the 1962 race for Governor of Alabama and begins a steady ascent up the political later. It is during his 1962 inaugural address that he utters the phrase he is probably best known for, “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
Once Wallace becomes Governor, the film is filled with historical inaccuracies. While it’s true that a docudrama is by nature going to embellish, rework or eliminate certain facts of the story to serve the dramatic effect of the film, some viewers may not have seen or read the accompanying disclaimers at the beginning and end of George Wallace and take the film as absolute fact. I would encourage anyone who sees the film to actually read the book on which this is based, or one of the several other books on George Wallace to get a perspective on the man, minus the reworking for dramatic purposes.
Several key instances have been changed. The facts of Wallace’s infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse” on June 1, 1963 (where Wallace forcible tried to prevent two black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama) has been rearranged. In reality, the two black students were already in their dorm rooms when Wallace stood at the door, not standing with National Guardsmen as Frankenheimer portrays the event; in 1964, Wallace was received by a calm, respectful group of Harvard students, not the unruly mob screaming at him and vandalizing his car; Wallace was not booed at the 1972 Democratic convention. Instead, he received a rather warm welcome and the delegates respectfully listened to his speech. One of the most dramatic moments in George Wallace’s spontaneous decision to visit Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, famously the former church of Martin Luther King Jr. and ask the black community for their forgiveness. However, according to several reliable sources, this visit never occurred.
The way the screenwriters and director Frankenheimer have crafted the film, Wallace’s only real interaction with an African-American was through Archie (Clarence Williams III) a prison trustee who becomes Wallace’s valet and long time caretaker. In one of the disclaimers viewers are told that “Archie” is actually a character added for dramatic purposes. In truth, Wallace was assisted by several different prison trustees during his years in office. I was surprised to read at the end that “Archie” didn’t exist simply because of the large part he plays throughout the narrative. This man quietly seethes with anger as he’s forced to watch his boss put down his race, as his father dies at an Alabama civil rights protest. Clarence Williams III gives a truly powerful performance but the knowledge that his character was created solely for the film, is bound to make some wonder about the validity of the entire project.
Despite those issues, George Wallace is still worth watching. All of the actors are first rate and despite the liberties taken with the script, it is clear George Wallace was a deeply complex man. Barred from running for a second consecutive term as Governor, Wallace engineered Lurleen’s campaign for Governor in 1967, even though she was suffering from cancer. After all, if he was going to run for President in 1968, they had to keep the Wallace name out there. Lurleen won the election handily but died in office the next year.
Reconnecting with Cornelia Ellis Snively (Angelina Jolie), whom Wallace knew as a child (she was the niece of “Big” Jim Folsom) in 1970, Wallace marries the much younger, former beauty queen and helps him campaign for the 1972 Presidential election, until an assassin’s bullet paralyzed Wallace and effectively ended his Presidential hopes. Wallace never knew another day without agonizing pain. His marriage also suffers, and he divorces Cornelia. Humbled by his paralysis, the film offers that Wallace “changed” his ways and asked forgiveness of the black community for his past political actions.
George Wallace is a film viewers will have to watch and form their own opinions about it.
The anamorphically enhanced, 1.85:1 widescreen video transfer for George Wallace looks very good. There are no compression issues, and a nicely saturated color image, with good sharpness and just a hint of grain. The film is split into two parts – one on each disc – which eliminates any compression issues.
The Dolby Digital English 2.0 stereo mix is nicely balanced, with all dialogue cleanly rendered, with noticable directional effects. English subtitles are included, along with Portuguese and Thai.
There’s a new featurette, Vision and Conflict: Collaborating on the Wallace Saga (20:32) which features an archival interview with Frankenheimer, as well as new interviews with Sinise, Jolie, and Mare Winningham discussing the project.
